Chocolate and Vanilla Five Layer Cake

A five-layer cake with vanilla and chocolate cake layers alternately drenched in chocolate malt buttercream and topped with a typical vanilla buttercream icing. Enough with the words!

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake Layers:

• 2½ cups, plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup, plus 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp salt
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1½ cups buttermilk, room temperature
• 1½ cups strong black coffee, hot
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1½ tbsp pure vanilla extract

For the Vanilla cake:

• ⅓ cup butter
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1¾ cups all purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ⅔ cups buttermilk
• 1 tsp baking soda

for the Malted chocolate frosting:

• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 2 cups icing sugar, sifted
• 37.5 gms ovaltine classic malt powder
• ½ tbsp vanilla extract
• pinch salt
• 125 gm dark or semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• 60 ml whipping cream

For the Vanilla Frosting:

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
• 3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar, well sifted
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• upto 4 tbsp milk or heavy cream ( I used heavy cream since we were out of milk)

for lemon sugar syrup: (just boil all till sugar dissolves and let cool a bit)

• a squirt of fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Instructions

For the chocolate cake layers:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. I prepared two 9-inch pans by greasing them, lining them with parchment paper, buttering the parchment paper, and dusting with cocoa powder. The original recipe calls for three 8-inch cake pans, but I only had 9-inch pans, so I used those instead, resulting in less thicker layers.
3. Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing basin.
4. In a measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
6. Divide the batter in half (will be thin).
7. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for 32 minutes, flipping the pans after 20 minutes. Continue to bake for another 12 minutes, or until a toothpick or spear comes out virtually clean (with a few crumbs).
8. Allow 20 minutes for the cake to cool in the pans before inverting onto a wire rack to cool entirely.

For the Vanilla cake layers:

1. Cream butter till light and creamy, then add vanilla and sugar. One at a time, add the eggs, beating thoroughly after each addition.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a separate basin. 4-5 times sift
3. Beginning and finishing with the dry ingredients, alternating adding dry components and milk to the creamed butter egg mixture. Don’t overmix the ingredients.
4. Bake for 35-45 minutes in a well oiled 9-inch pan lined with parchment paper, or until a tester comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool fully.

For the malted chocolate frosting:

1. Combine the sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on low speed for a minute, or until well combined.
2. Add the malt powder, vanilla, and salt, and continue to beta on low until everything is blended.
3. Add the melted and cooled chocolate and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until smooth. This is when everything will start to take shape. Resist the urge to dip your fingers into the icing and take a lick.
4. Add the whipping cream and beat for about a minute on medium high.
5. (It’s better to use this frosting immediately soon.)

For the vanilla frosting:

1. On medium speed, beat butter for a few minutes using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
2. Turn your mixer to the lowest speed and add 3 cups of powdered sugar, mixing until the sugar is completely integrated with the butter.
3. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 3 minutes, adding the vanilla, salt, and 2 tablespoons cream. Refrain from licking the icing once more. So, what the hell, I’ll give in. It won’t hurt to give it a lick! Add extra cream/milk if the frosting is too stiff. Add confectioners’ sugar if it’s too liquidy.

Assembly:

1. Cut one of the chocolate cakes in half horizontally.
2. One of the chocolate layers should be placed at the bottom. Brush the lemon sugar syrup over top. Spread the malted chocolate buttercream on top. Cut the vanilla cake in half. Place one half on top of the chocolate cake that has been smeared with buttercream.
3. Finish with a drizzle of syrup and a dollop of malted chocolate buttercream. Continue with the remaining layers.
4. You’ll have one half chocolate layer left over, which you may use to make cake balls or enjoy plain.
5. Refrigerate until you’re ready to make the vanilla icing.
6. Spread the vanilla icing all over the cake. I’ve discovered that the easiest approach to cover a cake is to make a crumb coat with a portion of the frosting and then chill the cake to solidify the crumb coat. Once the frosting is set, slather on more and level it out with a flat spatula/pastry scraper.
7. With the leftover malted chocolate frosting, I piped a rose on top for the last touch. If you want to go all out, double the recipe and pipe flowers all over. I used melted chocolate to create the “fire” appearance on the sides after topping with grated chocolate.

Source: The Novice Housewife

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