Cake of the Day: Black-and-White Pancake Cake
This recipe comes Shauna Server’s baking cookbook named Real Sweet (William Morrow), which contains crave-worthy baked treats made with natural sugars from coconut sugar, muscovado, agave, and more.
Black-and-White Pancake Cake
Serves 8 to 10
Talk about a showstopper! A stack of traditional flapjacks with butter and syrup is fabulous enough as is, but here we’re taking that idea into mind-blowing dessert territory. Maple-sweetened chocolate cake batter is cooked up like pancakes into thin layers and then sandwiched with lots of maple cream that beckons for a covert finger swipe. A few hidden slicks of bittersweet chocolate ganache add a major swoon factor to this over-the-top sweet stack.
Pancake Layers
1 batch of Maple Chocolate Cake batter (see below)
½ cup (4 ounces/113 grams) water
Cream Filling
½ cup heavy cream, chilled
½ cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1½ tablespoons pure maple syrup (dark or very dark preferred)*
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
Ganache Filling
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% to 70% cacao), chopped
6 tablespoons heavy cream
Special Equipment
A cast-iron griddle, about 10 × 17 inches in size**
A very thin, flexible metal spatula, such as a fish spatula
* With all the chocolate power in this recipe, using the darkest maple syrup in the cake and the filling will help the maple flavor come forward a little more.
** You can also use a very large heavy-bottomed skillet; you’ll just have to cook the pancakes one at a time, and the cooking time may vary.
Preheat a griddle over low heat for at least 10 minutes.
(You want the griddle nice and hot over as low heat as possible to avoid burning the pancakes and to give them ample time to cook through.)
Make the pancakes: Whip up a batch of Maple Chocolate Cake, adding the water to the wet ingredients before whisking the batter until smooth.
Spray the griddle generously with nonstick spray. Making 2 pancakes at a time, pour two ½-cup scoops of batter onto the griddle. Use the back of a spoon to gently swirl and coax the pancakes into 7-inch circles. Cook the pancakes until the edges appear dry and set and bubbles are no longer popping on the surfaces, about 4 minutes on the first side. Use a thin, flexible metal spatula to gently flip the pancakes. Cook about 2 minutes more, or until the centers of the pancakes spring back when lightly touched. Remove the layers to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat the batter scooping and cooking process until you have 8 cake layers.
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and place 4 cake layers in a single layer on each sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.
Make the cream filling: Pour the cream into a medium bowl. Whip the cream on high speed to stiff peaks. In a separate medium bowl, place the mascarpone, maple syrup, and vanilla bean paste. Beat on low speed, just until the mixture is smooth and begins to thicken, about 30 seconds — don’t overbeat, or the mascarpone will seize. Gently fold in the whipped cream until smooth.
Make the ganache filling: Combine the bittersweet chocolate with the cream in a small heatproof bowl. Microwave on high power for 45 to 60 seconds. Whisk the ganache until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth and the texture of chocolate pudding. Remove about 2 tablespoons of ganache to a small bowl and set aside for garnish.
To assemble the cake, remove the pancake layers from the refrigerator. Inspect the layers; choose the most handsome to be the top layer and set it aside. Place 1 cake layer on a serving platter or cake stand. Dollop on ? cup of the maple mascarpone cream and use a small offset spatula to smooth it out, with a ½-inch border all around. Place a second layer on top, and press lightly to help it adhere. Spread about 2½ tablespoons of ganache onto the layer, also with a ½-inch border around the cake. Continue the layering process 6 more times, alternating maple mascarpone cream and chocolate ganache with the layers, placing the best-looking cake layer on top.
To the remaining chocolate ganache, add a drizzle of cream, only about ½ teaspoon or so, just enough to thin it to a honey-like consistency (warm the ganache in the microwave for about 10 seconds or so to loosen it up first, if necessary). Drizzle the ganache artfully over the cake. Chill the cake for about 30 minutes before serving. This cake can be made up to 1 day in advance (let it soften on the counter for 15 minutes before slicing).
Tip: Be prepared to lower the heat accordingly if the pancakes are threatening to burn—just as with making regular breakfast pancakes, depending on your griddle and your stove, it may take a bit of adjusting to get the heat just right. Making a tiny test pancake.
Maple Chocolate Cake
Makes two 9-inch cake layers, one 9x13-inch sheet cake, or about 1½ dozen cupcakes
1½ cups (6¾ ounces/192 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
¾ cup (2½ ounces/72 grams) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup (11? ounces/336 grams) pure maple syrup (dark or very dark preferred)*
1 cup (8½ ounces/242 grams) 2% Greek yogurt
2 large eggs
¼ cup (2 ounces/57 grams) grapeseed, or canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract*
*I like honey here, too. It creates a noticeably different flavor profile when combined with cocoa, which makes this recipe great for mixing and matching with a variety of frostings and toppings.
Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350? F.
Lightly grease a 9×13-inch rectangular baking pan or two 9-inch round pans (and line them with parchment paper), or line 18 wells of two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a large measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the syrup, yogurt, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Using a whisk, energetically blend the batter by hand until smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Spread the batter into the prepared pan or pans. (For fill the cups no more than two-thirds full—you should get 18 cupcakes.)
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched, 30 to 35 minutes for sheet and/or layer cakes, or 20 minutes for cupcakes. Cool completely in the pans on a wire rack before inverting and frosting.
Excerpted from Real Sweet by Shauna Sever. William Morrow, Photography by Leigh Beisch
More real sweet Cakes of the Day:
Solve the daily Crossword
