adapted from new york times cooking (ish)
It’s the post-holiday let down. Some people might feel relieved to have finished their massive baking endeavors, but I can’t help but feel like I’m coming off a high. I tend to plan my baking projects meticulously. I almost get as much enjoyment from the preparation and anticipation as from executing a bake. So, if I have nothing on the gray horizons of January, I can get a little gloomy.
No fear, though, because my dad’s birthday falls on the 18th which means I got to bake one of my favorite things - layer cake. My dad loves chocolate and coffee, and I had recently come across an amazing recipe for salted caramel ganache. As such, it only felt right to make a cake that combined all three harmonious flavors. This cake is a 3-tiered 6-inch layer cake consisting of devil’s food cake layered between salted caramel ganache and espresso Swiss-meringue buttercream.
I made this cake over the course of 3 days to spread out the work. The first day I made and froze the cake layers, the second day I made the caramel ganache and buttercream, and the third day I assembled and decorated the cake. For tips on how to best stack and smooth the cake, take a look at my confetti cake post.
scaled for a 3-tiered 6-inch cake (by weight)
Line 3 6-inch cake tins with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add both sugars and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, and buttermilk. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold with a spatula to combine. Add the hot coffee and stir until the batter is fully incorporated, glossy, and pourable.
Divide evenly between the cake tins (400 g per tin). Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before removing from the pans. Wrap each layer twice in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until ready to use.
Place the heavy cream in a small saucepan and heat on medium-low stirring occasionally until the cream just starts to simmer. While the cream heats, use the sugar to make a dry caramel as follows:
Sprinkle just enough sugar on a heavy saucepan to just coat the bottom. Cook over medium heat until the sugar begins to melt. Stir as the sugar melts to allow even cooking. Once the first layer of sugar is melted, sprinkle a second layer and allow that to melt while stirring. Continue layering sugar until all the sugar has been added. Allow all the sugar to melt together and the mixture to reach a deep amber color. Remove from heat and slowly add the cream. Stir constantly and be careful because the mixture will steam and sputter. Whisk in the butter and salt then transfer to the refrigerator to cool.
It is important to monitor the caramel as it cools because if you let it go too long it will solidify and be a lot more difficult to manage. Once the mixture reaches a spreadable consistency, remove it from the refrigerator. Either using a spoon or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, stir the caramel mixture vigorously until it lightens into a pipe-able consistency. If this doesn’t happen, allow the ganache to cool for additional time. If the ganache has solidified, allow it to come to room temperature (do not microwave or it will split) before whipping.
Heat the egg whites and sugar over a double boiler, whisking continuously until the sugar is completely dissolved (about 120°F). Place the mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on medium high speed until the mixture has cooled and stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Slowly incorporate the butter a little at a time. Add the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp espresso powder and blend on high for about 5 minutes. Once the frosting looks light and fluffy, reduce the mixer speed to low and beat for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth with very little air bubbles remaining. At this point, taste the frosting and decide if you want to add more espresso powder to punch up the flavor.
Remove the cake from the freezer and allow to defrost at room temperature for ~15 minutes. Each layer is assembled as follows: place the layer and use a pastry brush to soak with room temperature coffee. Pipe and smooth a thin layer of espresso buttercream onto the cake. Pipe a boarder of buttercream on top of this thin layer and fill that layer with salted caramel ganache. Smooth to create a flat surface and repeat with the next layer.
Lightly crumb coat then chill the cake for 20 minutes. Use a piping bag to add the outer layer of frosting and a bench scraper to smooth. Once you are satisfied with the smoothness of your outer buttercream coat, chill the cake for an additional 20-30 minutes before transferring to a cake stand and finishing the decoration.
I created a dam and filled it with a line of salted caramel ganache on the top of my cake using a small offset spatula. Then, I used a small circular tip to pipe a pearl border around the bottom of the cake and various sizes of circle and star tips to pipe the decoration on top with buttercream and ganache. I finished the decoration off with black metallic sprinkles, white nonpareils, and chocolate covered espresso beans. This cake was truly, truly delicious!