The Cake Slice Bakers July 2013 - Boston Cream Pie-lets

It is so hard to believe that we only have a short time left baking from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson. Each month has produced some beautiful creations and it is really hard to pick a favorite from the cakes that The Cake Slice Baker's have baked. I am sure that it is a cookbook that I will return to again and again.

This month's choice is the Boston Cream Pie-lets - such a cute name.  I would call this recipe a deconstructed Boston Cream Pie because it is actually made in individual pudding cups, which is a wonderful idea because you can add more of the good stuff- that delicious vanilla pudding.

Of course the name Boston Cream Pie is a misnomer because it isn't a pie at all, it is a cake.  So how did it get the name?  The Boston Cream Pie was the the invention of the chef at the Parker House Hotel in Boston in 1856, and back then it was known as the Parker House Chocolate Pie. Even when it was created it was still really a cake, but was probably baked in a pie tin, which were more common than cake tins, and was therefore known as a pie. I guess the name just stuck. Did you know that it is also the official dessert of Massachusetts?

I was really looking forward to trying this recipe because I have never made a cake that starts with whipped cream and I was really curious as to how it would turn out. I prepped everything I needed and got ready to bake the cake. After I added the cream to the mixer I turned it on to high speed and started whipping it. I swear I only turned my back for a minute to grab the measured sugar so I could pour it in and I turned back to a bowl cream that was beyond "soft, droopy peaks". My heart sank as that was the last of my cream, and I didn't really want to face Costco on the weekend. I tried to convince myself that it may still be ok, so I added the sugar and kept my fingers crossed.  In hindsight I should have crossed my toes too because what I ended up with was a bowl of separated cream and sugar. Oh, and I had just used the last of my sugar too. Here I come Costco! Moral of the story - do not turn your back on your cream. It is better to err on the more droopy side than the stiff peaks side.

Once I returned from Costco with my cream and sugar (and a few other items - darn you Costco, why can't I just buy what I went in for?) I was ready to start again. This time I watched the mixer like a hawk and stopped at "soft, droopy peaks" and I am happy to report that the rest of the mixing was uneventful and the cake came out perfectly.  I loved both the taste and texture of this cake and it is going to be my go-to recipe whenever I need to make a layered dessert.  The recipe suggests keeping the leftover cake to snack on later but I am suggesting that you just snack on it straight from the pan while it is warm, but I do caution you that once you start snacking you will not be able to stop.

After looking through my cupboards for suitable pudding cups I decided to try a variety of containers to see what worked best.  I tried a ramekin, a lowball glass, a teacup, a wine glass, a tumbler, and finally some Chinet plastic cups. The ramekin and the plastic cups were the easiest to work with because they had even sides.  Although it is nice to see the layers of the pie-lets, I thought it was kind of fun to have them hidden under layer of chocolate so everyone got a surprise when they dug their spoons in, so I would probably just go with all ramekins next time.

The Boston Cream Pie-lets were another winner. I sent the six I had made in plastic cups to some of my daughters college friends and they declared them delicious and they were gone in no time. They reminded me a little bit of a tiramisu without the coffee flavor, and they were definitely sweet so a little went a long way.  I think they would make a great dessert if you had to bring something to an office potluck, or a picnic, or even a bake sale because you could make them in small plastic cups which would be so easy to eat.

Please join me in visiting my fellow Cake Slice Bakers to see their wonderful creations.

Boston Cream Pie-lets
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients ~ Cake

• 2 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups heavy cream, cold
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Ingredients ~Pudding

• 1 vanilla bean
• 4 cups milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 egg yolks
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• ¼ corn starch
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

Ingredients ~ Ganache

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate or bittersweet, chopped or chips

Preparation ~ Cake

1. Center an oven rack and preheat oven to 350℉.
2. Grease a 13x9-inch cake pan and set aside eight 6-ounce pudding cups.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and whisk to make sure they are well combined.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream on high speed until soft, droopy peaks form. 
5. On medium-low speed, add the sugar in a steady stream  and then return the mixer to high and continue to whip the cream until stiff peaks begin to form. 
6. Return the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
7. With the speed still on low stir in the flour mixture in three parts, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition to ensure all the ingredients have been incorporated fully. 
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake on the center rack until the cake springs back in the middle when lightly touched, about 30 minutes.
9. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack until it is room temperature. While the cake is cooling make the vanilla pudding.
10. To assemble the cake, use a 2¾-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter to cut 8 circles in the cake directly from the pan. Carefully remove them from the pan and, using a serrated knife, cut each one in half horizontally to create two layers per cake (keep the leftover cake to snack on). Spoon 3 tablespoons of the warm pudding into the bottom of each pudding dish. Set the bottom half of the cake on top of the pudding, then spoon another 3 tablespoons of hot pudding and cover it with the top half of the cake. Cover the pie-lets  with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to set up.  Once they are firm, spoon 2 tablespoons of warm chocolate ganache over each one and allow the dessert to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.  Well wrapped and refrigerated they will keep for up to 5 days.

Preparation ~ Pudding

1. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise using a paring knife, scrape out the seeds from the pod and put them, along with the pod, into a large saucepan. Then add the milk and ⅓ cup of sugar. 
2. Place the pan over medium heat and heat until the milk is hot but not boiling. 
3. While the milk is heating, thoroughly whisk together the yolks, the remaining ⅔ cup of sugar,  and salt, and then blend in the cornstarch. 
4. Slowly whisk in a third of the hot milk into the yolk mixture to temper it and prevent scrambling.
5. Pour the mixture back into the pan with the remaining milk and gently cook over medium-low heat, whisking continuously, until the pudding just begins to thicken and has been bubbling for about 1 minute. 
6. Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl and whisk in the butter until melted. 

Preparation ~ Ganache

1. Once the pie-lets have chilled for approximately 3.5 hours, prepare the ganache.
2. Place the chocolate into a medium heat-proof bowl. 
3. Heat cream in a medium saucepan set over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until the cream starts to simmer. 
4. Remove the cream from heat and pour over chocolate. Swirl the bowl to ensure all the chocolate is coated. 
5. Cover the bowl with a lid and let the cream and chocolate sit together for 5 minutes. 
6. Remove the lid and stir the cream and chocolate together. First start with small circles in the center and gradually increase until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. 
7. Set aside for 30 minutes so that it becomes creamy (makes about 1½ cups).

Recipe from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson

The Cake Slice Bakers June 2013 - Black and White Cake

I am extremely late with last month's cake.  I just seemed to lose my baking mojo, and each time I thought about getting ready to bake this cake something else seemed to need my time and energy.

The cake that was chosen by the Cake Slice Baker's for June was the Black and White Cake which is described in Vintage Cakes as "the reverse of the classic white cake with chocolate frosting: two thick layers of the darkest chocolate cake, slathered with bittersweet ganache and then covered with vanilla bean buttercream". Sounds pretty decadent doesn't it?

Although there are a lot of components to the cake, breaking it up over a couple of days makes the task seem less daunting.  I ended up baking the cake and making the ganache and buttercream, and assembling part of the cake one day and then completing the frosting and adding a ganache topping the following day.  Really, it is not a difficult cake to make at all, you just need to work out the timing.

As usual I had a few ideas to change the cake just a little - however, I did stay true to the basic recipe, which is the point in baking from this book and along with the group.  I decided that I wanted to lightly brush the layers with a mixture of coffee and Kahlua to add a little moistness and a flavor kick to the cake, and I ended up making a little extra ganache to pour over the top of the cake. Also, contrary to what the actual directions state I trimmed the tops of my cakes just a little and placed the top side down on the serving plate because I find that the bottom of the cake absorbs moisture better when brushing the cakes, and I did this with the second layer too. Oh, and I added a few drops of black food coloring to my ganache.  Call me crazy but I just do not like my ganache looking so red in my photos, and I am still learning about photography and editing photos, so I don't know how to fix this later.

This cake got rave reviews from all who tried it.  It had something for everyone - a deep, dark chocolate flavor for the chocoholics, and a lovely sweet vanilla flavor for the vanilla lovers. Also, it really does develop a great flavor if left for a couple of days in the refrigerator, but make sure you allow it to come to room temperature before serving.

































Please visit The Cake Slice Bakers blogroll page for links to all of my fellow baker's cakes.  I am about to head over there myself since I make it a rule not to peek at the other cakes before I get mine up on my blog.  I can't wait to see all of their delicious creations. Oh, and don't forget that we have a Facebook page too and would love for you to visit - there you will see not only our monthly group baking project, but also all of the other goodies we bake and some great tips.


Black and White Cake
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients ~ Cake

• ¾ cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
• ⅔ cup hot coffee 
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1¼ cups dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 egg yolks, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons hot coffee (optional)
• 2 tablespoons Kahlua (optional)

Ingredients ~ Ganache

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips

Ingredients ~ Buttercream

• 6 egg whites
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 cups unsalted butter (1 pound), room temperature and cut into cubes
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Preparation ~ Cake

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350℉. 
2. Line two 8-inch round baking pans with parchment paper. Grease each pan with cooking spray. 
3. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and hot coffee, add the sour cream and vanilla and stir until well mixed. 
4. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine. 
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter  and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, adding the next one just as the previous one has been incorporated.
6. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the chocolate mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go to fully incorporate the ingredients.
7. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Smooth the tops and tap each pan on the counter a few times to allow air bubbles to escape. 
8. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 minutes - cakes are ready when the center spring back lightly when touched.
9. Cool the cakes in the pan for 30 minutes before inverting them and placing them top side up on a cooling rack to cool completely before assembling. 
10. Combine the hot coffee and Kahlua.
11. To assemble the cake, lay one of the cakes, top side up, on a serving plate (see my note above for my variation).  Using a pastry brush, gently brush the cake with the combined coffee-Kahlua mixture. Using a metal spatula frost the top with about ½ cup of ganache, spreading it just a little inside the edge of the cake. Refrigerate for about 5 minutes to allow the ganache to firm up. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and spread about 1 cup of the buttercream, covering the ganache, and taking it all the way to the edge of the cake. Align the second cake on top of the buttercream, top side up (see note above), gently brush the cake with the combined coffee-Kahlua mixture, and frost it with another ½ cup cup of ganache and chill it in the fridge for another 5 minutes. Once chilled, spread a thin layer of buttercream all around the cake, creating a crumb coat. Place in the fridge for about 10 minutes to firm up the thin layer of frosting. Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream. Decorate the top of cake with the remaining ganache in desired. 

Preparation ~ Ganache

1. Place the chocolate into a medium heat-proof bowl. 
2. Heat cream in a medium saucepan set over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until the cream starts to simmer. 
3. Remove the cream from heat and pour over chocolate. Swirl the bowl to ensure all the chocolate is coated. 
4. Cover the bowl with a lid and let the cream and chocolate sit together for 5 minutes. 
5. Remove the lid and stir the cream and chocolate together. First start with small circles in the center and gradually increase until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Allow to sit up to a couple hours to become creamy. 

Makes about 1 ½ cups

Preparation ~ Vanilla Buttercream

1. Using a hand whisk, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. 
2. Place the bowl over (not touching the water) a saucepan of simmering water. The mixture will be thick at first but will become more fluid-like as it heats. 
3. Continue to gently whisk the mixture until very hot to the touch (130℉ on a candy thermometer).
4. Move the bowl to the stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip the whites and sugar mixture together on medium-high speed until it has tripped in volume and it is is thick and glossy, and holds stiff peaks, about 4 minutes. 
5. Turn the mixer down to medium-low speed until the bowl is cool to touch. 
6. Turn the speed back up and add the butter, one cube at a time, adding the next just as the previous one has been incorporated. During the mixing the frosting will, at one stage, look as though it has curdled, but it will come back together.
7. Once all the butter has been added, and the frosting is fluffy and creamy, add the vanilla and salt until combined.

Makes about 5 cups. This buttercream, covered with plastic wrap will last for 2 days at room temperature or 7 days in the refrigerator.  If refrigerated it needs to come to room temperature before use.  Also the buttercream will need to be re-whipped before use.

Slightly adapted from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson.

Piña Colada Blondies with Toasted Coconut Glaze

A beautiful sunset, toes in the sand and a Piña Colada in your hand. Sounds like paradise doesn't it? Unfortunately it doesn't happen all that often, even though I live in Hawaii.  So I came up with the next best thing - Piña Colada Blondies with Toasted Coconut Glaze.

What is a blondie you may ask?  Well, I used to think that they were supposed to be like brownies without the chocolate, but they really are more cake-like and not dense at all.  There are many recipes for blondies but I loosely based mine on a recipe by Martha Stewart, and then gave it a pineapple and coconut twist.

As the song says, "If you like piña colada's", then you will love these blondies. Well, that is not quite the lyrics but after one bite you will want to change them just like I did. I loved the crushed pineapple in them because it kind of melted into the cake, and the glaze on top is pure coconut goodness. This recipe will make 9 large blondies, and can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Piña Colada Blondies with Toasted Coconut Glaze
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients
Blondies ~

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups crushed pineapple, well drained (reserve the liquid)
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 2 tablespoons Malibu® coconut rum or coconut essence 
• ¼ cup pineapple juice (from reserved liquid)

Glaze ~

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoons cream of coconut (I used Coco Lopez)
• 2 tablespoons Malibu® coconut rum or coconut essence
• 1 teaspoon hot water
• ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Preparation
Blondies ~

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.
2. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang, and butter lining (excluding overhang).
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
4. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs, Malibu, coconut, and pineapple juice, and mix until combined.
6. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mix for 1 minute then stop the mixer and scrape the paddle and sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Continue to mix for another minute, or until well combined.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan spreading evenly with a spatula.
8. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into blondies comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 40 to 45 minutes.
9. Cool slightly in pan for about 15 minutes, and then lift out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
10. Whilst blondies are cooling toast coconut  - preheat oven to 350℉, place coconut on a tray lined with parchment and put in the oven, stirring every 5 minutes until golden brown - keep an eye on it as it can burn quickly.

Glaze ~

1. Place sifted powdered sugar in a bowl, add cream of coconut, Malibu, and water and stir until smooth.
2. Once blondies are cool, gently spoon glaze over the top allowing it to run over the sides.
3. Sprinkle blondies with toasted coconut and cut into bars.

Recipe by All That's Left Are The Crumbs©

Snickers and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the pitfalls of living in a warm climate year-round is when you leave your butter out to soften to room temperature, you can sometimes come back to a puddle of oil.  Such is life and you just throw it in the mixer and keep your fingers crossed.  Cookies don't last long in my household anyway, so a little melted butter is not going to affect that in any way.

I first saw these cookies last week on The Spiced Life and I knew as soon as I saw the title that I would have to bake them since Snickers is one of my favorite candies.  Unfortunately, I was not able to find Snickers Bites, so I had to compromise with Snickers bars that I put in the refrigerator and then cut into small pieces.  The bars worked out well but I will still try and find the bites because they seem like something that would be fun to bake with. Sweet and salty is one of my favorite combinations and I really liked the sprinkle of sea salt on top of the cookies.  They reminded me a little of shortbread.

Other than the Snickers bars the only other change I made was to use only all-purpose flour for the cookies.  This happened to be the flour that I hand on hand, and it worked out fine.  If you are planning on making them I'll give you a heads up that the dough needs to be refrigerated before baking, preferably overnight.

A little love heart of caramel on one of the cookies

Snickers and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1¼ teaspoon baking soda 
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder 
• 1½ teaspoon coarse salt 
• 2½ sticks unsalted butter 
• 1¼ cups light brown sugar 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 tablespoon natural vanilla extract 
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips 
• 2 King Size (3.56oz) Snickers Peanut Butter Squared cut into small pieces
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling 

Preparation

1. Whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl, and set aside. 
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. 
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 
4. Stir in the vanilla. 
5. With speed on low, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. 
6. Mix in the chocolate chips and Snickers pieces. Cover the dough with something airtight and refrigerate at least overnight.
7. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. 
8. Using a cookie dough scoop or an ice cream scoop of medium size, scoop the cookies onto the prepared tray, 6 per sheet. 
9. Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still a little soft, about 11-13 minutes. 
10. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cookies individually to a cooling rack.

Recipe by Laura from The Spiced Life

The Cake Slice Bakers May 2013 - The Pink Cake

This year is certainly zipping along, and it is already time once again for the Cake Slice Baker's latest cake. It is hard to believe that this will be the seventh cake we have baked from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson.  The votes were tallied and the cake with the most votes this month was The Pink Cake, which according to the author, is the most popular cake at her bakery, Baker & Spice.

Each and every cake we have baked has been a lot of fun, and this one was no exception. However, have you ever felt jinxed when baking a cake?  This cake definitely had me feeling like there was some sort of curse on it.  Before even getting the cakes in the oven I had taken the skin off the top of my hand getting ingredients out of the cupboard, managed to spill flour all over the floor, and whilst separating the eggs I got some of the yolk in the whites, meaning that they could no longer be used for the buttercream. The bad luck continued when I discovered that my cake tins were actually 9-inch, rather than the 8-inch listed in the recipe, so the layers were too thin and I had to make another batch of cakes.  The final straw was when I was taking photos of the cake and my background fell on the cake destroying the top of it.

But baker's are a hardy bunch and they certainly do not give up.  So, despite all of the bad luck with the cake, it actually came out tasting pretty good, and it looked fine once I had repaired my evil backboards damage.  As I mentioned above I ended up with 6 layers because I baked two batches of 9-inch cakes, and it would have been fun to use them all and make a really tall cake, but I was worried that I would not have enough frosting, so I decided to go with four layers. The author mentions in the book that at her bakery they use a sugar syrup to coat the layers.  I decided that since the raspberries were quite expensive I would try and make use of the seeds.  Following the authors suggestion I made a simple syrup, but then went out on my own and added some creme de cacao and the raspberry seeds, and left it overnight to steep.  The next day I simply strained out the seeds leaving a delicious chocolate-raspberry syrup to brush over each of my layers.

This cake has a rich chocolate flavor that I really like and a subtle raspberry taste in the frosting. I loved the chocolate-raspberry taste, and the little bit of moistness that the syrup added to the cake. You can see from my pictures that I did not place too much frosting in-between the layers as I find that the sweetness of the buttercream can overwhelm the cake.  I realize that looking at the preparation list may seem a little intimidating, but this cake is not hard to make.  Sure, there are a few steps, but if you divide them up over a couple of days it will seems like a breeze, and just think how super impressed everyone will be with this cake when you say "I made it myself".

I am including a link here to the blogs of my fellow Cake Slice Baker's so that you can check out all of their beautiful creations.  I am betting that their luck may have been a little better than mine whilst baking this particular cake.  Also, we have launched a Facebook page that features not only our cake's each month, but all sorts of other goodies made by the group.

The Pink Cake

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

Cake ~

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• ¼ cup lightly packed premium unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa
• ¾ cup boiling water
• ¾ cup full-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup canola oil
• 3 egg yolks, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature

Raspberry Buttercream ~

• 6 egg whites
• 1¼ cups sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small cubes
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 4 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen berries, measure them before thawing) 

Creme de Cacao-Raspberry Simple Syrup ~

• ½ cup boiling water
• ½ sugar
• 1 tablespoon creme de cacao
• raspberry seeds leftover from the buttercream

Preparation

Cake ~

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350℉.
2. Put the unsweetened chocolate and the cocoa into a small bowl. 
3. Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and allow it to steep for 1 minute, then whisk the mixture together. 
4. Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla and set aside.
5. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then whisk the mixture by hand to ensure that the ingredients are well mixed.
6. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes, stopping the mixer frequently to scrape the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 
7. On low speed, drizzle the oil into the mixture until blended, then turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until the batter is fluffy, about 3 more minutes. 
8. Blend in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the batter. 
9. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the chocolate mixture in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop and scrape the bowl. Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the blending by hand with a rubber spatula to ensure you do not overbeat the batter.
10. Divide the thick batter equally among the prepared pans (there will be approximately 1 pound 2 ounces per pan). 
11. Smooth the tops and tap the pans on the counter to settle the batter and eliminate any large air bubbles. Bake in the middle of the oven until the centers spring back when lightly touched, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Flip the cakes out of the pans, leaving on the parchment paper until you assemble the cake. Let them continue to cool on the rack, top sides up, until they reach room temperature.

Buttercream ~

1. Mash and strain 4 cups of raspberries through a fine mesh sieve to catch the seeds.
2. Discard the seeds and set aside.             
3. Using a hand whisk, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the clean bowl of a stand mixer. 
4. Place the bowl over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water. The egg white mixture will be gloppy and thick, but as the mixture begins to warm up, it will become more fluid. Continue to gently whisk the mixture until it is very hot to the touch (130°F on a candy thermometer).
5. Move the bowl to the stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip the whites on medium-high speed until they have tripled in volume and are thick and glossy and hold stiff peaks (like meringue), 3 to 4 minutes. 
6. Turn the mixer down to medium-low speed until the mixing bowl is just cool to the touch, 1 to 2 minutes. 
7. Turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and add the butter one piece at a time, adding the next piece just as the previous one has been incorporated, stopping the mixer every so often to scrape down the escaping buttercream from the sides of the bowl. At some point, the buttercream will take on a curdled appearance; don't worry, this is normal. Just keep on mixing until it comes together. Once all the butter is incorporated and the frosting is fluffy and creamy, blend in the raspberry puree, vanilla and salt until fully combined.
8. Covered with plastic wrap, buttercream will last 2 days at room temperature or 7 days in the refrigerator. If refrigerated, the buttercream must be brought to room temperature before you use it. Either way, the buttercream must be rewhipped—either by hand if kept at room temperature or with a mixer if refrigerated—before you frost a cake with it.

Creme de Cacao-Raspberry Simple Syrup ~

1. Mix all ingredients in a container, cool, and leave in refrigerator overnight.
2. Strain seeds from mix, and discard.

Assemble the cake ~

1. Lay one of the cakes top side up on a cake plate. 
2. Brush with creme de cacao-raspberry simple syrup.
3. Using a metal spatula, frost the top with 3/4 cup of buttercream, spreading it out to the edge of the cake (the filling will be about 1/4 inch thick). 
4. Stack the second cake top side up on top of the frosted cake, brush with syrup, and spread another 3/4 cup of buttercream on top of it. 
5. Stack the last layer of cake top side up on top and brush with the simple syrup. Look for any frosting that may have oozed out beween the layers and spread it along the sides of the cake. Apply a thin layer of frosting all over the cake to create a "crumb coat." 
6. Place the cake in the refrigerator until the frosting is firm, about 10 minutes. 
7. Take it out and frost the cake with the remaining buttercream, using your spatula to make decorative swirls.
8. Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 
3 days.             

Recipe by Julie Richardson - Vintage Cakes