Sabre Chefs: Joseph Luongo '27 has a Valentines cake recipe

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day everyone is looking for something nice to do for their special someone. One thing you can do to make this Valentine’s Day special is to bake a chocolate cake with or for them. Here we’ve provided the Sabers favorite chocolate cake and frosting recipe.

First for the ingredients you will need:

For the Cake

-              1 ¾ Cup All Purpose Flower

-              2/3 cup of Cocoa Powder

-              1 Tsp Baking Powder

-              1 Tsp Baking Soda

-              1 Cup Granulated Sugar

-              ½ Cup Light Brown Sugar

-              ¾ Tsp Salt

-              2 Large Eggs

-              ½ Vegetable Oil

-              ¾ Cup Full Fat Sour Cream

-              1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

-              1 Cup Hot Coffee

For the Frosting

-              8 oz Semisweet Dark Chocolate

-              ¾ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

-              2 Tbsp Honey or Corn Syrup

-              2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

-              1/3 Cup Full Fat Sour Cream

Now for the steps to make the Cake

1.        Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease two 8-inch cake pans and then place a parchment paper on the bottom and dust it with flour.

2.        Prepare your coffee however specified on the package and keep it warm.

3.        In a large bowl, use a fine mesh sieve to sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Then add the the granulated and brown sugars and whisk it all together.

4.        Separately in another bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sour cream and vanilla and whisk them all together. Then in the bowl with the dry ingredients create a well in the middle using a spatula. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and use a handheld mixer or a stand mixer on medium-low speed to mix the ingredients together. Focus the mixing the center to start and then gradually incorporate the edges of the dry mix until the batter is fully combined. Then add the coffee in two separate stages, ½ cup first then mix and then the other half cup and mix. This makes sure the batter does not clump. Once the ingredients are all fully combined the batter should be quite thin.

5.        To bake divide the batter between the two separate pans. Then gently tap them on the countertop to remove any large air bubbles. Bake them for 30-33 minutes and a skewer comes out clean if you insert it. Remove the cakes from the pans and let them sit for 15 minutes before cutting off the excess cake the make sure they are clean and round.

6.        While the cakes are cooking make the frosting. Chop up the chocolate and place it in a bowl that is heat safe.  

7.        Combine the whipping cream and honey syrup in a 1 Qrt saucepan and heat it over low heat until it lightly boils. Once it boils remove from the heat and pour it into the chopped chocolate. Then cover the bowl and let sit for 2 minutes

8.        Sift in the cocoa powder, add the sour cream and whisk it all together gently.

9.        Refrigerate for 10 minutes and stir gently. Then refrigerate for another 10 minutes to let it thicken up.

10.   Once it has a pudding consistency, whisk vigorously until it lightens up a bit.

11.   After the cakes have finished cooling and the frosting is made, add ¾ cup of the frosting over the top of one cake and spread it to the edges. Then add the second cake on top and cover with frosting. Then you are done and can enjoy your chocolate cake!

The links to the full recipes for both the cakes and frosting are below.

Cake - https://scientificallysweet.com/the-best-moist-chocolate-cake/#recipe

Frosting - https://scientificallysweet.com/the-best-chocolate-frosting/#recipe