CHOCOLATE AND CREAM VICTORY LAYER CAKE
(like Senior's Restaurant or Ronnie's Deli in Orlando)
Adapted from source: chefsref (see photos)
"Victory Cake is a chocolate and whipped cream delight. The cake is light and moist and chocolaty, the whipped cream is fluffy and as sweet as you like to make it. This is what I like to call comfortably sweet, sweet enough for the kids birthday cake but comfortable so adults can enjoy it as well. Versions of this were served at Seniors restaurant in Brooklyn and Ronnies Deli in Orlando among others and I have seen searches online for this recipe."
Back in World War II sugar, flour and butter were rationed and Victory Cake became a popular recipe because it saved precious ingredients for our service men. In my family, Granny, (Yes we really called her Granny) used to make this for the family then and it has been passed down through the years. Ive updated it a bit using better ingredients and modern equipment and present all of the details and instructions you will need to recreate this lost classic. The taste is as close as I can remember to the cake served in the restaurants mentioned." - chefsref
1 cup boiling-hot water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee (optional)
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses
4 large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes (DO NOT USE COLD EGGS!)
Stabilized Whipped Cream (recipe follows)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted (optional)
Candied cherries, as needed (optional)
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (9x2-inch) round cake pans and line bottom of each with a round of wax paper. Butter paper and dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.
Whisk together 1 cup boiling water, cocoa powder and instant coffee in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla. Set aside to cool.
Whisk together then sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl, set this aside.
Beat the butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the molasses and continue beating until light and fluffy. Don't forget to scrape the bowl!
Reduce speed to low and add flour and cocoa mixtures alternately in batches, beginning with flour mixture. Divide batter between the prepared cake pans, smoothing tops.
Bake at 350 degrees F until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean and edges of cake begin to pull away from sides of pans, 25 to 35 minutes total. Cool layers in pans on racks 10 minutes, then invert onto racks. Take layers out of the pans, removing wax paper, and cool completely, then chill in refrigerator before assembling.
TO ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
Dust a cake plate with a little powdered sugar. Place first layer on plate and coat with the whipped cream about 1/2-inch thick. Place second layer on top of the first and coat with more whipped cream. If you have a pastry bag pipe rosettes of cream around the top, otherwise use a spatula to make peaks and valleys. If using, place cherries around the top of the cake.
If decorating with chocolate, melt chocolate chips in the microwave or in a double boiler. (DO NOT GET ANY WATER IN THE CHOCOLATE OR IT WILL SEIZE UP AND BE USELESS!) Use a pastry bag with a plain writing tip and drizzle/squeeze out some stings of chocolate across the top.
*The chocolate chips and cherries are not really needed but they do make a nice finish.
STABILIZED WHIPPED CREAM**
These ingredients are for a two layer cake, double for more layers
1 1/4 envelopes plain gelatin (1 envelope = 1/4 oz)
3 tablespoons warm water
3 cups heavy whipping cream, divided use (ice cold)
2/3 cup powdered sugar (VARY THIS ACCORDING TO HOW SWEET YOU LIKE IT! ANYWHERE FROM 1/4 CUP TO A FULL CUP)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Advance prep: Place the mixer bowl and beater in the freezer. Keep the cream ice cold.
Blend the gelatin with the 3 tablespoons warm water in a heatproof bowl. Set aside to soften for 5 minutes
Place the bowl of softened gelatin over simmering water in a double boiler. Stir gently and dissolve the gelatin, it will start to turn clear when it is ready. Slowly stir 1 cup of the cream into the gelatin. Check to see that the gelatin has dissolved into the cream and remove from the heat. Chill the cream/gelatin mixture briefly, to bring it down to room temperature. DO NOT MAKE IT COLD OR IT WILL SET SOLID!
Place the remaining 2 cups of cream in the chilled mixing bowl. Add sugar and vanilla and begin to mix. Pour the cream/gelatin mixture into the center of the cream/sugar mixture while it is mixing. Turn the speed on high and whip to a stiff peak. BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVER BEAT OR YOU WILL MAKE BUTTER! Keep cold while you assemble the cake.
If you don't have a pastry bag you can make one with parchment paper.
**Stabilize the whipped cream??
Stabilizing whipped cream helps if you want the cake to last for days. If you will eat the cake in a day or two this step is just extra work.
Adapted from chefsref: http://chefsref.hubpages.com/hub/Chocolate-Cream-Victory-Layer-Cake-Lost-Recipe
