Nigella's Chocolate Fudge Cake

Mmmmmm....chocolate

And strawberries.

One of my most favorite flavor combos.

Earlier this month is was my oldest daughters 20th birthday.

Holy CRAP! 20?! When did that happen?!!!

20! The first time I said 20, I almost choked. 16, 17, 18, even 19 sounded O.K. I mean, the kids are getting older but it still had that "teen" on the end. 20 is a reality check for me.....my baby isn't a teenager anymore.

breathe deeply.......inhale, exhale....repeat as necessary

Whew...(deep breath) Ok...so, I asked her what kind of cake she wanted.  She hemmed and hawed and finally sent me a text message informing me that she wanted a Chocolate Fudge Cake.

I searched.

I found.

Nigella's recipe for Chocolate Fudge Cake

I didn't change her recipe. But once I started putting it together, I decided to add....sliced strawberries in between the layers.

I'll give you the recipe here just for convenience sake and I have kept the pictures to a minimum,....but let me tell ya, the cake was moist and good and all but I wish it had been more chocolatey. But that's just me.

The icing on the other hand.....HOLY MOLY!!! It. Was. To. Diiiiiiiie for!

Cake:
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream (no wonder its so moist)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (finally! someone who's not afraid to use some vanilla!)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup corn oil
1 1/3 cup chilled water

Fudge Icing:
6 oz bittersweet chocolate (if you can find it, use a minimum 70% cocoa...I could only find 62%)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

My addition:
2 pints of strawberries, sliced in half

Preheat your oven to 350'. Butter and line the bottom (with parchment paper) of 2 8" cake pans.

Just to warn ya....you're gonna need a few bowls

In one large bowl, combine the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla.

In another bowl....with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) beat together the melted butter and corn oil until just blended then beat in the water.....

Hmmm.....the butter re-hardened and didn't mix with the water. Even a wooden spoon didn't help. Well....we'll just have to forge on and hope it doesn't matter, right?

Ok, now you're suppose to add all the dry ingredients all at once and mix together on a low setting....add the egg mixture, and mix some more until its all blended together.

Pour your batter into the prepared cake pans

Looks like the hardened butter issue wasn't an issue after all.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their little pans, on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before removing

And once again, I'm dealing with the San Andreas fault....but we'll pretend it's not there but making that the bottom or something.

Anyways, allow the cakes to cool completely before even thinking about icing them.

But you can at least make the icing. mmmmmmm.....icing!

Melt the chocolate, either using a double boiler (or bowl over a small sauce pan) or in the microwave...which ever works best for you.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter until its....well....creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat some more...and now it's fluffy, right? Add the vanilla and chocolate and mix together until it's all nice and smooth and oooooh so sinful looking

Spread some icing on the bottom layer part of the cake....and top it with some strawberries

These were some frozen strawberries that I had...I figured they'd be a little sweeter than the ones at the store right now since it's not quiet strawberry season yet.

And well...now its time to add the second layer and ice away. If you have some chocolate leftover then shave some off using a potato peeler, and sprinkle on top

And you'll find yourself in the presence of a cake worthy of your oldest child's 20th Birthday.

Printable version: Nigella's Chocolate Fudge Cake