100th post GIVEAWAY! {and confetti chocolate layer cake}

ONE HUNDRED! I. Can. Not. Believe. It. This is officially my 100th post on my blog! It's absolutely crazy to me that this little blog, my side project, my way to showcase my hobby... has so many recipes and posts on it. It started for fun... and I mean, it still is for fun, but I would have never thought that I'd be so committed that I would eventually have this much stuff on here! And of course, now that I've gotten so far, I'm not stopping. 

I am so thankful for every single person that has ever spent time on here. Every view, every comment, every repin or retweet or repost. Thank you! It means so much to me that you come here on my modest little blog, and look around, and make what I make. I swear to you guys, every time I get an email that I have received a comment, I do a happy dance. Repins and Facebook likes bring a smile to my face. Twitter followers make me happy, especially because I have been the worst about being on Twitter for months! And the followers keep coming. I am so, so grateful for each and every single one of you. You don't know how happy all of you make me! 🙂

Even when life gets crazy and I get super busy and I can't post for long periods of time... you all still come and look at my stuff. You make me feel that even though I sometimes think this is useless and a waste of time and nobody cares... it's not. It's worthwhile and people DO care. And that makes me so, so happy. So, to celebrate, I made a big, huge, over the top cake. And I am having a giveaway! To thank all of you for being so sweet and being my followers and making me so unbelievably happy. Thank you for sticking through my 100 first posts. And hopefully many more!

Confetti Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Pink Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Ganache
Yields: one 9-inch, 3-layer cake

for the confetti cake
adapted from tie-dye cupcakes
1 ⅓ cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup whole milk
3 egg whites
2 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup white sugar
½ cup colorful sprinkles

for the dark chocolate cake
adapted from Baked Explorations
1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup whole milk
3 eggs
⅔ cup hot coffee (black)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 oz good quality dark chocolate
10 tablespoon (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup white sugar

for the dark chocolate ganache
1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips
2 teaspoon whole milk
¾ cup heavy cream

for the pink buttercream frosting
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cooking School
¾ cup white sugar
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp (THIS IS IMPORTANT, do not use salted!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 drops pink gel food coloring (or color of your choice)
sprinkles galore! to decorate 🙂

First, let's make the confetti cake. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grab a 9-inch round, springform pan, and line the bottom with parchment. Butter and flour the pan, then set aside. In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, greek yogurt, egg whites, and vanilla. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients to butter in three additions, alternating with the liquid ingredients in two additions. Finish with the dry ingredients! Pour in the sprinkles, and mix with a spatula. Scrape all the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 35-40 minutes on the middle rack. Let cool almost completely before opening the springform pan. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Next, make the dark chocolate cake. Lower the oven to 325F. Again, line the 9-inch springform with parchment, and butter/flour. In a measuring cup, place the dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Pour the hot coffee on top, and stir to melt the chocolate. Add in the milk, and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla, and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mix in three parts, alternating with the coffee and chocolate mixture in two additions. End with the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake in the middle rack for 35-40 minutes. Let cool almost completely before opening the springform pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

While the cakes cool, make the chocolate ganache. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, milk, and heavy cream. Microwave 10-15 second intervals until smooth and creamy, stirring in-between. Set aside to let thicken slightly.

Once the cakes are cooled, use a long knife to even out the tops of the cakes. Split the dark chocolate cake in half. If your confetti cake is tall enough (mine wasn't!), you may also split that one in half. Prepare your serving plate or cake stand. Dollop a small amount of chocolate ganache in the middle of the plate, and spread it to make the bottom layer cake "stick". Place your first cake layer on the plate, then spread an even amount of ganache on top. Top with the next layer of cake, and repeat. Once all your cake layers are stacked, wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to let chocolate solidify more.

While the cake is in the fridge, make the pink buttercream frosting! Fill a small saucepan with about two inches of water, and bring to a simmer. In a heatproof bowl (I just use my KitchenAid bowl), combine the egg whites, sugar, and salt. Place on top of the simmering water (not in it), and whisk continuously. You want the sugar to melt and the egg proteins to "relax," but you don't want scrambled eggs! Whisk until whites are warm to the touch and sugar is dissolved... test by rubbing a small amount between your fingers; it should feel smooth and not grainy! Fit your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, and beat the eggs on low until foamy. Add in the cream of tartar, and beat on medium-high speed until the whites are glossy and thick, and hold stiff peaks. The mixture should be cooled off completely! If you are afraid the eggs are still too hot, place in the refrigerator for a bit. You are about to add in butter, so if the mixture is hot, it will melt the butter and you'll have a soupy mess! Anyways, once the mixture is cooled off, start adding in the butter a couple of tablespoonfuls at a time. Let one addition mix in completely before adding more. Do not worry if the mixture looks a little curdled, it will smooth out! After all the butter has been mixed in, add the vanilla. Remove from the mixer, and using a spatula, mix in desired amount of food coloring til the frosting reaches the color you want. Place mixture in fridge until ready to use (press plastic wrap directly on top if it will be more than 30 minutes).

Finally, frost the cake! Unwrap the cake from the plastic wrap, and using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer all-over to catch crumbs and even out the cake. Refrigerate again for at least 30 minutes! Once that is done, decorate the cake with the rest of the frosting as desired. Top with lots of sprinkles! 

AND NOW FINALLY, the giveaway! I apologize for such a long recipe. 🙂 To thank allll of you for being such lovely followers, I am rewarding you with a chance to win these adorable goodies! The cutest cupcake stand, like, ever, plus a sweet little pocket-size cookbook full of chocolate recipes. Um. Yes, please. I totally envy you. I would like to point out that both the cake stand and cookbook are leeeeedle! I don't want y'all to get the package and go, "Well, this is a lot smaller than I anticipated." So anyways....
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Ta-Da! Giveaway ends in ONE week, on September 4th. Hurry and enter! 🙂 ALSO, awfully sorry, but this is for US residents only!!