This fancy little cake is a perfect for a special occasion and we had just the thing to celebrate – our second anniversary! We made this cake together on the day of our anniversary so I can’t take full credit for its pretty appearance! James made the cake layers and chocolate covered strawberries and I made the frosting and glaze. How’s that for teamwork? We enjoyed the cake after an indulgent meal of beef tenderloin, sautéed onions and mushrooms and a side of duchess potatoes. I wish we had more occasions to celebrate because I could get used to eating like that.

The cake is a moist chocolate cake and the frosting is a very basic whipped cream frosting. At first sight of the frosting recipe I thought, “that sounds boring”, but the chocolate glaze is very rich so whipped cream frosting is actually the perfect pairing. The chocolate covered strawberries for garnish put this cake over the top. Who doesn’t love chocolate covered strawberries? Ok, I actually don’t, but 99% of the population does! James had no problem eating all of them.

Since it was just the two of us, we halved the recipe and made a three layer 6 inch cake which was perfect. I’m actually kind of obsessing over the idea of these “mini” cakes and can’t wait to make another one. For some reason the dramatically tall layers yet small diameter makes it look really cute!

Tuxedo Cake makes a three tiered 8 or 9 inch cake
Ingredients:

For the cake:
2 sticks of unsalted butter
2 cups water
1 cup canola oil
4 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour three 8 or 9 inch cake pans. Place a round of parchment paper in the bottom of each pan.

Place butter, water and oil in a small saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder and flour. Pour melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until incorporated and smooth. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, incorporating eggs between each addition. Whisk in buttermilk. Add baking soda, salt and vanilla and give it one more whisk to combine all the ingredients. Divide batter between prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let cakes cool in their pans for about 20 minutes. Invert them onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:
4 cups heavy cream, chilled thoroughly
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Place heavy cream into a large mixing bowl and whip on medium-high power with an electric mixer. Once soft peaks have formed add powdered sugar. Continue to beat until stiff peaks have formed.

Frost cooled cake and chill in the fridge for at least a hour before glazing.

For the chocolate glaze:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

Place chocolate in a small heat proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until simmering. Immediately pour cream over the chocolate and let sit for at least 20 seconds. Whisk together mixture until chocolate and cream are completely incorporated. Add in corn syrup and vanilla. Pour glaze into a liquid measuring cup, small pitcher, or anything with a pouring spout. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Remove the cake from the fridge and pour chocolate glaze over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Move quickly because the frosting will start to melt a bit. Immediately return the fridge to set, at least an hour. Top with chocolate covered strawberries if desired.

Recipe from The Pastry Queen