Bake Along #25 - Anniversary Chocolate Coffee Kahlua Layered Cake (Barefoot Contessa)

Wow! How time flies! Bake Along is 1!

It has been a joyous experience to be able to take part in this event
Thank you to the hosts, Joyce, Lena and Zoe for the wonderful idea and the continuous effort and making superb recipe choices :)
Great experience to meet many new friends sharing the same passion, learning together doing what we love... Isn't it just wonderful?
It is so coincident that today, 29 May, is my 8th wedding anniversary :)

So, for these two wonderful events, I baked this chocolate coffee cake from Ina Garten which has made me salivating when I saw Zoe and Kit baked this cake
Agree with them, this cake is superb!
Moist, fine texture, chocolatey, the sweetness is just right, the coffee fragrant is a plus point and I added with a hint of kahlua, it's a pleasant bonus :)
I used Valrhona cocoa which makes the chocolate cake tastes so much better :)
Another pleasant surprise is the buttercream
It's so smooth, creamy and yummy! Really a keeper!
And another plus point - which is my favorite, it's relatively easy to make!

What you need:

For the cake:

210g plain flour
400g caster sugar
3 eggs
85g Valrhona cocoa
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
250ml buttermilk
125ml vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 cup hot coffee (I used 3 tsp Nescafe instant coffee powder mixed with 250ml hot water)
1 tbsp kahlua

1. Preheat oven to 180degC
2. Grease 2 x 20cm round pans, line with parchment paper and butter + flour the pans
3. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in one bowl
4. Mix buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla in another bowl
5. With mixer on low speed, add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients
6. Still on low speed, add in coffee and kahlua, stir just to combine, scrap the bottom occasionally
7. Pour batter into pans, bake for approximately 45 minutes, til skewer comes out clean
8. Cool in pans for 30 minutes, turn onto cooling rack, cool completely
9. Place 1 layer, flat on top, spread frosting on top, place second layer on top, rounded side up, spread frosting all over cake as desired

For the frosting:

(I made 1/2 of the recipe below and it's sufficient)
170g chopped dark chocolate (70%)
226g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp instant coffee powder, dissolve in 2 tsp hot water
1 tsp kahlua

1. Melt chocolate over a pan of simmering water, stir til just melted, let cool completely
2. Beat butter on medium high speed til yellow and fluffy - approximately 3 minutes
3. Add in egg yolk and vanilla, continue beating for another 3 minutes
4. Turn mixer to low speed, gradually add icing sugar, beat in medium speed, scraping down the bowl if needed, til smooth and creamy
5. In low speed, add chocolate and coffee, as well as kahlua to the butter mixture, mix til blended
6. Spread immediately on cooled cake

I'm linking this to Cook Like A Star blog hop event, hosted by Zoe, featuring Barefoot Contessa as the celebrity chef for the month of May

Happy anniversary to Bake Along, also to me and my dear hubby XOXO

Below is more layered cake from other Bake Along friends....