"Wintry Season" Cake (a.k.a. Big Chocolate Birthday Cake with White Frosting)
 
 
Author:
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
  • For the cake:
  • 4 sticks butter, plus more for greasing
  • 8 heaping tablespoons cocoa, plus more for dusting
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 whole eggs, beaten
  • For the frosting:
  • 4 large egg whites
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces, softened
Instructions
  1. For the cake:
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heavily grease and dust with cocoa four 9-inch round cake pans.
  3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt.
  4. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cocoa. Stir together. Add the boiling water, allow the mixture to boil for 30 seconds and then turn off the heat. Pour over the flour mixture and stir lightly to cool.
  5. Combine the buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla and beaten eggs. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the butter/chocolate mixture.
  6. Divide the batter among the prepared cake pans and bake for 20 minutes.
  7. Cool completely before icing. Refrigerate (or freeze) the layers after cooling for best results.
  8. For the frosting:
  9. Whisk the egg whites, sugar and salt in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) until the mixture is warm and the sugar dissolves. Remove the bowl from the pan; let cool slightly.
  10. Beat the egg white mixture in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or with a hand mixer) on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, 12 to 15 minutes. Beat in the butter a few pieces at a time, then continue beating until smooth. (Don't worry if the mixture looks separated at first-it will come together as you keep beating.)
  11. Cook's Note: Make sure that your butter is nice and soft (with no chill) or the buttercream may curdled when mixing.
Recipe by The Amiable Cooks at https://theamiablecooks.com/wintry-season-cake-a-k-a-big-chocolate-birthday-cake-with-white-frosting/