Vanilla Butter Cake with Rich Chocolate Buttercream
I like the elegant and simple sophistication of putting two great recipes together. This Vanilla Butter Cake with Rich Chocolate Buttercream is one of those cakes.
This recipe makes a beautiful 3-layer cake. I chose to use a chocolate buttercream but it is also delicious simply sprinkled with powdered sugar.
This cake has a beautiful light and tender crumb. The cake is so moist and delicious I couldn’t stop eating it during the photo shoot.
The chocolate buttercream is a ganache-styled buttercream. It’s very smooth and rich. Think of chocolate butter sweetend with powdered sugar. This buttercream could easily be used for mini cupcakes, piped on cookies or spread on top of brownies or bars. If you pipe a large amount on top of a regular cupcake keep in mind it could take you over the edge. It would be like biting into a handful of truffles. If that’s your thing go for it!
One note about this buttercream, it’s best to use it right away. If you wait too long it starts to set and gets difficult to spread. That’s what happened to me in this video. I’ve made this buttercream before without any issues, but back then I wasn’t also making my first baking video at the same time! No problem in this case, I just worked the buttercream with my cake spatula until it was spreadable again. In the end I was happy with the result and it still tasted fantastic!
I hope you enjoy it!
Vanilla Butter Cake with Rich Chocolate Buttercream
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting cake pans)
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups whole milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 6 Tbs unsalted butter (2 ¾ sticks), softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
Buttercream
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 2 ¼ cups semisweet chocolate
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup confectioners sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 3 8-inch round cake pans. Line bottom of cake pans with parchment paper. Dust pans with flour.
- In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup or small bowl combine milk and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping the bowl occasionally.
- Add the flour mixture in 3 additions and alternate with 2 additions of the milk mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated.
- Divide batter equally between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Flip cake out onto wire rack, continue to cool.
Buttercream
- Place the butter and chocolate in a glass bowl. Microwave for 60 seconds, then stir. Microwave for 15 seconds, then stir. Repeat at 15-second microwave intervals until chocolate is almost melted through. Finish stirringby hand until chocolate is completely melted.
- Stir in the milk and the vanilla. Sift the confectioners sugar then add to the chocolate mixture, stir until thoroughly blended and smooth.
- Chill the chocolate mixture for 45 minutes then beat withan electric mixer. Continue to chill and beat every 15 minutes until chocolate mixture is smooth and spreadable.
- Use immediately. This buttercream gets more firm and less spreadable as it sets.
Notes
