Baked Explorations ~
Chocolate Coffee Cake ~ for John’s Birthday!
I perused lots of cookbooks before settling on this fabulous Chocolate Coffee Cake for my husband’s birthday. As you may know, I belong to a group of talented bakers, called Baked Sunday Mornings who are cooking our way through Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. I really love this cookbook – I learn something new with each recipe. This time, I made a cooked Butter Cream Frosting – and it was so light and fluffy.
The texture and flavor of this chocolate cake are incredible! And paired with melt-in-your-mouth Coffee Butter Cream and Dark Chocolate Ganache make this a chocolate lover’s dream! I decorated the cake with Yogurt and Dark Chocolate covered Almonds and Toffee and Dark Chocolate covered Espresso bits (called “Espresso Pillows”) from Trader Joe’s.
My whole family loved this cake – and most importantly – so did John!
Happy Birthday, Honey!
Santa Cruz Island from the Condor Express – Whale Watching on John’s Birthday! |
These recipes are provided for your personal use. If you publish them, or re-post them, please give me credit. Grazie e Buon Appetito!
Lizzy says
Oh, you sold me with the first photo! What a stunning cake…I’m sure John was delighted! Glad my cookbook is still out…I’m going to check out the recipe next 🙂
PS…your garnishing is wonderful!
megi says
Susan, the cake looks impressive! Perfect layers with a beautiful decoration. Happy birthday to your husband.
Pacheco Patty says
Happy Birthday John, such a lucky husband to enjoy a gorgeous homemade cake like this one!
Your Baked cooking group sounds interesting, I have the cookbook and see many recipes that I would like to try;-) I’m going to check out your Baked posts;-)
Lisa says
Oh my gosh, that cake is amazing! Your picture should be included in the BAKED book. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog till Monday and I’d love it if you’d come by and link your cake up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/07/sweets-for-saturday-25.html
Deneen says
this looks delicious!
Elaine says
Happy belated birthday to John! Your cake is stunning! We have another family birthday coming up and I just have to make this one.
Ellen Zames says
Wow this looks delicious!
My sisters and I have a linky party every Sunday called Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays. We pick a theme each week and this week’s theme is Chocolate. We would like to invite you to come by and link up your favorite chocolate recipes. The link is opened all week (until Sat) so please come by and say hi.
http://everydaysisters.blogspot.com/2011/07/everyday-sisters-sharing-sundays-3.html
Ellen
http://everydaysisters.blogspot.com
Sheri says
Beautiful – I love the decoration around the bottom. I used the same chocolate covered espresso beans from Trader Joe’s!
Did you have any problems with your buttercream? I was worried because mine tasted great but it looked kind of grainy and broken.
Sheri says
Beautiful – I love the decoration around the bottom. I used the same chocolate covered espresso beans from Trader Joe’s!
Did you have any problems with your buttercream? I was worried because mine tasted great but it looked kind of grainy and broken.
Brownie On The Bench... says
Your cake looks beautiful. My buttercream didn’t turn out all that well but now you’ve convinced me to try it again.
Kris' Kitchen says
Happy birthday to John! Your cake is stunning. Mine was NOT stunning but was tasty. I knew when I read through the recipe that there would be some issues but it was a fun cake anyway. I’m sure John loved this cake. It is more than beautiful and you have baked and decorated it beautifully. It looks just like it should. Well done. Have a wonderful day!
Chelly says
What a great birthday cake! Looks wonderful!
Bourbonnatrix says
It looks amazing! Great job with this one! It seems to have turned out perfect.
Littlebakerbunny says
What a fabulous birthday cake! And I am going to have to track down some of those espresso pillows — they make beautiful decorations. Amazing job!
Candy says
What a beautiful cake! I couldn’t find the motivation to make this cake, mainly because I am coffee-averse, but this looks delicious!