Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting

A moist, tender cake with a luscious chocolate fudge frosting

From the original recipes by:

Maria Parloa in “Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes” 1909–USA

Maria Willett Howard in “Lowney’s Cook Book” 1912–USA

Ingredients

For the Cake

1 cup (227 g) butter

2 cups (400 g) sugar

2 oz. (60 g) unsweetened chocolate, melted

4 eggs

1 cup (237 ml) milk

3 cups (375 g) flour

2 tsp (9 g) baking powder

1 pinch salt

2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract (or vanilla paste)

For the Fudge Frosting

4 tbsp (60 g) butter

4 squares (4 oz.–112 g) unsweetened chocolate

2 cups (400 g) sugar

2/3 cup (160 ml) milk

2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract (or vanilla paste)

For the White Icing

2 tbsp (15 g ) confectioners’ sugar + 2 tsp (10 ml) hot water

Make the cake:
Preheat the oven at 350° F (180° C), grease 3 round 8-inch (20 cm) cake pans, then line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper. Beat butter to a cream and add sugar gradually, then add the melted chocolate and mix well. The mixture should be creamy and light in color. Add the unbeaten eggs and mix well. The mixture might look curdled. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt, than gradually add the flour to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, and letting the flour fall through a fine sieve into the butter mixture and beating until incorporated. The final mixture should look creamy and smooth again, and very light. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans, placed on racks, for about 10 minutes, then take the cakes out of the pans, peeling off parchment from the bottom, and let them finish cooling on racks.

Make the Fudge Frosting:
Scald the milk, then pour it over the chocolate and stir until melted. Add the sugar, mix well, then cook for 6 minutes. Add the butter and cook for 6 minutes more. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Beat the mixture until thick enough to spread.

Make the white icing, mixing confectioners’ sugar and hot water to make it rather thin.

Assemble the cake:

Spread one of the cakes with a layer of fudge frosting, then cover with a second cake layer and spread again with frosting. Place the third cake on top and cover both top and sides with fudge frosting. Immediately drizzle the white icing in a decorative pattern on the top and sides of the cake. The frosting will stay glossy and shiny. Refrigerate the cake in a container with a lid that does not come directly in contact with the cake top.