Tuxedo Cake with Mocha Filling and Whipped Cream Topping
So last week was my grandma’s birthday and as you know we had a party for her at my parents’ house. So on top of the sugar cookies, chocolate covered Oreos, bacon truffles and hot cocoa cookies, we also made her a cake. Now, when I asked around what kind of cake my grandma likes, no one could give me a straight answer. My aunts said not too sugary, mom said chocolate, dad says white (turns out she likes spice cakes a lot… Who knew?) with so many different directions I could take, I decided to incorporate everyone’s ideas into one cake. Thus a tuxedo cake with mocha buttercream filling and a light whipped cream topping.
As far as decorations go, I had just finished my Wilton level 3 classes which was fondant and gum paste. So I had some extra flowers from my final cake that worked perfectly for the top of the cake. Everyone loved the cake – both chocolate and vanilla lovers!
Tuxedo Mocha Cake with Whipped Cream Topping
Ingredients
Yellow Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (if your blend doesn't already contain it)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk
- 1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)
Chocolate Cake:
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum (if your blend doesn't already contain it)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup freshly brewed coffee (cooled to room temp)
Mocha Filling:
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3/4 tsp instant coffee
- 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 tbsp heavy cream
Whipped Cream Topping:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Yellow Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the yellow cake - cake flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a small bowl, mix together the egg, vanilla and two tablespoons of the buttermilk. Then, add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and mash it around until it is fully incorporated.
- Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until blended.
- Add the remaining buttermilk and mix with a hand mixer, until smooth.
For the Chocolate Cake:
- Now to make the chocolate batter, in a medium-sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the chocolate cake - cake flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Then, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, buttermilk.
- Add the butter to the dry ingredients and mash it around until blended.
- Then add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir together.
- Pour in the cooled coffee and then blend with a hand mixer until smooth.Now you have a bowl of vanilla batter and a bowl of chocolate batter.
To Bake the Cakes:
- Divide the vanilla batter between each of the pans.
- Then take the chocolate batter, and pour that on top of the vanilla.
- Use a spoon to carefully spread the chocolate to the edges of the pan. Make sure you layer the vanilla first, because the batter is thicker than the chocolate batter.
- Bake at 350F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake for 20 minutes and then invert onto a drying rack to finish cooling.
- Let cool completely.
For the Mocha Filling:
- To make the mocha filling, beat together the butter, instant coffee granules, powdered sugar, and 1 tbsp of heavy cream until well blended.
- Gradually add more cream until you get it to a spreadable consistency.
- Spread on top of two of the cakes once cooled.
- Then, carefully stack the cakes.
For the Whipped Cream:
- To make the whipped cream, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat 1 cup of powdered sugar.
- When soft peaks begin to form, add in the vanilla and powdered sugar.
- Beat just until stiff peaks form. Do not over beat, as your whipped cream will curdle. Spread on the cake in a whimsical fashion with the back of a spoon.
- Keep refrigerated until serving.
Nutrition
Source: Recipe for Cake and Mocha Filling adapted from Cookie Madness. Whipped cream recipe is my own.