Choco-Bliss Snack Cakes

OK, finally item number three that I made for our visitors two weeks ago.  I know you've just been dying to know right? No? hum. 

Well I've been wanting to make this one for awhile now.  I first saw it in an email I got from King Arthur Flour.  It looked totally delicious and then another one of my favorite web sites posted the recipe so I knew I just needed the right occasion to break it out.  I mean, this isn't the type of dessert I just casually throw together on a week night.  Know what I mean? 

Although they did come into town on a Tuesday night so I guess I did make it on a week night.  Whatever, you know what I mean. 

The cake portion is pretty straight forward.  I sprayed a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick spray and then put parchment paper on it and sprayed and floured the parchment paper. This is no place for a cake that sticks.

This is the chocolaty brew...I say that because it's getting close to Halloween and I don't get to say "brew" enough.

The concoction above is the filling portion of this recipe.  Looks magical right? It is.

After baking the cake you let it cool completely.  Once cool you turn it out of the pan using the parchment paper and then cut it in half.

Once cut in half you can cut each half in half through the middle using a large serrated knife.

Slather the wonderful filling over the middle of the two cut pieces.

Top with the cake toppers.

Make the icing and frost the tops.  This icing recipe isn't too runny and stays in place nicely.  Once everything is cool, cut the cake into snack sized pieces and enjoy.

I refrigerated mine and I thought it was much better cold because the center didn't squeeze out as much.  Best with a big glass of milk.  This cake certainly isn't lacking in chocolate flavor! The cake is totally moist and flavorful, the filling is so sweet and there is a lot of it!  The icing is not as sweet as the filling and makes a nice compliment to the rest of the cake, plus I love how shiny it is.  I loved it, my guests loved it and since I had leftovers I took it to my old job and they loved it too.  Winner!

Choco-Bliss Snack Cakes
Brown Eyed Baker

Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick spray, then line with parchment paper and then spray again and coat with flour.
2. In a small bowl melt the butter, add the cocoa powder and hot water until the cocoa is dissolved. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk the flour, espresso powder, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir the cocoa liquid over the flour mixture and stir to incorporate completely. Add the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and mix well.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake for 30 minutes. when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean the cake is done. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium heat proof bowl bowl place the cocoa powder, chocolate chips, salt and heavy cream.
2. Microwave for about 1 minute or until the cream is hot and has begun to melt the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth, microwaving briefly if needed. Stir in the vanilla and set aside.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the shortening, butter and half the powdered sugar together on medium speed until fluffy. About 3-5 minutes.
4. Add the chocolate mixture and continue beating until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
5. Add the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar and incorporate until smooth and fluffy.
6. Assemble The Cakes: Remove the cooled cake from the pan and lay out on the counter on a piece of parchment paper. Cut the cake in half so you have 2 - 9x6.5 inch pieces. Cut each of those pieces in half through the middle using a long serrated knife. Now you should have a top and a bottom for each cake. So two tops and two bottoms.
7. Coat the top bottom cut side up with the filling. Do this for each bottom piece until all of the filling has been used (or until you've used all you want to use).
8. Place the top of each cake on top of the filling. You should now have two 9x6.5 inch cakes that have been filled.  Set aside. 

Icing

Ingredients

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium heat proof bowl add the chocolate chips, corn syrup, vanilla and heavy cream.
2. Microwave the mixture for about 1 minute or until the heavy cream is very hot and the chocolate chips have begun to melt. Stir until smooth, microwaving again briefly if needed.
3. Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
4. Spread the icing evenly over the tops of the two cakes, working right up to the edge of each cake. Cut each cake into nine 2x3 inch cakes for a total of 18 snack cakes.