Gale Gand's Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Bailey's Frosting

Gale Gand (she's a dessert chef with a few food network shows) has a recipe for chocolate cake that I've tried a few times, and generally enjoy. I don't like baking soda so I replace it with baking powder, but otherwise the recipe stays the same. This cake was made for fellow 4S blogger Adrienne, who loves chocolate, so the frosting needed chocolate as well. We wanted a white frosting for decorative purposes, and bailey's is delicious, so we ended up with a mixture of white chocolate, Bailey's and cream cheese for the frosting.


Gale Gand's Chocolate Layer Cake Yield: 2 11x17ish thin cookie sheet cakes

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 3 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 11x17" cookie sheets. Cut 2 rectangles of waxed paper or parchment paper to fit the bottoms of the pans, then press them in.

Using a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and eggs and mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla, cocoa, baking powder, and salt, and mix. Add 1/2 of the flour, then 1/2 of the sour cream and mix. Repeat with the remaining flour and sour cream. Drizzle in the hot coffee and mix until smooth. The batter will be thin. Pour into the prepared pans and bake until the tops are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are okay), about 10 minutes. Halfway through the baking, quickly rotate the pans in the oven to ensure even baking, but otherwise try not to open the oven. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks and let cool completely before frosting.

Bailey's Frosting Yield: 32 oz (ie a big yogurt tub)

• 1-8oz package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
• 4 Tbsp Bailey's liquer
  
• 1 c confectioner's sugar

Beat the cream cheese with an eletric mixer until smooth. Continue beating and add the butter. Mix until smooth. Drizzle in the Bailey's and mix until smooth. Sift in the confectioner's sugar while still mixing. Add more or less sugar based on your tastes. To decorate with dark chocolate icing, sift in cocoa powder until the desired color is achieved.