~ with Chocolate Fudge Frosting ~
The default Birthday Cake in our house for a dozen years
best served on Jan-23, Mar-7, or October-7
Cake:
2-3/4 cups | Cake Flour (or 2-1/2 cups if All-Purpose) |
1-1/2 cups | Sugar |
3/4 cup | Butter |
3/4 teaspoons | Salt |
1-1/2 teaspoons | Baking Soda |
1-1/2 cups | Buttermilk |
3 | Eggs |
1-1/2 teaspoons | Vanilla |
1 cup | Walnuts - chopped or ground medium/fine |
(Measure then chop) | |
1 tablespoon | Orange Peel - grated |
Frosting:
Kirk's Feather-light Fudge Frosting:
~5 oz | Chocolate Best you can get - 80% or darker |
1-1/2 cups | Sugar |
1/2 cup | Butter |
1/2 teaspoons | Salt |
2/3 cup | Buttermilk |
2 teaspoons | Vanilla |
( 1/4 to 1/2 cup | Powdered Sugar to thicken as it cools ) |
EQUIPMENT:
We will use two sauce-pans of different sizes to get a double-boiler effect but with ice-water.
So more of a double-cooler, this allows us to cool and whip up the frosting quickly.
[Once the frosting is cooked and pre-cooled:]
I have a very small bowl I put in the bottom of the larger pan so the smaller pan sits level.
Then add water and ice-cubes until the smaller pan can sit in the ice-bath with the water to the top of the larger pan.
Makes more than enough frosting, but the left-over frosting has never lasted very long....
(The melting point here is so close to room temperature that the cake must be at room temperature before frosting.
I'm guessing in hot summer months, it might need more powdered sugar to keep from melting.)