French Chocolate Buttercream Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• butter
• flour
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 3/4 cup lightly-salted butter, cut into 12 pieces
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• chocolate buttercream icing (recipe in 'zaar)

Recipe

• 1 place oven rack in centre of oven, heat to 350°f.
• 2 butter and flour bottoms of 2- 8 inch round cake pans, reserve.
• 3 beat eggs in large mixer bowl at high speed 1 minute.
• 4 continue beating, adding sugar very slowly, about 7 minutes.
• 5 melt chocolate with 3/4 cup butter.
• 6 drizzle warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
• 7 add sour cream and vanilla, beat at low speed until thoroughly blended.
• 8 sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, the cocoa and baking soda.
• 9 while beating at low speed, add dry ingredients, about 1/2 cup at a time, to chocolate mixture alternating with milk, about 1/3 cup at a time.
• 10 stop mixer as necessary to clean sides of bowl with rubber spatula.
• 11 beat until well blended.
• 12 pour half of batter into each reserved pan, place pans in oven diagonally on same rack.
• 13 bake until cake tester or wooden pick inserted in centre of each cake comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
• 14 cool cakes in pans on wire racks until just warm, remove from pans and cool completely on racks.
• 15 prepare chocolate buttercream.
• 16 reserve about 1/2 cup buttercream for decorative piping.
• 17 to assemble cake, place 1 layer on serving plate, spread top evenly with 3/4 of the firm buttercream.
• 18 refrigerate 30 minutes.
• 19 place second cake layer on top of first layer.
• 20 frost sides, then top of cake completely with buttercream.
• 21 pipe reserved buttercream through pastry bag fitted with star tube in a decorative border around top of cake.
• 22 refrigerate cake until thoroughly chilled, serve cold.
• 23 cake must be stored in refrigerator.