Adorable Little Cake

This cute little cake is from Bon Appetit. I made it for my special guys for Valentine's Day using milk chocolate. This one was made for me by my adorable husband for my birthday using 70% chocolate for the cake and 62% for the icing. Besides using three bowls, it's really a simple and fool-proof cake.

Here is the recipe from their website (apparently they are a little formatting-happy over there):

Top Tier Devil's Food Cake with Sour Cream-Fudge Frosting

Ingredients

Cake

• 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ounce high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt, Perugina, or Valrhona *or Scharffenberger if substituting dark), chopped
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

• 8 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt, Perugina, or Valrhona *or Scharffenberger if substituting dark), chopped
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 4 teaspoons light corn syrup
• Organic roses (for garnish) *optional- we decorated simply with shaved chocolate

Special Equipment

• 2 5-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides *I used large ramekins. The first time, I trimmed using a large biscuit cutter to adjust for the shape of the ramekin, the second cakes required no adjusting. You can make one tall, 4-8 layer cake (if you halve the 4" layers) or two four-layer cakes in this size.

• Test-Kitchen Tip

  Five-inch cake pans are available at some kitchenware stores and restaurant supply stores and online from cheftools.com and amazon.com.

Preparation

Cake

• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Butter two 5-inch cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper; butter parchment. Combine cocoa powder and milk chocolate in medium bowl. Pour 1/4 cup boiling water over; whisk until mixture is smooth. Whisk in buttermilk.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat both sugars, oil, egg, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add flour and cocoa mixtures; beat until blended (batter will be thin). Divide batter between pans.
• Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached, 28 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Turn over; cool on racks.

Frosting

• Place chocolate in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Add butter and stir until melted, then add sour cream and corn syrup and whisk until smooth. Let frosting stand at room temperature until thick enough to spread, about 20 minutes.
• Using serrated knife, trim top of cakes to make level. Cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer, cut side up, on platter. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with second cake layer, cut side down. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with third cake layer, cut side up. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread 1/3 cup frosting over top and sides. Chill until frosting is set, about 30 minutes. Keep remaining frosting at room temperature.
• Spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and store at room temperature.
• Arrange roses atop cake and serve.