I’ll just put it out here right now.  My baking skill level and XP are nowhere near as high as my cooking.  Baking is not as forgiving with the substituting and making stuff up, so my results are not terribly consistent.  But nonetheless, I continue to experiment.

My family had a big birthday celebration, so I had the bright idea to make something fancy.  I’ve gotten pretty good with making cheesecakes, so I wanted to try making regular cake cake this time.  Of course a party is the best time to experiment with something totally untried.

After some thought, I decided to make a multi-layer mocha cake.  I read about different ways to improve boxed cake mix, so I wanted to give those methods a try.  You can certainly just follow the cake mix directions, but come on, I had to make it mine.  Give it my personal touch.  And touch it, I did.

So this was the blueprint in my head.  I wanted to make a 4 layer cake using chocolate cake, and a white cake that was flavored and lightly colored with espresso powder.  For the filling and frosting, I wanted to make a mocha flavored mascarpone frosting.

I started with the white cake.  I substituted milk for the water and butter for the oil.  I also added some vanilla to brighten up the flavor.  The mayo is supposed to improve the cake’s texture, make it more moist, and make it taste more homemade.  The espresso powder is the newest addition to my pantry.  It is very intense and concentrated instant coffee that is used more for baking instead of drinking.  I also had salted caramel sugar.  I read if sugar is sprinkled on the batter before baking, the weight helps reduce how puffy the cake gets.

Here is the batter ready for baking.

Here is the cake right out of the oven.  It was still a little puffy when it came out, but it flattened a lot after cooling on a rack.

After the oven and cake pans were vacant, I worked on the chocolate cake.  I added some cocoa powder to boost the chocolate flavor.  A little espresso powder is also supposed to enhance the chocolate flavor, so I added a little.  I didn’t want the coffee to overwhelm the chocolate flavor.

Chocolate cake batter ready for the oven.

Fresh out of the oven.  You can see how it’s puffy here.

While the cakes cooled on a rack, I worked on the frosting.  I’ve made a mascarpone cream before, and I loved how it was so light and melted in your mouth.  I wanted to use that instead of a heavier and sweeter buttercream frosting.

The frosting was made in two parts.  First I made whipped cream.  I mixed the heavy cream with espresso powder, sugar, and vanilla on high speed until it formed stiff peaks.

Here is the very intensely coffee flavored whipped cream.  Put it in the fridge until you are ready for it.

Here is the mascarpone cheese mixed with sugar, and cocoa powder.  After that was well combined, I added the whipped cream.  Mix it gently until everything is smooth and incorporated.

Yes, I know what this brown blob looks like.  But it tasted really delicious, seriously.

Here is the cooled and flatter cake.  It was not completely flat, so I still had to trim some of the top off.

I started with a whitish brown, I guess, tan cake.  I put it on the plate of my portable cake container.  I put two sheets of parchment paper on the plate to reduce the mess left on the plate from my amateur frosting technique.  After I finished frosting, I gently pulled the two sheets out.  It would have worked well, but I will get to that in a minute.  So when frosting the top, put a big blob in the middle first, then work your way out.

I used my angled spatula to frost.

Tadaa!  Time to party!  Just kidding.  I wanted to show you how big of a mess I made.  And also to show you my cake layers before covering them with frosting.  So here is when I realized my blunder.

The delicious mascarpone cream I was raving about went on the tops of the cakes just fine.  But, remember how I said I liked it because it’s light and melt in your mouth?  Well it didn’t just melt in my mouth.  It was melting everywhere when I tried to frost the sides of the cake.  I ended up sticking the whole mess in the fridge overnight in hopes of firming it up.  The parchment paper got all soggy, so it still made a chocolately mess on the plate after I pulled it out.  And the cream became too hard, so I had to wait until it softened to a spreadable consistency.  And even after it was spreadable, it didn’t spread on smooth like a buttercream frosting would have.  It ended up with a…rustic look.  Yeah, that’s the word.

Lesson learned.  The mascarpone cream I made is great as a filling, but not so great for frosting the outside of a cake.  I will have to experiment more to make a mascarpone frosting better suited for frosting.

Here is my finished product, after much cursing and melty mess and squished sprinkles everywhere.  It doesn’t look too bad, but definitely not as polished as I hoped.  My bad.

I am pleased with how the cake tasted.  All the additions I put in the cake batters really did make it taste more homemade and flavorful.  And that pain in the ass frosting was really really delicious.  If you are so inclined to make something similar, be sure to use the mascarpone mixture as a filling for the cake.  Use a different frosting for the outside.  OR just use the mascarpone for the top of the cake, and leave the sides unfrosted.

Four Layer Mocha Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

White Cake
Ingredients
– 1 box of white cake mix
– However many eggs the box says
– Substitute softened or melted butter for the oil 
– Substitute milk for the water 
– 1/2 tsp vanilla
– 2 tbsp mayo
– 2 tsp espresso powder
– Sugar for sprinkling

Directions
– Preheat the oven to whatever temperature the box says.
– Dissolve the espresso powder in some milk.
– Mix all the ingredients together except the sugar.  Mix for however many minutes the box tells you to.
– Grease your pans, fill with batter.  Sprinkle sugar on top of the batter.
– Bake for however long the instructions say, until a toothpick comes out clean.
– After cooling in the pans for 10-15 minutes, turn the cakes out to cool on a cooling rack.
– Trim off the tops of the cakes if they are not flat.

Chocolate cake
Ingredients
– 1 box of chocolate cake mix
– However many eggs the box says
– Substitute milk for the water
– Substitute softened or melted butter for the oil
– 1/2 tsp vanilla
– 2 tbsp mayo
– 1 tbsp cocoa powder
– 1 tsp espresso powder
– Sugar for sprinkling

Directions
– Dissolve the espresso powder in some milk.
– Mix all the ingredients except for the sugar.  Mix for however many minutes the box tells you to.
– Grease your pans, fill with batter, sprinkle with sugar on top of the batter.
– Bake for however long the instructions say, until a toothpick comes out clean.
– After cooling in the pans for 10-15 minutes, turn the cakes out to cool on a cooling rack.
– Trim off the tops of the cakes if they are not flat.

Mocha Mascarpone Frosting

Coffee Whipped Cream
Ingredients
– 2 cups heavy cream
– 4 tbsp sugar
– 2 tbsp vanilla
– 2 tbsp espresso powder

Directions
– Dissolve the espresso powder in the heavy cream.  Mix all the ingredients until stiff peaks form.  Start on low speed and work your way to high to prevent splattering.
– Keep the whipped cream in the fridge until you are ready for it.

Mascarpone Frosting
Ingredients
– 2 lbs mascarpone cheese (four 8oz containers)
– 1 cup sugar
– 2/3 cup cocoa powder
– Coffee whipped cream

Directions
– Mix the mascarpone cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder until everything is smooth.  Gently mix in the whipped cream until everything is incorporated.
– Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To Assemble
– Put 2 sheets of parchment or wax paper on the cake plate.  Place the bottom cake layer on top of the paper.
– Put a big blob of frosting in the middle of the cake, and use a spatula to spread it outwards.
– Carefully put the next cake layer on.  Frost, repeat with the other layers.
– Good luck with frosting the outside of the cake.  If the frosting is too soft to work with, put it in the fridge until it firms more.
– After you finish decorating, gently pull the paper out from under the cake.  Clean up the cake plate.
– Cover the cake plate, and keep the cake in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.  Let it sit out for an hour or so before serving so the flavors pop more.