CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE WITH COFFEE FROSTING AND SALTED CARAMEL

She’s beauty and she’s grace. And she’s delicious.

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Makes: 1 three layer cake                                                                                         Takes: 2-3 days

CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE WITH COFFEE FROSTING AND SALTED CARAMEL

Barely adjusted from Momofuku Milk Bar’s original recipe

Makes: 1 three layer cake
​Takes: 2-3 days

She’s beauty and she’s grace. And she’s delicious. This recipe is a beast but definitely worth the time and effort if you have a big birthday or event coming up that you want to steal the show at (because everyone else’s birthdays are still a time for me to be the center of attention). Anyway, the original Momofuku Milk Bar Chocolate Chip Cake recipe calls for a passionfruit curd which I replaced with salted caramel, cus, why not?

Be warned: this cake does take multiple days and calls for some special equipment. You can forgo some of the tools (like a cake ring) but I would definitely go out of your way to buy acetate since it helps this beauty show off her beautiful layers! Here’s a quick overview of the schedule I followed when attacking the recipe:

Day 1 - Bake the cake & the crumb (refrigerate both overnight)
Day 2 - Make the salted caramel & the frosting & assemble (freeze cake overnight)
Day 3 - Defrost in the morning & serve in the afternoon

CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 light brown sugar, tightly packed
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil - I used coconut oil (unsure if that screwed it up, but it smelled lovely)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar in the bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment. Cream together on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high again for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
4. On low speed, stream in buttermilk, grapeseed oil, and vanilla. Continue mixing for 4 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous. Be patient and don't rush the process! Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
5. Once the mixture is completely combined, continue mixing at low speed and add cake flour, baking powder, and kosher salt. Mix for 45 to 60 seconds, until your batter just comes together and all dry ingredients have been incorporated. Be careful not to overmix! Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment and spray with nonstick spray. Pour the cake batter into the sheet pan, spreading the cake batter evenly. Give the sheet pan a couple of taps on the countertop to even out the layer. Sprinkle 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips evenly over the cake batter.
7. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes. At 30 minutes, gently poke the edge of the cake with your finger: the cake should bounce back slightly and the center should no longer be jiggly. Bake for another 3 to 5 minutes if it doesn't pass these tests.
8. Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire cooling rack. The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days. ​

CHOCOLATE CRUMB

• 2/3 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine cup flour, cornstarch, granulated sugar, cup cocoa powder, and kosher salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on low speed until mixed.
3. Add melted unsalted butter and mix on low speed until the mixture starts together in small clusters and clumps — should look a little bit like wet sand.
4. Spread the clusters out on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes, breaking them up occasionally throughout baking. Even if they don’t look good or “crumb like” keep breaking up and baking, they will come together.
5. Let the crumbs cool completely. Store in an airtight container before using.

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SALTED CARAMEL

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature cut up into small pieces
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Pour granulated sugar evenly in the bottom of a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, whisking constantly.
2. Sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir.
3. Once sugar is completely melted and caramel is golden brown, immediately add the butter piece by piece. Be careful in this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.
4. Whisk the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Remove caramel from heat and very slowly, drizzle in heavy cream while stirring. Protect your hand/arm at this step! Mixture will rapidly bubble and splatter.
6. Whisk until entirely incorporated and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Allow to cool completely before using.

COFFEE FROSTING

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 3/4 teaspoon instant coffee powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup confectioners sugar. Cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale yellow.
2. While the butter and sugar is creaming, make a coffee milk by whisking together 1/4 cup whole milk, 3/4 teaspoon instant coffee powder, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a small mug. Set aside.
3. Once the butter has finished creaming, scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula.
4. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and gradually, tablespoon by tablespoon, add the coffee milk. Don’t add more coffee milk into the butter until the previous is fully incorporated.
5. This will take a long time and look like it’s not going to work but be patient. Eventually it will become pale brown and fluffy. Use immediately.

ASSEMBLE!

• 1 recipe chocolate chip cake
• 1/2 recipe chocolate crumb
• 1/2 cup salted caramel
• 1 recipe coffee frosting
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Special Equipment:

• 6-inch cake ring (not necessary but probably helpful)
• 2 strips acetate, each 3 inches wide and 20 inches long (can buy at art supplies stores)

Set up:

1. Place a piece of parchment paper on your counter. Invert the cake onto it and peel off the parchment from the bottom of the cake. If it doesn’t come out immediately, run a knife around the perimeter of the pan and invert again.
2. Use the cake ring to stamp out 2 full circles and 2 half circles from the cake. (My pan must have been extra large because I had enough cake to stamp out 4 layers! I will continue the original 3 layer recipe though). The 2 full circles will be your top two cake layers, while the 2 half circles and remaining cake scraps will come together to make the bottom layer of the cake.

Layer 1:

1. Place a clean cake ring in the center of a sheet pan lined with clean parchment paper or a Silpat. Line with 1 strip of 3 inch acetate inside of the cake ring (I didn’t have a cake ring and just taped the acetate together which worked fine!)
2. Put the 2 half circles in the bottom of the cake ring and fill in any gaps with the remaining cake scraps. Press the scraps together to create a flat and even layer.
3. Spread a couple of spoonfuls of salted caramel evenly over the first cake layer.
4. Sprinkle half of the chocolate crumbs evenly over the caramel. Break up crumbs as you distribute so there’s a variety of large and small pieces.
5. Use a mini offset spatula if you have one to spread one-third of the coffee frosting as evenly as possible over the chocolate crumbs. This will be a difficult, but doesn't have to look perfect, just try to have an even amount of frosting all over.

Layer 2:

1. If you need, gently tuck a second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top 1/4 inch of the first strip of acetate, so that you have a clear ring of acetate that is about 5 to 6 inches tall.
2. Set a cake round of top of the frosting, and repeat the process for layer 1: salted caramel, crumb, frosting. If one of your 2 cake rounds is jankier than the other, use it in the middle and save the pretty one for the top.

Layer 3:

1. Add your last cake round to the top and cover with the remaining coffee frosting. Finish with a perfectly flat top and top with 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips and/or any leftover chocolate crumbs.
2. Transfer the sheet pan with the cake to the freezer and freeze for a minimum of 12 hours to set.
3. At least 3 hours before you are ready to serve the cake, pull the sheet pan out of the freezer and pop out of cake ring if using. Place cake on platter or cake stand and unwrap acetate while still frozen. Let defrost at least 3 hours in the fridge before serving!