Mirror Glaze Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 1/2 cup of sour cream
• 3  eggs
• 1 1/2 cup of coffee 
• 3/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups of cake flour
• 2 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of baking soda
• a pinch of salt

For the Chocolate Mirror Glaze:

• 50 g of water

• 140 g of granulated sugar

• 45 g of Cocoa powder

• 95 g of heavy cream

• 3 sheets of gelatin (of 2 g each)

For the cake:

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.

Spray three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray.

Sift together the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine.

Add the wet ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together.

Add the wet ingredients the dry ingredients. Whisk to combine, until the batter well mixed.

Divide the batter evenly between the three cake pans (I personally prefer to weigh them, to make sure I have the exact quantity in both pans).

Bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until a thin skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool down before inverting onto wire racks and let cool completely.

For the Chocolate Mirror Glaze:

In a saucepan, combine water, sugar, heavy cream and cocoa powder. Simmer for about 20 minutes until mixture slightly thickens.

In a separate small bowl, place 1 tablespoon of cold water. Add the gelatin sheets and let soften 5 minutes. Remove chocolate mixture from the heat and whisk in gelatin until well combined.

Set over an ice bath and whisk until the glaze thickens and reaches about 80 degrees.

Place your chocolate cake on a wire-rack over a pan, so to collect the excess glaze. Pour the glaze on a cake starting from the centre towards the sides with a circular movement. Let it sit for a few minutes before removing it from the rack.