Well, this cake was quite an adventure! Too much going on at once and everything ended up taking longer than it should have. It’s the second cake I’ve made from The Cake Bible. With Anne and Julie’s great advice I got the buttercream made on Wednesday- it’s heavenly! I thought getting that done would free up some time to work on my piping. I’ve been seeing these gorgeous henna tattoo inspired cakes online and thought I’d give it a go.

Today was the first time I’ve used magi-strips. I also picked up the Wilton spray cake release. I thought it would be like baker’s joy, which I haven’t seen here. So, the FIRST mistake I made was not flouring the sides after spraying the pan. Then I got distracted and mixed the egg/cocoa mixture in with the butter instead of the cocoa I was supposed to mix in. I ran the mixer longer hoping it would still work. Not so much. It came out about 1 1/4# tall. I kept it and will do something with it. I had time today though, so I started over.

The final cake was moist and very chocolatey. I love, love, love the frosting. I love the cake. I don’t think I love the frosting and the cake together. My main issue is that the cake kind of overpowered the frosting, or the flavors just blended too much.. The next time I make this cake, I’ll do a raspberry or strawberry buttercream. I think I’ll try the frosting with a butter cake.

I used quick-tempered “seized” chocolate for the piping. I ended up printing out clip art and taping it to the counter. I laid parchment over it and piped the design. After it firmed up I transferred it to the cake. I need to work on my piping!!

Your cake looks wonderful.  Which cake and buttercream recipe did you use from the cake bible?  Your piping skills look just fine to me.  I always find every cake an adventure and I always plan on it taking longer than it should, because it usually does, at least for me anyways.

The cake is beautiful!! Which is the cake part—is it the Perfect All American Chocolate Butter Cake or the Perfect All American Chocoalte Torte (my fave so far)? 

Your piping is wonderful!

I never worry about a chocolate cake coming up ‘short’—it’s just fudgier!!!  It’s not always what I want, but it’s always good!  I’d just think of a frosting you’d like on something that’s more a cross between brownies and cake, and it’ll be awesome!  Maybe coffee buttercream or whipped cream?

Your cake looks gorgeous!  Very, very nice job.

Every since I tasted that buttercream I’ve been thinking about what might be the best pairing with it- possibly the golden genoise?  Maybe the cocoa souffle roll?  Coffee chiffon?  Looks like I have a few new things to try.

Thanks ladies! The good thing about piping on parchment is that it’s easier to clean up your mistakes!

Julie you’re making me hungry! I don’t have RHC yet, but have read about the Karmel cake. It sounds like it’s a different cake base. What do you think of that? My birthday’s coming up & I’m dropping hints like crazy for my copy of RHC!

Liza, fortunately I had planned to spend the day in the kitchen. I had a little more elaborate plans for the piping, but I am happy with how it turned out. Just one of those days. Aside from the cake issues I made a batch of salted caramels that never quite set up- a yummy misfortune So by the time I got to the piping I wasn’t too confident in what I was doing.

Anne, I agree with the fudgier part. I was thinking the shortie will be good with a lighter filling and frosting like cloud cream.. Gives me something to play with later in the week!

I just knew I’d made mistakes and since it was the first time to taste the recipe I wanted to do it right   The second one turned out right at 1 3/4# like it was supposed to, which made me happy! It is the Perfect All American Butter Torte and I do love it! My resident chocoholic says he thinks he likes it better than the Perfect All American Butter Cake. Bigger chocolate flavor. But that I need to make them both at the same time so he can compare side by side  

For me this one turned out less crumbly, seemed more moist and cut nicer. I don’t know if it’s due to the recipe or if the PAACBC I made last week was slightly overdone?

Liza the frosting is a hybrid of the Caramel SMBC and the Chocolate Praline SMBC from The Cake Bible. I couldn’t find praline paste, so I used unsweetened praline nut butter (requiring the hybrid). Anne and Julie taught me how to do it and it turned out soooooo good.

Georgie, I’m not sure about the Karmel cake, maybe?  But I was thinking in general that a butter cake might be too strongly flavored for that buttercream.  Not sure about the brown sugar part of the Karmel cake.  Hard to know, though, without tasting it.

I also thought that buttercream might work in a Dobos Torte. 

Here’s a post from a highly acomplished baker who used this buttercream with a milder chocolate cake, the choc chiffon from RHC: http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/viewthread/2055/P45/#20983

Hi and welcome Georgie!  The cake looks delicious!  I have to agree that I found it hard to find a cake that paired well with the chocolate praline SMBC.  It is hands down the best BC to eat straight up, but when I made it for my cousins wedding, we had a hard time finding the best cake to go with it so the flavours of the filling weren’t lost.

It is hands down the best BC to eat straight up

Maybe it should simply be renamed Chocolalte Praline Silk Meringue Mousse.

Quite a bit of it did just get eaten with a spoon! I like the idea of it as mousse!! Sherrie, what cake flavor did you pair with it?

We did two different cakes, Georgie.  The “display” cake was covered in fondant (and a layer of White Chocolate MBC), and I paired it with the Chocolate Fudge Cake which was chosen so it would be firmer to cut (and not mush for the cutting of the cake)—this was ok—but the SMBC didn’t really stand out.  I also used the Deep Chocolate Passion cake base for the serving cake, since it is really nice to work with.  I think we preferred this cake combo overall, but still I found the flavour of the SMBC to be a bit lost… hence to fully appreciate it is necessary to eat it on its own.  My other conclusion was to just eat it mounded high on a cupcake—that way the frosting hits the palate unhindered by cake.  Also, I didn’t torte all of the layers (the served cakes were 2 layers rather than a total of 4 layers) which may have helped up the SMBC to cake ratio—but it turned out to be a very expensive filling for 300+ people, so we went with one layer of filling.

My better half has put in his request that I fill cream puffs with it.. I think he may be onto something!

Your cake looks like in my daughter dreams ha ha ha.When she saw it,she said:“Mom,please,make it now!” So…now I must to try this cake,I hope I can do it .Thanks a lot for this recipe!

I’m glad she likes it! Maybe since it is for her she should help you with the decoration. The chocolate torte is very, very tasty!!

The decor looks beautiful Georgie.  Very very pretty.

Thank you Little Island! I am pleased with how it turned out and am planning to do another with a similar design theme soon. I think it will be more fun now that I have a little better idea how to get the design onto the cake