Birthday Cake (with Nutella Frosting)

The picture doesn't do it justice -- this is a perfect Birthday Cake. Three layers of dark, moist, chocolatey cake, held together with thick firm homemade frosting. 

Some tips:

• Buy a big-ass jar of Nutella if you're gonna make this frosting. You need just over 500g, which is more than is in a standard jar.
• All-purpose flour is surely fine, but I used a fluffy 405 Weißmehl and it was delightful.
• Don't forget to pull out the butter first to get it to room temperature.
• Make the chocolate simple syrup! It's easy and is key to moist cake.

You're gonna make three things: 1) the cake layers, 2) chocolate simple syrup, and 3) the frosting. Let's gooooooo!

Cake layers

• 2 cups (260g) flour
• 1¾ cups (350g) white sugar
• ¾ cup (75g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted 
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• 1½ tsp baking soda 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 cup (240 ml) warm water
• 1 cup (250g) full-fat plain yogurt or sour cream
• ½ cup (110g) vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, room temperature 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder

Whisk together the dry in one bowl, whisk together the wet plus instant coffee powder in another bowl. Then whisk them both together and pour evenly into three round, greased (!) cake pans. You could measure it out with a cup measure or weigh the pans to ensure evenness. Bake at 170C / 350F until they pass the toothpick test, 23-25 minutes. Set them aside to cool.

Chocolate simple syrup

• ½ cup (120ml) warm water
• ½ cup (100g) white sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

In a small saucepan, stir together the water and sugar and heat until it juuuust starts to bubble. Take off the heat and stir in the cocoa powder.

Frosting

• 1¾ cups (525g) Nutella
• 1 cup (230g) butter, room temperature
• ½ powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

In a big mixing bowl, beat all ingredients with a mixer until you've beat enough air in there to increase the volume and fluffiness. Something like 3-5 minutes is good. You can just eyeball it: If it looks and feels like frosting, it's good.

The Assembly

Use a pastry brush to "paint" the chocolate simple syrup onto the cooled cake layers. This will soak in and make the cake dark and moist. Apply the frosting to the first layer by dolloping blobs of it evenly over the top. Then use a knife to "connect" the blobs and paint the frosting down the sides. Be careful not to drag the knife too close to the cake surface, or the tension will tear the cake. (It's not like buttering a piece of toast.)

Set the next layer on top and treat it the same, then the third. Then use the remaining frosting to fill in any gaps on the side and make nice swirl patterns.

Shake some adorable rainbow sprinkles on top for the happiest classic Birthday Cake look. Don't forget the cute candles.

It's mighty -- you can get 12 thick or 16 moderate slices out of this one!

Will keep outside the fridge for a couple days, but after that, it keeps better in the fridge.

Pumpkin Bread (but come on, it's really cake)

Makes a nicely spicy, moist loaf cake.

A couple of tips:

• That's right, olive oil. Believe me. It's perfect for this.
• If you are in the States and can use Libby's canned pumpkin puree, great! 
• If you are in a non-Libby's zone and thus using fresh pumpkin, get yourself a Hokkaido. These are ideal for baking, because they're firm (not watery) when cooked, and also the skin is edible. Cut it up, remove the seeds and stem, peel away any weird spots with a knife or potato peeler. Boil the Hokkaido chunks for 15 minutes until soft, then drain the water and puree it with a hand mixer. Or a potato masher. Or a fork. Or whatever works.
• Boiling/steaming is better than roasting, because you want a soft, even puree, not crispy roasted edges.

To the cake!

Dry ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom (optional)

Wet ingredients

• ¾ cup olive oil
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 2 eggs (or egg substitute, if making vegan)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla 
• 2 cups pureed pumpkin 

Preheat the oven to 175 C (350 F).

Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl. Then whisk the wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour the dry into the wet and stir until just combined (you don't want to overmix, otherwise you'll overdevelop the gluten and make it tough/dense rather than fluffy).

Pour into a loaf pan or muffin tins. Bake until it passes the toothpick test (loaf = 45-55 minutes, muffins = around 25 minutes but check them at 20).

Want to glaze it?

Glaze ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• Just a splash of milk (cow, soy, almond, oat, whatever)
• A dash of cinnamon

In a small bowl, pour the maple syrup over the sugar and whisk really hard until it forms a paste. Add the milk, drop by drop, until you get a thick, spreadable consistency. Whisk in some cinnamon. Use a spoon to spread it over the (entirely completely totally cooled!) cake, dribbling some down the edges. You can let this dry and then add another layer, if desired. It should harden up in 30 minutes or so.