Photo Courtesy of Nereida.
Birthday Cake! Well, this was actually for Phil’s Birthday– in September– but celebrated in October in the Adirondacks. That was a fun time. My friends like to call me a neurotic control freak in the kitchen. And they thought I was crazy for making a second frosting– when my first attempt was lackluster– I had thought I could get by just winging maple frosting– didn’t work. So the I did the Magnolia maple frosting– and man oh man– was it so worth it. That shit was way better. It tastes like marshmallows.
Magnolia Chocolate Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (use a double broiler or a bowl-pyrex or metal- on top of a saucepan with an inch or two of boiling water- water shouldn’t be high enough to touch the bowl)
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a pan. 9×13 inch. 2 round pans. Or cupcakes.
In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Carefully spoon the batter into pan.
Cupcakes bake 20–25 minutes
Round Cake pans bake 30-40 mins- if memory serves me the 9×13 take on the longer side of it.
Or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool before frosting!
Magnolia Fluffy Maple Frosting
2 egg whites
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon maple extract
In the top of a double boiler (or bowl-pyrex or metal on top of a saucepan), combine first five ingredients. Cook over boiling water, beating constantly on the medium-high speed of an electric mixer, until mixture stands in peaks (about 5-7 minutes). Remove the pot from heat. Add the vanilla and the maple extracts and continue beating 1 minute more until thick enough to spread.
Snacko Backo 
Oh memories! I remember this being amazingly good and the maple was so seasonally appropriate.
“My friends like to call me a neurotic control freak in the kitchen.” No, we call you that everywhere!
Kidding. This looks delish. DELISH.
this was so good thanks for the cake Tessa! One thing though, Jess said she tasted it but I don’t remember sharing it with anyone..!
did we have maple extract?
oh shit, sorry– i did this post a little hurriedly. while it would have been great– and probs a bit more maple-y if we had some– we most certainly did not. Ours was a bit more… subtle.