Enjoy the flavors of the season with this chocolate holiday cake – a fun and festive dessert made with coffee for a rich chocolaty flavor. Chocolate coffee cake with unique whipped Mascarpone frosting will be the hit of your Christmas get together!
16oz.mascarpone cheesechilled (two 8 oz. containers)
Sugared Cranberries
½c.water
¾c.granulated sugardivided
1c.cranberries
Instructions
To make the cake
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and line the bottom of three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt on a low speed until well combined.
Add eggs, buttermilk, canola oil, vanilla and hot coffee, and beat on a medium speed until smooth.
Divide batter evenly among the three pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, and then turn cakes upside down onto a cooling rack.
To make the frosting
In a large bowl, combine heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt.
Beat with an electric mixer on high speed until the cream holds a soft peak. (About 5 minutes)
Add the slightly chilled mascarpone cheese and whip until blended.
Stir by hand to remove air bubbles before frosting cake.
To make the cranberries
In a small pot, whisk water and ½ c. of sugar to combine. Bring to a simmer and whisk until sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and stir in cranberries until they are well coated.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to a baking sheet and let dry for at least 1 hour.
Roll cranberries in remaining sugar until well coated. Let dry for a least 1 hour.
Assembly
Place the first cake layer, top side up, in the center of a cake board or cake stand.
Add about 3/4 to 1 cup of frosting. Spread over the cake layer as evenly as possible. Make sure to get eye level with the cake to ensure the frosting is spread evenly over the cake.
Repeat first two steps until you get to the final cake layer, which you will lay top side down.
Chill the cake for 15 minutes before applying any crumb coat. (This helps to keep the crumbs locked to the cake if you're doing a semi-naked cake and won't be doing a final coat of frosting).
Once the cake is chilled, frost the cake with the whipped frosting to create a semi-naked cake layer. This recipe doesn't make enough frosting to completely cover the cake. Double the frosting recipe if you want to get more coverage with your frosting.
Decorate with cranberries as desired.
Add in a few sprigs of rosemary for some extra seasonal cheer.
Notes
Makes 1 3-layer 8-inch cake or 1 4-Layer 6-inch cake.Next time I make this cake, I'm going to add cranberry puree between the cake layers for a truly holiday inspired chocolate cake.Substitutions
Add strawberries and crushed graham crackers to the top, for a year-round cake. The flavors of this cake work outside of Christmas too!
You can use hot water instead of coffee for more subtle flavor. The coffee brings out the chocolate taste.