S'mores Cake

 

We've been celebrating Clints' birthday for a few days now. First there was dinner for just the four of us at one of our favourite restaurants MoVida Aqui. Then there was a get-together with friends for dinner last night (Clints' actual birthday) at our house and a s'mores birthday cake - the perfect cake for the biggest kid in the house and the man with the sweetest heart.


S'mores Cake
from Smitten Kitchen

For the Cakes:

225g unsalted butter, softened
250g plain flour
170g digestive biscuits, finely processed into a powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¾ teaspoon fine salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
130g caster sugar
190g dark brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
475ml buttermilk, well shaken

For the Filling:
225g milk chocolate, chopped small
175ml cream
2 pinches of salt

For the Frosting:
4 large egg whites
100g caster sugar
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Make the Cakes:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Butter two 23cm round cake pans, line them with circles of baking paper, then butter or coat with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, digestive crumbs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl down after each addition. Add a third of the dry ingredients, then half the buttermilk, a third of the dry ingredients, the remaining buttermilk, and then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing between additions until combined. Scrape down bowl, and mix again briefly if needed. 

Divide batter between prepared cake pans, smoothing tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack, then run a knife between the cake edges and pans before inverting each layer on a rack, discarding the baking paper, and flipping back upright onto a rack. Let cool completely.

Make the Filling:
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Combine the cream and salt in a small saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Pour over the chocolate, and let sit for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Set bowl over another bowl filled with ice water, and stir it until it firms up to a spreadable consistency. You can also let it cool down in the fridge, stirring it from time to time so it thickens evenly.

Make the Frosting:
Place egg whites, caster sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, about 3 minutes. Transfer the bowl to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting at low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, 4-7 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix until combined. You’ll want to use this immediately.

Assemble the Cake:

Place one layer on a cake stand or plate. Spread chocolate thickly over bottom layer. Place the top layer over bottom layer. 

Spread a thin layer of the frosting over the top and sides, covering all of the crumbs (and binding them to the cake). Transfer the cake to the fridge for 5 or 10 minutes, to let it set a bit, then generously coat the top and sides with additional frosting. Pipe the remaining frosting in marshmallow-like dollops decoratively over the top. With a kitchen torch on a low setting, lightly brown the top, creating a toasted-marshmallow effect.