Chocolate Letter Cake
Description
My sister Audrey celebrated her birthday at the end of April. The big 3-0! We couldn’t properly celebrate this year but I still wanted to make her something special on her big day. I decided on a big over the top, decadent chocolate cake. I recently bought the Wilton’s Countless Celebrations cake pan. It is a pan that comes with inserts that allows you to make a cake in the shape of any letter or number! Obviously I chose the “A” for Audrey. This chocolate cake is so rich and moist. I topped it with an irresistible chocolate frosting. The decorations are homemade cookies and cream macarons (recipe coming soon!), homemade meringue cookies, and the BEST gluten free oreos! I am so glad I got to share it with her (6 feet away of course). I am excited to test out more cakes in this pan in the future! Happy Birthday Old Sis, and Happy Baking Everyone!
- Gluten Free
- Vegetarian
- 45 minutes prep time
- 30 minutes cook time
- 75 minutes total time
Recipe
For the cake:
1 3/4 cups (228 g) gluten free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 flour)
3/4 heaping cup (85 grams) dark cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk of choice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup hot water
For the frosting:
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (105 g) dark cocoa powder
4 T milk of choice
For the meringue cookies:
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Dash salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
For the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Add milk, oil, vanilla and eggs to large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine.
3. Stir in sugar.
4. Sift in flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine.
5. Slowly add hot water and mix until well combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. I used the Wilton Countless Celebrations pan to make the letter “A”.
7. Bake for 26-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
For the frosting:
1. In stand mixer, beat butter on medium/high speed for 3-5 minutes. The butter should be pale and fluffy.
2. Add in vanilla extract and beat until combined.
3. In two stages, sift in powdered sugar and cocoa powder and mix until smooth. It will look dry and crumbly at first. Keep mixing, scraping down the bowl as needed. This will take a few minutes.
4. Slowly add in milk and whip until frosting has reached desired consistency.
For the meringue cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 225° F.
2. Im medium bowl, beat egg white until opaque and frothy.
3. Add in cream of tartar and dash of salt and continue whipping.
4. Slowly incorporate sugar, beating continuously until egg whites have reached stiff peaks and mixture is no longer grainy. The egg whites should be stiff and glossy.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. Pipe onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake at 225° F for 50 minutes, then turn oven off and leave pan in the oven for an additional hour.
8. Remove meringues from pan and allow to cool to room temperature.
9. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Assembly:
1. Cut cake in half to make 2 equal layers.
2. Top first cake layer with dollops of chocolate frosting.
3. Top with second cake layer.
4. Pipe dollops of frosting as desired on top of second cake.
5. Top with decorations. I used homemade meringue cookies, homemade cookies and cream macarons and gluten free oreos!
You can also top with fresh flowers and/or fresh fruit.
6. Slice and enjoy!
For the cake:
1 3/4 cups (228 g) gluten free flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 flour)
3/4 heaping cup (85 grams) dark cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk of choice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup hot water
For the frosting:
1 1/4 cups butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (105 g) dark cocoa powder
4 T milk of choice
For the meringue cookies:
1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Dash salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
For the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Add milk, oil, vanilla and eggs to large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine.
3. Stir in sugar.
4. Sift in flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine.
5. Slowly add hot water and mix until well combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. I used the Wilton Countless Celebrations pan to make the letter “A”.
7. Bake for 26-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
For the frosting:
1. In stand mixer, beat butter on medium/high speed for 3-5 minutes. The butter should be pale and fluffy.
2. Add in vanilla extract and beat until combined.
3. In two stages, sift in powdered sugar and cocoa powder and mix until smooth. It will look dry and crumbly at first. Keep mixing, scraping down the bowl as needed. This will take a few minutes.
4. Slowly add in milk and whip until frosting has reached desired consistency.
For the meringue cookies:
1. Preheat oven to 225° F.
2. Im medium bowl, beat egg white until opaque and frothy.
3. Add in cream of tartar and dash of salt and continue whipping.
4. Slowly incorporate sugar, beating continuously until egg whites have reached stiff peaks and mixture is no longer grainy. The egg whites should be stiff and glossy.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. Pipe onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake at 225° F for 50 minutes, then turn oven off and leave pan in the oven for an additional hour.
8. Remove meringues from pan and allow to cool to room temperature.
9. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Assembly:
1. Cut cake in half to make 2 equal layers.
2. Top first cake layer with dollops of chocolate frosting.
3. Top with second cake layer.
4. Pipe dollops of frosting as desired on top of second cake.
5. Top with decorations. I used homemade meringue cookies, homemade cookies and cream macarons and gluten free oreos!
You can also top with fresh flowers and/or fresh fruit.
6. Slice and enjoy!