What is your favorite Chocolate frosting for the Hershey's Black Magic Cake?

[Molli526]

Here is the recipe for the cake....

Black Magic Cake
Hershey's

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk*
1 cup strong black coffee OR 2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee plus 1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (Batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost as desired. Yields 10 to 12 servings.

* To sour milk: Use 1 tablespoon white vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup.

[Linda in MO]

I've never made that cake so I don't know for sure if it will go w/that cake, but I just love this chocolate frosting...

* Exported from MasterCook *

Chocolate Cream Frosting

Recipe By : Baking by Flavor, pg. 272
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 1/3 cups plus 2 Tbs. unsifted powdered sugar
1 pinch salt
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate -- melted and cooled to tepid
1 1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate -- melted and cooled to tepid
6 Tbs. unsalted butter -- cut into tablespoon chunks and softened
3/4 cups plus 3 Tbs. heavy cream
2 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Place powdered sugar and salt in large bowl. Add the melted chocolates, butter, cream, and vanilla. (I beat everything a bit before adding the cream just because I didn't want the cold cream to harden the chocolate or butter back up--not sure if it would though). Using an electric hand mixer, beat for 1 minute on low to combine ingredients; continue beating on high for 2 more minutes or until very smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl several times with a rubber spatula to keep the frosting even textured. The frosting should be thick but creamy; if it seems too dense, lighten it with a little more heavy cream, added a tsp. at a time. Use frosting immediately.

Makes about 3 3/4 cups frosting

Notes: This is an awesome chocolate frosting! So, so, so good! This makes a ton of frosting...enough to generously frost 30 cupcakes with about a cup leftover. And I just leave the frosted cupcakes at room temperature and they hold up fine. Oh, and if you don't have Baking by Flavor, it's a wonderful cookbook. So get it!

[lindzano]

That cake is our family's favorite. It is so rich that frosting can be overpowering. We typically make fresh sweetened whip cream. You can also add strawberries that are crushed with a little bit of sugar. Spoon the strawberries and the juice on as you are serving. Another option is melted preserves drizzled on.

[zwieback]

I've made that cake several times and here is the icing I make with it:

4 (1oz) squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 (16 oz) box powdered sugar

Melt chocolate and butter. Add evaporated milk, vanilla and salt to sugar in a medium sized bowl. Stir in melted chocolate and butter; beat until spreading consistency.

[auntie pim]

A really truly family favorite......White almond flavored butter cream... The only cake to make for birthdays and in the spring and summer we decorate the cake with fresh flowers.....or I change the recipe for the cake by adding orange oil and serve it with fresh whipped cream or just some powdered sugar.....You got me thinking....V-Day is sunday......Time for a Black Magic Cake........(ANY DAY)

[Molli526]

Thank you!

[Linda in MO]

Molli, what frosting recipe did you end up making? I'm thinking of making this cake today or tomorrow. Thanks!

[Anne]

I was in a bit of a rush one time and frosted it with pure straight nutella. Not bad at all. On second thought, I think that time I thinned the nutella with just a splash of hazlenut liquor.

[Linda in MO]

I ended up turning it into a cookies and cream cake. Yum! I didn't have time to do anything more elaborate as far as decorating. And I didn't have time to take a better picture either, but here it is...
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wUgXNrLWfAU/TBfRC--yWfI/AAAAAAAABUc/8GJG4WRPkZA/s576/015.JPG

[dgeevanson]

Looks yummy to me! Did you use the frosting recipe that you posted earlier in the thread?

[Linda in MO]

Looks yummy to me! Did you use the frosting recipe that you posted earlier in the thread?

No, but I think that chocolate cream frosting would be great on this cake. I was wanting to do something less chocolatey and I had Oreos on my mind. I love the mini Oreos around the edges but might have done something different in the center, but I didn't have time. Oh, and I used full-fat cream cheese because I think the low-fat makes a looser frosting and I wanted this to be pretty stiff. If you wanted this cake to be more chocolatey, you could easily make 3 layers for Oreo filling and pour chocolate ganache over the top. I was really happy w/the way the cake turned out though.

Bake, cool, and split each cake layer in half.

I think this is what I did...
The Oreo Filling:

8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
4-5 Tbs. or so powdered sugar
1 tsp. or so of vanilla
1 1/4 cups or so of chilled whipping cream
12 Oreos, crushed (I used the Blizzard Creme ones that are out right now)

Beat cream cheese, half the powdered sugar and vanilla. In another bowl, beat cream and the rest of the powdered sugar until pretty stiff. Add a little of the cream to the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the rest of the whipped cream. Fold in the crushed Oreos. Put 1/4 the mixture between each layer and on top. Chill several hours or overnight. Before serving, decorate w/mini Oreos.

[dgeevanson]

Thanks Linda- all of a sudden I'm craving chocolate! D

[ErinM]

I think I might make this cake for my neighbor, who has graciously allowed me to use his storage unit to store all of my things until I move in July!

I am wondering though, as I don't drink coffee, could I use dutch process cocoa rather than coffee and sub in extra water or something along those lines? If the coffee is necessary I can do it, but then I wonder if my whole idea of using chopped dark pb cups is still going to be a good one.

[Linda in MO]

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake is similar and doesn't use coffee...
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=184

I'm a coffee drinker, but I don't think you can really taste the coffee in the cake. It just brings out the chocolate flavor more, which is what I like about using coffee in chocolate recipes. I used boiling water and espresso powder. I've also used Folger's instant coffee in recipes and you can buy that in a tiny little jar.

[ErinM]

Thanks Linda - I did find that recipe and think I'm going that direction. Here's the one I'm going to do, from Alice and the Mock Turtle blog:

Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Frosting
cake recipe from Hershey's
Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
1 recipe Dark Chocolate Frosting {see below for my adaption}
1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two round cake pans with oil.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed two minutes. Add boiling water and stir. Scrape sides and stir again. {The batter is extremely thin but produces a delicately sponging cake.}
3. Bake 30-35 minutes. Allow cakes to cool in pans for 5 minutes. Turn out onto cooling racks and allow to completely cook before frosting. Once cake is frosted, press mini chocolate chips into sides of cake with fingers.


Dark Chocolate Frosting
adapted from Martha Stewart
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 c hot water
2 1/4 c butter, at room temperature
1/4 c confectioner sugar
1 lb dark chocolate {recommend Trader Joe's Pound Plus Belgium Dark Chocolate}
2 c semisweet chocolate chips

1. Melt dark chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips in double boiler {an aluminum mixing bowl over a small pan of boiler water works fabulously}. Stir and scrape sides of bowl while melting. Set to the side and allow to cool.
2. Mix cocoa powder and hot water till smooth. Set to side.
3. In mixing bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy. {Cut each stick of butter into about 6 large pieces before placing in bowl.}
4. Add melted chocolate to fluffy butter. Mix well, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add cocoa-water mixture. Stir well.
This will provide ample frosting for one cake.