"7 Layers Thick!"

One of our favorite Lucy episodes is "Job Switching"- Olivia has most of the episode memorized and the kids love the scene where the rice boils over and Lucy makes "swee swees"!  The scene where Fred reveals his "...devil's food cake, a big juicy one, seven layers thick" is hilarious- Ricky's repsonse is to ask, "What happened to the other 6 layers?"!!!  As a result, 'Ricky's' standard response to any of my baking muffs has been, "What happened to the other 6 layers?":)

This past weekend was 'Ricky's' birthday so I opted to make a chocolate devil's food cake, like Fred, in honor of this momentous occasion:)  I was trying out a new recipe and at first thought the cake layers looked a bit flat, earning me a traditional, "What happened to the other 6 layers?"!

However, once assembled there were no complaints- nestled in coffee buttercream frosting (not mixed in & baked with Fred's cake!) it looked lovely and tasted even better than expected:)

So without further ado, here is the recipe, courtesy of Cooks Illustrated (best cake recipes ever!):

Velvet Devil's Food Cake with Coffee Buttercream Frosting:

Ingredients:
Velvet Devil's Food Cake:
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder,
2 instant espresso powder or instant coffee,
1 cup boiling water,
2 tsp vanilla extract,
12 tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda,
1/2 tsp salt

Coffee Buttercream Frosting:
1 tbsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee,
1 tbsp coffee liqueur
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 egg yolk (beaten) or 2 tbsp beaten egg

Instructions:

1. For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-by-1 1/2-inch round baking pans with shortening. Line pan bottoms with waxed or parchment paper; grease paper as well. Dust pans with flour; tap out excess.
2. 2. Mix cocoa and instant coffee in small bowl; add boiling water and mix until smooth. Cool to room temperature, then stir in vanilla.
3. 3. Beat butter in bowl of electric mixer set at medium-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in sugar; beat until mixture is fluffy and almost white, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating 1 full minute after each addition.
4. 4. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. With mixer on lowest speed, add about 1/3 of dry ingredients to batter, followed immediately by about 1/3 of cocoa mixture; mix until ingredients are almost incorporated into batter. Repeat process twice more. When batter appears blended, stop mixer and scrape bowl sides with rubber spatula. Return mixer to low speed; beat until batter looks satiny, about 15 seconds longer.
5. 5. Divide batter evenly between pans. With rubber spatula, run batter to pan sides and smooth top. Bake cakes until they feel firm in center when lightly presesd anad skewer comes out clean or with just a crumb or two adhering, 23 to 30 minutes. Tranfer pans to wire racks; cool for 20 minutes. Run knife around perimeter of each pan, invert cakes onto racks, and peel off paper liners. Reinvert cakes onto additional racks; cool completely before frosting.
6. 6. For the Buttercream Frosting: Mix instant coffee, coffee liqueur, and vanilla in small cup until coffee dissolves; set aside. Beat butter in bowl of electric mixer at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add sugar and beat 3 minutes longer. Add coffee mixture and egg to frosting; beat until frosting mounds around beaters in a fluffy mass, 3 to 5 minutes longer. Apply frosting onto first cake layer and spread with a long metal spatula, top with second cake layer, top second layer with frosting, spread and then frost sides.

Hope you enjoy this special cake & thanks for stopping by,
Tiffany