Amazing New Year's Eve Cake
Submitted by decastillo
New Year’s Eve chocolate clock cake stacks three layers of egg-white sponge with stovetop chocolate cream filling and Hungarian chocolate frosting, then iced with a clock face for the midnight countdown.
YIELD
18 servingsPREP
50 minCOOK
25 minREADY
2 hrsThis is a showstopper cake for the midnight toast, a classic American party piece from the era when home bakers actually went all-in on three-layer cakes. Six whisked egg whites give the sponge its pale, light texture. A stovetop chocolate cream filling holds the layers together. A Hungarian frosting blanket finishes the outside, ready for the clock face piped in white icing.
Sift the cake flour three times. This isn’t fussy bakery superstition. Triple sifting actually aerates the cake flour and produces a lighter, more tender crumb. Skip it and the layers turn heavy and dense.
Fold the beaten egg whites in last, with a gentle hand. Use a flexible spatula and an over-and-under motion, not stirring. Knocking out the air you just beat in collapses the cake’s signature lift.
The Hungarian frosting is an old-style cooked buttercream. Whisking the egg yolks in one at a time, then the butter a tablespoon at a time, is what gives it the silky, glossy texture. Rush this and the frosting breaks into a curdled mess.
Wait until the frosting fully sets before piping the clock numbers. Soft frosting won’t hold a clean white line, and your “12” will look like a melted pile of icing instead of a midnight marker.
Pro Tips
- Use room-temperature eggs. Cold egg whites won’t whip to stiff peaks.
- Cool the layers completely before filling. Warm cake melts the frosting and sliding layers ruin the clock structure.
- Make the filling and frosting first so they have time to cool while the cake bakes.
- For the clock numbers, use a piping bag with a small round tip and a stiff royal icing or buttercream.
Variations
- Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to the filling for deeper chocolate intensity.
- Pipe edible gold stars or champagne glasses around the clock for a more festive look.
- Tint the white frosting numbers in metallic silver or gold food gel for a more dramatic countdown finish.
Ingredients
Directions
Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt and sift together three times.
Cream butter thoroughly, add sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy.
Add flour, alternately with milk, a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth.
Add flavoring.
Fold in egg whites quickly and thoroughly.
Bake in three greased 9-inch layer pans in moderate oven (375 degrees Fahrenheit) 20 to 25 minutes.
Let cakes cool completely.
Spread Chocolate Cream Filling between layers and Hungarian Chocolate Frosting on top and sides of cake.
When frosting is set, write the numbers from one to twelve around top of cake with white frosting to represent the face of a clock.
Place hands of clock at twelve o’clock.
Chocolate Cream Filling:
Add chocolate to milk and heat in double boiler.
When chocolate is melted, beat with rotary egg beater until blended.
Combine sugar, flour, and salt; add gradually to chocolate mixture and cook until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Pour small amount of mixture over egg yolks, stirring vigorously; return to double boiler and cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly.
Add butter and vanilla, and cool.
Makes 2½ cups filling, or enough filling to spread between three 9-inch layers.
Use this filling in small cup cakes.
Use ½ recipe for filling 2½ to 3 dozen small cup cakes.
Hungarian Chocolate Frosting:
Melt chocolate in double boiler.
Remove from boiling water, add sugar and water, and blend.
Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating will after each.
Add butter, a tablespoon at a time, beating thoroughly after each amount.
Makes enough frosting to cover the top of one 9-inch layer and sides of three 9-inch layers, or to cover the tops and sides of two 9-inch layers.
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