What are the things you have on hand all the time in your refrigerator? Your oh-no-a-storm-is-coming-I'd-better-stock-up items? Mine are milk, yogurt, string cheese (wow, you'd never guess I have kids), eggs, and now a new one. Buttermilk. It is the new It Girl of the Barefoot Savannah fridge. I bought it to make a birthday cake last week and ended up also using it for FAB-U-LOUS pancakes (nothing like breakfast for dinner) as well as oven fried chicken. Mmmmm.
First, the birthday cake. I made Ina Garten's chocolate cake this week for DH's birthday, and Oh. My. Goodness. Who needs dinner when they have this cake? I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I really could have eaten every bite of this, if it weren't for the annoying detail that the birthday boy wanted some. Note: the recipe calls for a full cup of coffee. I reduced this to 1/2 cup, and that was perfect for us. Also, I used just vanilla frosting because chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream is waaaayyy to rich for me, but since I am so sweet, I'm including it here for you. (Pun intended) Here it is:
Ingredients
Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Directions
Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.
Chocolate Frosting:
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.
Second, the pancakes. These are actually from the Joy of Cooking and are, quite simply, perfect. If you're a box-mix pancake person, these will make you swear them off forever. And, you can make them the night before, put the batter in the fridge, and have them on a school morning in less time than it would take to toast a bagel. Seriously.
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients quickly into the dry ingredients, until just combined. Cook on griddle until bubble form and a couple of them pop. Flip, cook a minute or two more, and enjoy! You might like them with syrup, but my grandmother and I sprinkle a little sugar over them and roll them up like cigars to eat them. It's not pretty, but it's so, so good.
