sour cream chocolate cake

dinah asks to make a cake frequently, like every day, probably. i generally say no, not today, honey. but finally, when she asked for a dinosaur chocolate cake (she loves dinosaurs), i agreed. this year for our new year's day cake, we made a chocolate sour cream "dinahsaur" cake.

the original recipe is from smitten kitchen, which i made for my little brother's birthday a few years ago. it has peanut butter frosting and chocolate peanut butter glaze (ummm, yummm!), but this time, i just made the cake part with a chocolate buttercream center.

this cake is super moist, almost brownie-like, and super delicious, but really, really super fragile. the cakes will completely fall apart if you don't grease the pans properly or freeze the cakes for 30 minutes before trying to frost them. normally, with all round cakes i make, i vigorously grease the bottom and sides of the cake pan, add parchment paper to the bottom, grease the bottom again, then dust with flour, and so far all my cakes have popped out perfectly. this time, although i was excited about baking a cake with dinah, waller was not. i usually cook and bake wearing him, and it's generally no problem -- he's either asleep or happily cuddled up against me. this time, he was not happy and fussed and squirmed the entire time. so, trying to rush, i skipped the o.c.d. cake pan greasing step, and merely greased and floured. ugh, big mistake. the cakes didn't come out very pretty. one was so stuck in the pan, that it came out in a million pieces. of course, the scraps were still tasty, so it's not like i tossed it or something, but still, what a bummer to have a two tier cake instead of three.

it's a rich cake all by itself, so i whipped up a simple chocolate buttercream frosting to slap on the middle of the two cakes and decided to dust the top with powdered sugar instead of icing the top as well. and anyway, dinah asked for a dinosaur cake, so i had to get creative with decorating the cake top.

sour cream chocolate cake

this makes an 8-in triple layer cake that serves 12-16 people

2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups sugar (i used only 2 and it was plenty)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (i used hershey's special dark)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup canola oil

1 cup sour cream (i didn't have enough sour cream, so i used 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup buttermilk)

1 1/2 cups water

2 TBS distilled white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

grease pans, line with parchment paper, then grease and dust with flour.  whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, set aside. in your mixing bowl, whisk oil and sour cream until blended, gradually beat in water, vinegar and vanilla. beat in eggs until well blended. mix in dry ingredients and mix very well. divide among the three prepared cake pans.

bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. let cool in the pans for 20 minutes. invert onto wire racks, and carefully peal off parchment paper liners, then let cool completely. since these cakes are so soft, place in the freezer for 30 minutes before frosting. 

chocolate buttercream frosting

1 cup salted butter, softened

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (i used hershey's special dark, again)

4 TBS heavy whipping cream 

2 tsp vanilla

cream butter until smooth. mix in powdered sugar and cocoa powder on low, then add whipping cream. beat on high until blended and fluffy.

put a generous layer between cake layers and dust the top with powdered sugar. 

vegan coconut layer cake

and this is how dinah helps bake birthday cakes #stoppickingyournose

it's my 31st birthday today! i love birthdays, mostly because cake is involved. i've made myself a birthday cake for as long as i can remember. last year i made a white sparkling cranberry cake, the year before, i made a pear cake with brown sugar buttercream frosting. this year, however, i made a vegan birthday cake. no, i'm not worried about eating animal byproducts or attempting to be healthier. no, no, this year, i have a wee tiny baby who's been struggling with dairy. he nurses about every five minutes right now, so when i have dairy, so does he. it's a very common allergy for infants and typically goes away by six months old, or so. since cutting out dairy, his uncontrollable crying sessions have disappeared. which is great, but sort of a bummer to say goodbye to dairy for a while. but a happy, healthy baby is so, so, so worth it.

i have the cutest kitchen helper that ever lived

so, a dairy free cake, it is. no problem. dinah requested a "winter cake" so i figured a white cake, with white icing, and "snowy" shredded coconut would do the trick. finding a good dairy free cake is easy enough, for the frosting, however, i had to get more creative.

this year, our good friends and their three-year-old daughter - dinah's very best buddy - and their one-year-old son came over for lunch, wine and birthday cake. spending birthdays with people you love is the only way i ever want to celebrate them. we had quite a feast; meatloaf, squash, rice, salad, and bread.

we ended the day with a huge slice of cake and sat by the fire and watched the little ones scream and run around. and how was this vegan cake? amazing! i was totally blown away with how moist and flavorful this cake was. even when i'm back on dairy, i will make it again. the icing was fantastic too. so light and creamy. it would be perfect over berries in the summertime.

vegan coconut layer cake

3 cups white flour

2 cups white sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups almond milk

1 cup canola oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 TBS vanilla

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

-preheat oven to 350 degrees. lightly grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans

-in a large sized bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together. in another bowl, mix milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until combined. gently fold in coconut.

-fill each prepared pan with equal amounts of batter. bake 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it. rotate the pans halfway through baking times.

-let the cakes cool completely before assembling.

coconut whipped frosting

2 14oz cans of coconut cream (from Trader Joe's), chilled

1/2 - 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cups shortening

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups shredded coconut

-chill the coconut cream in the refrigerator overnight. scrape the hardened cream into a bowl and the shortening, and whip powdered sugar and vanilla into it until it becomes fluffy. assemble and frost the cakes. sprinkle two cups of shredded coconut over the top.