Layers of rich chocolate cake enveloped in a quick and easy espresso buttercream, decorated with cocoa powder.
Come help us celebrate two special birthdays with this rich, moist Chocolate Espresso Giraffe Cake with Whipped Espresso Vanilla Buttercream stenciled with cocoa powder. Be prepared to stay up all night!
You have already met Jess, she is Tay's mama and she absolutely adores giraffes - so did Taylor. So when she asked me to make a cake for both her and Taylor's birthdays, which just so happen to be only weeks apart, I immediately knew it would involve giraffes.
I decided to leave fondant out of the equation for the cake portion of this project. The cake board, baby giraffe (sadly, Gina did not make the cut), birthday sign and names were made using fondant. The cake and grass are buttercream.
A couple drops of Americolor Leaf Green were used to tint the espresso frosting, which was then piped with a #233 tip. I used this stencil and unsweetened cocoa powder to create the giraffe print. To further enhance the skin effect, I used an angled spatula to add texture and a little edible Daisy Dust yellow lustre dust to play up the colour.
Unfortunately, I was not able to do a proper photo shoot, a number of the photos in this post were taken with my mobile phone and at night. Above is a shot of Jess cutting into her cake. She promises to eat the chocolate fondant-covered board as well...
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I was very honoured to have been asked to make this cake. It celebrates Jess' birthday and the memory of her little girl Taylor, who would have seen her third birthday on July 25th. We continue to celebrate your life Taylor, and join your mama in celebrating hers.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 16 oz butter 4 sticks/2 cups
- 1 cup high quality Dutch process cocoa
- 2 tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved into 1 ½ cups water
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoon almond extract
- 4 large eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
- 4 cups unsalted butter 8 sticks, at room temperature
- 10 cups powdered sugar
- 6 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 6 teaspoons espresso powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare four to five 7" x 2" round cake pans - I use cake release to prevent sticking.
- Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Whisk in the espresso water and remove from heat.
- Add the sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs to the warmed cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the first mixture, whisking until well blended.
- Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch or an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for about 15 minutes.
- Remove from pan by placing the rack over the cake and invert, tapping pan lightly, if required to loosen.
To make the frosting:
- Mix vanilla and espresso powder together until dissolved. Using the whisk attachment of your mixer, whisk for 5 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides. On low speed, add powdered sugar a little at a time. I cover the mixer with a damp tea towel to contain the powdered sugar. When all powdered sugar is incorporated, turn up speed and beat until fluffy for about 2 minutes. Add vanilla-espresso mixture and whip until incorporated.
Assembly:
- Level the cakes using a large, serrated knife or other levelling tool (I use the Agbay Jr.). Fill each layer with generous amounts of frosting, wrap win plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. I find this helps the cake to settle and level itself and makes crumb-coating easier. Remove from fridge, add a thing layer of frosting refrigerate for 30 minutes and repeat. Refrigerate until firm enough to accommodate the stencil. Use a medium-size brush to add the cacao pattern.
Notes
Specialty Cake Creations
- adapted from the Brown Eyed Baker) Both recipes have been doubled.
Regina @SpecialtyCakeCreations says
Aww...love this baby giraffe and a huge fan of the giraffe print on the cake.
And I am so glad to hear the whipped espresso buttercream worked so well for you <3
Paula Kelly-Bourque says
What an undertaking and what a fabulous cake. I saw you tweet a picture of it and couldn't figure out how you did the giraffe design. It's really cool and the giraffe is adorable. I LOVE the soother 😉
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks, P! I realized that I had not done too many cakes with only buttercream - it was good practice!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks, Regina! I am so addicted to this buttercream - your fault. 🙂
Vivien says
I'm a little confused, what does it mean when it says "11/2 cups of water?" is that supposed to be 1/2 cup of water?
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks for pointing that out - it should be 1 1/2, as in one and a half cups.