Celebrate PARTY OF TWO week with, what else, cake!
Party of Two has been out for a whole four days now! Many thanks to all of you who have bought the book, requested it from your library, or posted about it on social media, or reviewed it on Amazon or Goodreads or anywhere else, or attended any of my virtual events! I'm so grateful to all of you for your support, especially during such an overwhelming time for all of us. I have a few more virtual events coming up, starting with one with Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan this evening, which you can watch through The Ripped Bodice's Facebook page. And then next Wednesday, July 1, I'll be chatting with Bim Adewunmi and Nichole Perkins of Thirst Aid Kit, hosted by Books Are Magic bookstore; register to attend it here. You can order the book from either of those fantastic bookstores, or from any of the links here! I'm still signing batches of books every few days at East Bay Booksellers, so you can still order signed books (and if you've already ordered one, it should be on its way soon!). Also, in case you missed it, I was on NPR last weekend, talking Party of Two and racism in publishing, you can listen at that link!
Last week, I succumbed to pandemic trends -- yes, I bought oVertone for my hair. If you, unlike me, did not get millions of ads for this and see it on your friends on every form of social media, oVertone is a color depositing conditioner, and they have a whole line for brown hair, so I bought their Orange for Brown hair conditioner, and I have to say, I'm having a lot of fun with it. I left it on far longer than the package says (I think it says 15 minutes, I left it on for 35), and it gave me just a hint of copper in the sun, which was just what I was looking for. Next time I try it, I'll leave it on longer, just to see what happens (and I'm also pondering getting the Rose Gold for brown hair and combining it with the orange as an experiment). I tend to be pretty hair risk averse, so I like that this is fun and works but is pretty low risk -- if it's too much for you, just wash your hair and it fades, and if you want more, do it again!
If you have already read, or are in the midst of reading, Party of Two, and now desperately need a delicious chocolate cake recipe, I am here for you! I've given this recipe for chocolate cake in this newsletter before, and first I thought I should give you all a new and different recipe for cake, but this recipe is my favorite chocolate layer cake, so why give anything else? This is the original recipe, which is for two ten inch cake pans, but I always make it with three eight inch cake pans and it's perfect (or you could do it with cupcakes, and bake for about 25 minutes, or you could do two layers and some cupcakes, etc). I doubled the frosting recipe for you, because I always do (especially necessary when you're making more layers). It's delicious and forgiving and you should make it for yourself this weekend.
Double Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients
For cake layers
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well shaken buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
For ganache frosting
2 pounds semisweet chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 stick (1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
Equipment: two 10 by 2 inch round cake pans or 3 8 by 2 inch round cake pans, or cupcake pans and liners
For cake layers:
Preheat the oven to 300 F, and grease your pans. (These are my favorite cake pans, by the way) Line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper.
Chop the semisweet chocolate, combine it in a bowl with the hot coffee, and stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
In a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer or another large bowl, beat the eggs until thickened and lemon colored (about three minutes with a stand mixer or five with a hand held mixer -- you can definitely do this by hand with a whisk too, you'll just get an arm workout). Slowly add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and coffee/chocolate mixture to the eggs, and beat until it's well combined. Add the sugar/flour mixture and beat until the mixture is just combined. Divide the batter equally between the pans, and bake in the middle of the oven until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, one hour to an hour and ten minutes.
Put the pans on racks to cool completely (I have tried to take these cakes out of the pans before they're cooled all the way and it's always difficult; it's a really moist cake so it's much easier to take out of the pans and frost when cool). Invert the pans to remove the cakes.
For the frosting:
(note: start the frosting well in advance, because it needs plenty of time to cool to the right consistency; I try to start it as soon as I put the cakes in the oven)
Finely chop the chocolate. In a large saucepan, bring the cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over medium low heat, whisking until the sugar is dissolved (you can also do this in a large bowl in the microwave, just do it slowly and carefully). Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, and whisk until the chocolate is melted completely. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the chocolate mixture, and whisk until smooth. Transfer into a bowl, and let it cool; stir it occasionally until it's spreadable. In a warm kitchen, or at this time of year, I put it in the fridge and take it out every ten or so minutes to stir, until the consistency is right. If it gets too cold and firm, just leave it at room temp for a little while and stir until it's just right.
Frost the cake and cut it in big slices and enjoy, preferably with a book in your hand.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Jasmine
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