Easy Chocolate Cake with Mocha Buttercream Frosting

Mmmmm...mmmm....mmmm.  I think that this is the best description for this cake.  It was super fast to make and light, moist, fluffy, (but dense) and delicious.  The frosting was just as easy to make. Edit (September 24th):  I also made these into cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting and peanut butter frosting.  The cupcakes and both frosting types were a hit, so I thought I should return to this post and add the other frosting recipes that I used.  I must admit that I am not (yet?) a big fan of decorating.  I can do it, but I usually don't have the patience and am more focused on flavor more than presentation.  I like to see something ugly and then taste it and be blown away rather than see something that looks super yummy and turns out that more effort was put into presentation than flavor.  I have been fooled by looks more than once when it comes to desserts.  Ok, a photo of the cupcakes and then the other frosting recipes.

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9 x 9 inch pan

1 large egg
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (6 ounces) sour cream (you can substitute greek yogurt as long as it isn't low fat)
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup brewed coffee--cooled (I poured it back and forth between two cups to cool quickly)
1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (optional)

1. Combine egg, sugar, yogurt, oil and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth and combined
2.  Add coffee and cocoa powder.  Mix until smooth and free of lumps
3.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and whisk until just combined
4.  Pour the batter (it will be runny) into the greased pan and bake for ~25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in pan before frosting.

For the Mocha Buttercream Frosting:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter at room temp
2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee crystals (optional, but the buttercream will not be "mocha")
4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled

Instructions
1. Whisk butter for about 5 minutes
2.  Reduce speed of mixer to low and gradually add the powdered sugar.
3.  Add the vanilla until combined on medium high
4.  Add melted chocolate and whip at medium high speed until fluffy--about 2 minutes.  Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so that your frosting won't be streaky.

Chocolate Buttercream frosting

Ingredients:
 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened but not melted.
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream (fat content of the milk is important

Instructions 

1. Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. 

2. Add the  sifted 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. 

3. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. 

Peanut Butter Frosting:

Ingredients

1 1/4 c. smooth peanut butter (not the natural kind of pb, though.  It must be something like Jif or Skippy)

1/2 c. butter (at room temperature:  this means that when you lightly press on the butter your finger easily  makes an indent)

2 c. powdered sugar (plus a bit more for reaching the correct consistency)

1 tsp. vanilla (you can start with 1/2 tsp and add more to your own taste preferences.  I tried making this frosting without the vanilla and it didn't have enough depth.)

3 tbs. Cream or half and half plus a bit more to reach the right consistency.  (I had to add a lot more cream than 3 tbs. as I wanted a much fluffier frosting)

Instructions:

1. Whip the peanut butter and room temperature butter together until there are no streaks of butter showing in the peanut butter.  

2.  Slowly add the powdered sugar (powdered sugar is always best when sifted, but it isn't essential.  It just keeps the frosting from turning out with little sugar lumps in it).

3.  Add the cream 1 tbs at a time

4. Add the vanilla 1/2 tsp at a time

5.  Taste after each addition of vanilla until the frosting reaches a flavor you like.  

6.  If your frosting is too liquid-y, add more powdered sugar.  If it is too stiff, add milk a bit at a time until it reaches the consistency your prefer.   I made this frosting pretty "fluffy".  It looks a bit grainy (check out the picture) but tastes pretty good.  If you pipe it out, it would probably look better.  I just didn't have any access to a frosting piper.

Cake + Frosting:

When the cake is cooled frost using your favorite method.  I don't really have one so I just use a spatula and then smooth it out with a butter knife.  Very high tech.

I had hardly any patience to wait until this cake was very cool and frosted the cake when it was still a bit warm and had a piece and it was delicious still warm.  The verdict is still out on whether it will be just as yummy when cold. Edit 9/24:  The cake is just as delicious cold and with all three types of frosting.

Blueberry Gateau

The blueberries of Juneau Alaska have decided to ripen after a cold, wet summer.  Finally, the temp has raised above 60 and the berries have decided to chub out.  There are blueberries for any and all who go and look for them. Especially at The Glacier Gardens.  If you like plants and riding in golf carts, (and spending $25 american) and not being able to pick their blueberries, one should definitely take this tour when in Juneau, AK.
The requisite story:
Every year, my dad requests that I bake something with the gallons upon gallons of berries that we (mostly he) picks.  It is usually a blueberry crunch which I adapted from the Joy of Cooking "cranberry crunch" recipe.  This time, he just said make sure it has lots of blueberries.  So, I googled some recipes and this is what I came up with.  And, we discovered this evening, that, according to dad, "we can keep this recipe" and that it "tastes like toast".  I think that was because I might have cooked it a bit too long and it got a bit toasty.  My mom said it was not too sweet, not too sour, not to mushy among a few other things it wasn't.  And, I can't be a good food blogger without including that "even my husband liked it".  And "he doesn't even like x,y,z".  Which, in this case, was true.  He liked it and doesn't even like desserts all that much.  I think he might have liked it more as he was a part of the blueberry gathering the past few days.

Blueberry Gateau:

You will need:
3 large-ish bowls
1 greased and floured 10 inch springform pan
2 eggs

Bowl #1:
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp salt (I used just a pinch because my butter was salted)

• mix/sift/whisk together

Bowl #2:
1/2 c. butter (1 stick)
1 c. sugar

• cream these ingredients until fluffy.
• add 1 egg at time, fully incorporating the egg before incorporating the other ingredients

Bowl #3:
3   c. blueberries
1 tbs. or so of lemon juice
1 tbs. flour
1 tbs. sugar

• mix these ingredients together 

Instructions:
1. After creaming the butter, sugar and eggs together, add the bowl of dry ingredients into the creamed ingredients and mix together.
2.  Spread the batter evenly onto the bottom of the 10 inch pan
3. Pour the blueberry mixture on top of the batter evenly.
4. Press the blueberries lightly into the mixture so the blueberries are not rolling around on top of the batter
5.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-60 minutes.  I would start checking at around 45 minutes as I did "toast" mine a bit much the first time I made it.  It is done when it looks a bit gooey and the gateau is pulling  away from the sides a bit.

Tasted really yummy cooled and with a hot drink.  Feel free to eat plain, with ice cream, or with whipped cream.

A new Fav Cookie: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

 I was attracted to these cookies looking on foodgawker, which, by the way, is also my new favorite website to go to when I am bored or need inspiration.  Foodgawker is great as it displays the food by picture without any pesky words to distract you. I made these after a long break from any baking.  I quit baking as it was turning out to be the only hobby I had and I wanted to get back into reading and exercising, not just baking and eating the goods!  My bake break worked and I have since expanded my repetoire of hobbies and can now return to baking without feeling guilty about ignoring other fun activities I also enjoy.  I didn't just want to return to making the same old cookies I made every holiday and found these cookies surfing the internet and tried them out.  I was a bit intrigued by the bananas and was unsure how they would turn out, but, they turned out delicious.  Only, unlike a lot of cookies, these cookies taste better when cooled or even the next day.  They become very moist and banana-like. 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup oatmeal (not quick-cooking)
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 bananas, cut into 1/4 to1/3 inch pieces

What I did Next:
1) Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F  have the rack in the middle of the oven for best results
2) You can line your pans with parchment paper, silpat or nothing if you feel brave
3)  Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon
4) In another bowl (or mixer) beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smooth and blended.  This will take about a minute
5) Add egg and vanilla and mix until blended; around 1 minute.  At this point, the mix might look a bit curdled
6) Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture until just incorporated.  Mix in oatmeal, mix in chocolate chips.  Mix in banana pieces until just incorporated and some are mashed, but some are still pieces
7) I use an ice cream scoop (about 3 tbs) to scoop out dough onto the pans making sure to leave a lot of space!
8) Bake about 18 minutes.  Avoid my constant mistake of overbaking cookies.  Bake until the edges are lightly browned and tops look dry. 
9) Let cookie cool on pan for 10 min before transferring to wire rack to cool further

Cookie tips: 
Let cookies rest on pans for the best baked cookie and to avoid breaking cookies when taking them off the pan, it really does make a difference.

Bake cookies one sheet at a time, or, if you must do 2, rotate halfway through baking time

Do not overbake! Cookies will, for the most part, look a little udnercooked/barely brown when it is time to take them out of the oven.

Cool cookie sheets for the most part before putting cookie dough on the cookie sheets