Chocolate Buttercream Cake

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I was psyched to make this too after seeing it on TV, and followed it perfectly minus a mixer. My arms felt like they were going to fall off, but I did it. Mine came out thick and heavy too...and my frosting was definitely not right which I attributed to my lack of mixer. It was a disaster, but I ate it anyway over the course of the next week. Still wondering what went wrong with the cake part of it.

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I was very disappointed reading the bad icing reviews. I have made this icing over and over again, always a success. It is very light, fluffy and not too sweet and heavy like buttercreams made without the eggwhites. This was my first meringue icing and I think the bad reviewers just REALLY did not know what they were doing. Each time I have made it, my syrup was different consistencies and it still worked out fine (I didn't have a candy thermometer the first time and the last I didn't watch it closely enough. I substituted almond flavoring for the orange and it tastes absolutely wonderful and decorates easily. I did not try the cake because I usually prefer oil cakes to butter cakes unless it is a pound cake.

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I wanted my birthday cake to turn out perfect because it's the only time of the year that I splurge on myself and have cake. I read all the reviews here, and decided this would be the recipe I would make, minus the frosting (sorry, but the reviews weren't good. I followed the recipe to the letter, making sure those ingredients that needed to be at room temperature were indeed at room temperature, taking them out of the fridge the night before.

I made the cake EXACTLY as the instructions specified, and all seemed to go well -- until it was time to actually cut into it. The cake was a total flop, and weighed a ton. It raised very little, and came out the consistency of fudge, heavy fudge. What a disappointment! My husband -- bless his heart -- went right out and bought me a small chocolate cake at the grocery store. It was very good, and we had a lovely celebration.

I've since read the ingredients over and over again, and came to the conclusion that my baking soda was too old. Just to test that theory, I've since made several quick breads, all of which rose nicely.

I don't know why this recipe didn't work for me, but next time I try it, I'm using baking powder as well -- and a lot of it.

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I didn't try the cake recipe yet, however, I did execute the frosting. True, it is a exacting technique (Italian buttercream however, the results are well worth it. You must follow the directions to the letter but when you do the results are absolutely fantastic. My frosting turned out to a delicous (sans food coloring Jersey-butter yellow that was texturally light and whipped yet decadant on the palate.

Make sure you have everything at ready. The one thing I did differently was that I used 4 whole eggs instead of 6 whites (which is technically more "French" than just using the whites and I had my butter a bit colder than room temp which I believe helped add to a whipped texture without the frosting falling apart from too much heat. Best luck to you.

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I made this cake for company without trying it first. Boy was I embarrassed. It was awful. It was sticky and bitter. It tasted as if something was missing. I didn't make the icing so I don't know how that tastes.

I will never attempt this again.

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This buttercream icing is tricky to make and takes about an hour. In the end, mine curdled and tasted like lard. I will not attempt this again because there are other good buttercream receipes out there that take a lot less time. This is the receipe I ended up using with the cake and it was a hit! 1 c. shortening, 1 c salted butter, softened; 2 t. vanilla; 1 t. almond extract; 6 c. sifted powered sugar and 3 T milk. Mix shortening, butter, vanilla & almond extracts and add sugar then milk. I still used the orange food coloring and it came out beautiful!

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I love Ina's recipes too. She makes very good food. I make A LOT of cakes. This cake was great, the same day I made it. I made cupcakes for my husband's classroom of kids for the following day and the cupcakes were crumbly. They were still good but crumbly. Cakes made with oil are moister than cakes made with butter. I usually make a cake with oil and it's so moist and dense but I thought I'd try something new. Ina's cake puffed up really pretty and the cupcakes iced beautifully. I didn't even bother with her icing for a bunch of 9 year olds. This cake is great if you plan to eat it the same day.

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I always love Ina's recipes, but this one for the orange tinted buttercream frosting was AWFUL!!! Even though it was very labor intensive my husband and I made the cake and then prepared the frosting together--even with both of us it was a lot of work and NO satisfaction with the end result. Even my kids who usually love any dessert wouldn't eat a second piece of this cake due to the horrible icing. It tasted like fluffy whipped lard--I'll continue my search for a good buttercream icing.

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The chocolate cake was moist and very chocolately. The buttercream frosting seemed to take forever. Whipping the egg whites was easy but waiting for the sugar mixture to reach 240 degrees seem to take about 10-15 minutes. The frosting is very time consuming and I probaby will only make it at special occasions. I omitted the orange liquer and just added vanilla extract and it worked out perfectly.

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awsome