Layered Chocolate Cake with Pistachio Frosting

We celebrated birthdays with the parents this long weekend and I couldn’t find a better way to celebrate than dedicate Saturday to baking a big, indulgent birthday cake for my mum and father-in-law.

I’m always a little stumped when it comes to making a cake that everyone will love. What can I say, I’m a crowd pleaser, which means I also take uneaten cake rather personally!

I eventually settled on a Layered Chocolate Cake with Pistachio Frosting, which I felt was just adventurous enough to write about, but also not too obscure that our parents would refuse to eat it. Their palates only take them so far…

Layered Chocolate Cake with Pistachio Frosting

I didn’t go off a single recipe for this cake. Instead, I mixed and matched different ingredients an added a few of my own. For the cake, I doubled the ingredients and made two cakes in 20cm spring foam pans. You can definitely just stick with the one portion.

All up this cake took about 3 hours to make, please allow sufficient cooling time for the cake, there’s nothing worse than frosting slipping off your cake because it’s too hot!

A slice of chocolatey heaven!

Layered Chocolate Cake

Adapted from geordieshell’s recipe on All Recipes

Ingredients

125g butter
I cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
100g dark chocolate melted
3/4 cup milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to moderately slow, 160 degrees C/140 degrees C fan-forced. Grease a deep 20cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper

2. Beat butter and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until just combined.

3. Stir in sifted flours, bicarbonate of soda, and cocoa, then stir in the melted chocolate and milk Spread in cake tin and bake for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes or until firm to touch.

4. Leave in cake tin for 15 minutes, then turn onto wire rack to cool.

Pistachio Frosting

250g butter, room temperature
150g pistachio, roasted and shelled
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp condensed milk
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Beat the butter with electric beaters until light and creamy.

2. Gradually add the icing sugar alternately with the vanilla essence, condensed milk and milk, beating until smooth and fluffy.

3. Chop or grind pistachio and add to frosting. Mix well.

Assembly

Cut tops off the chocolate cake until you have two flat discs. Spread a generous layer of frosting to join layers together. Spread frosting over the top and sides until neatly sealed. Sprinkle a thin layer of pistachio on top to set.

Wrapped up and all ready to go!