My take on a Ding Dong Cake
This cake has a rich chocolate flavor, with a Chocolate cream Icing over the top, and it is over the top. For the jungle I had to change it up a bit. Instead of cream filling I thought Ice Cream would be good. I can not make whip cream with my hand held mixer here in the jungle, it's to humid. So I have to improvise. Often. I put the Vanila Ice Cream in the 9" cake pan lined with parchment paper, about 1" of it. Froze it, and then took it out and placed it on top of one of the layers and put the other one on top and froze it again. This cake is best frozen for at least overnight. Enjoy
FOR THE CAKE
1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chocolate chips
1 cup hot strong coffee
¾ cup buttermilk, make buttermilk with a scant cup of milk and 1 Tablespoon Vingar or lemon juice. Let set for 10 minutes
1½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour. No cake flour. Measure 1 cup of AP flour and take out 2 Tablespoons of flour and add in 2 Tablespoons of Corn Starch
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 350. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with baking spray. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment and then coat the paper with spray.
For the cake, place the cocoa powder and chocolate in a medium metal bowl. Pour the hot coffee over them and let sit for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating to blend after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl in 3 additions, alternating with the chocolate mixture. Divide the batter evenly between the two greased pans and smooth the tops.
Bake the cakes until a tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool in cake pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the cakes to loosen and then invert onto wire racks. Peel off the paper and let cool completely. Turn cakes over. If needed, use a long serrated knife to cut off any bumps or dome from the top of each cake so that it is flat and even. Make sure you let the cake freeze first before you pour the Icing over the top. For this cake I used eatmorechocolate.com Iceing, for me it was to thin so in the end it just melted off the cake to fast. It might work for you though. So next time I am using this Chocolate Cream Icing. I have used it before on my Pumpkin Cake and it was so much more easy to work with. Now remember I am in the Costa Rica jungle and it's hot and humid, things just don't work the same here.
The recipe is adapted form eatmorechocolate.com
Chocolate Cream Icing
1/2cup whipping cream
1 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate pieces
In small saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Pour over bittersweet or semisweet chocolate pieces in medium bowl (do not stir). Let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool 15 minutes. Makes 1-1/4 cups.