Cake
3 cups plain flour
3 cups caster sugar
1.5 cups unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
coarse salt
4 large eggs
1.5 cups buttermilk
0.5 cups + 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven 180C / 350F.
Butter 3 x 9inch round cake pans, dust with flour, tapping out excess.
Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and 1.5 teaspoons salt into a large bowl. Hand whisk gently until just combined.
Add eggs, buttermilk, 1.5 cups warm water, oil & vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
Divide batter among pans. Bake until cakes are set and toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, approximately 35 minutes.
Cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks to cool completely.
Frosting
2 sticks / 227 grams butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners’ (icing) sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whole milk
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds until combined. Then process on high for 2 minutes until whipped and fluffy.
Refrigerate if the frosting is too soft to pipe.
(Recipe Method:)
In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar and salt.
Beat on low until combined.
Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then increase sleep to medium high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add vanilla and milk, then beat again for 3 minutes on med-high.
Assembly
Cut tops off cakes so they are flat.
Pipe frosting in circular pattern on the top of each cake. I then refrigerated each layer so the frosting would harden enough to hold the next layer.
For top layer, I used the same piping tip for the border and candle holder. I made a chocolate ganache to hold the Violet Crumble in place.
butter sweet symphony 