Buttery Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting

Ingredients:

1. 3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
2. 1/2 cup butter
3. 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 2 large eggs
6. 2 1/4 cups cake flour
7. 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
8. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
9. 3/4 cup milk

Method:

For the cake:
Prepare two nine-inch cake pans by greasing them and lining them with
parchment or waxed paper. (Use the pan as a pattern and trace the outline on
the paper before cutting the circles with your kitchen shears.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


1. Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium
speed until it is smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar and salt. Beat
until it is light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, creaming after each. Beat at medium speed
for eight to ten minutes or until it is light and fluffy. Add the melted
chocolate.
4. Mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together.
5. Add about one-fourth of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Mix
until just combined. Do not over-stir or you may reduce the entrained air in
the creamed mixture.
6. Add about one-third of the liquid ingredients and stir them in. Add another
one-fourth of the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until just
combined. Repeat with the dry and liquids ingredients until combined,
ending with the dry ingredients.
7. Place in pans, smooth the tops, and bake immediately for 25 minutes at
350 degrees or until a toothpick stuck in the center of the cake comes out
clean.
8. Cool for five to ten minutes in the pans. Remove the cakes to wire racks to
cool completely. Frost after cooling.
For the frosting:
1. Coat the inside of a heavy saucepan with butter. The butter will help
prevent sugar crystals from forming on the sides of the pan.
2. In the saucepan, mix the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and cream. Stir well to
dissolve crystals. Add the chocolate.
3. Over medium heat, cook the mixture. Stir gently to keep from burning on
the bottom of the pan. Try to avoid splashing onto the sides of the pan
where crystals may form.
4. Cook to a temperature of 234 degrees. You will need a candy
thermometer to monitor the heat. (If you do not have a thermometer, you
may cook it until it is at the “soft ball” stage.) Remove from the heat and
add the butter. Do not stir. Let the butter melt on the top of the candy
mixture.
5. Let the candy cool until it reaches 110 degrees or the bottom of the pan is
warm to the touch.
6. Beat the frosting with a spoon using an up and down motion until it is of a
frosting consistency. Frost immediately.