Love is a preheated oven, a glass of Malbec, and a new dessert recipe at the ready. Thanks to Nicola from Picnic Baked Goods, we’ve got the last one covered. Behold her Valentine’s Day Chocolate Blackberry Black Sesame Cake—in all its heart-shaped glory.
Nicola's Tips:
- Make your fillings one day ahead to save on prep time.
- Trim the domes of each cake layer with a sharp serrated knife (taste testing scraps, encouraged).
- Secure the cake to your platter with a dollop of buttercream.
- Pipe a "dam" around the perimeter of each layer, which acts as a wall for the filling.
- Grenache first, then jam. Add a squiggle of buttercream before placing the second layer on top.
- Pipe more buttercream where the layers meet and smooth.
- Add a thin layer of frosting to the layered cake and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.
- Add your final layer of buttercream and pipe it to your heart's content!
Chocolate Buttermilk Cake (makes 2 x 9” cakes or 4 x 6” cakes or 2x 8” heart cakes)
- 260g AP flour
- 375g white sugar OR 250g white, 125g brown
- 80g dutch processed cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 large eggs (55g each - so approx 100-110g eggs)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water w 2 tsp instant coffee or 1 cup of hot coffee
Preparation
Step 1 - preheat oven and grease pans
Preheat the oven to 335o F. Prepare your baking tins by spraying with baking spray or brushing with melted butter. Ideally use anodized aluminum pans, not non-stick teflon coated pans. Use parchment rounds on the bases for easy release. While your stand mixer or large bowl is still empty, weigh this on a scale and take note of the weight, this comes in handy to evenly distribute batter in pans.
Step 2 - whisk dries
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or a bowl large enough to mix all the ingredients, add flour, sugar(s), cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk thoroughly to combine.
Step 3 - whisk wets
Have your cup of hot coffee on standby at this point, and set aside. In a large bowl combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Once combined, with the mixer running on medium, add wets to the flour mixture until combined. Do not overmix. Reduce speed to low and carefully add the hot coffee mixture to the cake batter until well combined. You’ll need to scrape down sides with a spatula 1-2 times during this part to ensure it’s evenly mixed and you don’t have lumps or dries still hanging out on the bottom of the stand mixer bowl. The mixture will be runny - this is correct!
Step 4 - distribute batter to pans & bake
Weigh your full bowl of cake batter, then subtract the empty bowl weight from it and divide it by how many pans you are using. For 9” or 8” pans it should be roughly 710g per pan, or 355g per pan with 6” layers. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the chocolate cake comes out clean.
Step 5 - cooling
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then using an offset spatula run it around the outside of the pans before inverting layers onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Bittersweet Ganache (makes about 2 cups)
- 135g heavy cream
- 50g brown sugar
- 135g bittersweet chocolate, chips or chopped into chunks
- 5g maldon salt
Preparation
Step 1 - heat cream
Combine cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Simmer on low-medium till sugar is melted and cream is at a low simmer.
Step 2 - add chocolate
Add chocolate into the saucepan and allow to sit for 1 minute before whisking or blending with an immersion blender. Ganache should be well combined and silky smooth before pouring into a container and refrigerated till set.
Black Sesame Swiss Meringue Buttercream (makes about 3 cups)
- 300g granulated sugar
- 150g egg whites
- 410g unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
- 1 vanilla bean scraped
- 3⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1⁄4 tsp cream of tartar (optional but recommended)
- 2-3 tbsp black tahini
Preparation
Step 1 - pasteurize your egg whites and melt your sugar
Combine granulated sugar, egg whites, salt and scraped vanilla bean and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer and set over a medium saucepan filled with 1" of gently simmering water (bowl shouldn’t be touching water). Heat, whisking constantly, until sugar is dissolved and an instant-read thermometer registers 150F°, about 5 minutes.
Step 2 - whip into meringue
Fit bowl onto stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed until meringue is stiff, glossy, and dense, about 5 minutes. At this point your meringue will still be hot from pasteurizing the egg whites - let it cool to room temp before the next step.
Step 3 - emulsify butter and add tahini
With the mixer at medium speed, add all the butter! If the mixture starts to look chunky or liquidy or split, just keep beating; it will come back together!! ALWAYS. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and a dash of vanilla extract for taste and your black tahini. Once combined, taste!
Does it need more? Add little by little if so. Tahini by nature is very oily so adding too much will affect the sturdiness of the buttercream. You want enough to taste it but not enough to make the buttercream unstable.
Step 4 - knock the air bubbles out
Once you're happy with the flavor, switch to the paddle attachment and whip on the lowest speed mix for another 5 mins to knock out the air bubbles. Then your buttercream will be ready to use and to pipe.
Blackberry Lime Jam (makes about 3 cups)
- 425g white sugar
- 850g blackberries
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tsp agar agar
Preparation
Step 1 - cook fruit
Combine fruit, sugar and lime juice in a saucepan. Simmer on low-medium till sugar is melted and berries begin to break down. This will take approx 30 mins as a lot of moisture evaporates off.
Step 2 - taste and add agar agar
Is it too sweet/too sour? Add sugar 1 tbsp at a time if too sour, add lime juice in 1 tbsp at a time if too sweet. Once you’re happy with the flavor, add in the 2 tsp of agar agar and cook for another 5-10 mins on medium.
Step 3 -
Pour into a glass container or jar to fully cool and set in the fridge.
See Nicola's tips for assembly!
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