(As read and prepared by Alex Tuller on the February 2, 2006 podcast.)
My Favorite. Chocolate on chocolate is alright and good, but often it is just too overwhelming and you can’t eat a big enough slice of it because it is too much.
Yellow Cake
4 large eggs, room temp
1/2 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (measure after it has been sifted)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened but not sloppy, cut into 16 cubes
Turn oven to 350. Grease two 9†cake pans and line bottom with parchment paper. Grease all over again and dust with flour.
Beat eggs, milk and vanilla in a small bowl with a fork. Measure out a cup of the mixture. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer and mix on low for 30 seconds, add the butter one piece at a time until it is all gone and the butter is mixing with the flour into a pebbly surface. Continue on low speed, add the reserved cup of egg mixture until just mixed. Increase speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add rest of egg mixture in a slow steady stream. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides. Beat again for about 20 seconds.
Divide batter between pans and cook for 20 minutes or when toothpick comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges and turn out onto rack for cooling.
Chocolate Cream Frosting
1 1/2 cups super fat whole milk out of a cow
(or 1 1/2 cups heavy cream)
16 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup corn syrup.
Boil the milk or cream. Pour over chopped chocolate. Add corn syrup and let stand 3 minutes. Whisk together until smooth. It needs to rest in the refrigerator for about an hour and give it a good stirring every 15 minutes. Makes 3 cups
This recipe is pretty much entirely from the Best Recipe book.