Mocha-Spice Cake with Mocha-Spice Buttercream

Ingredients:

Cake

1 cup unsalted butter

5 large eggs, separated

1 cup buttermilk

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp each: baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon

1/4 tsp each: ground cloves, allspice

1/8 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups baker's sugar

2 Tbsp each: kahlua, strong coffee

1 Tbsp + 2 tsp good quality vanilla

Buttercream

1 cup butter

6 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbsp each: kahlua, strong coffee, vanilla

1/8 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp cinnamon

dash of ground cloves and allspice

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325. Allow butter, eggs, and buttermilk to come to room temp. Grease and flour three 9" rounds and cut parchment paper to line bottom of pans. In large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.

2. Beat butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Beat in sugar until well combined. Beat in yolks, one at a time. Beat on high for 5 minutes.

3. Alternately, add flour and buttermilk to butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just combined. In another bowl, combine kahlua, coffee, and vanilla. Gently stir into cake batter.

4. In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold 1 cup of whites into the batter, then fold in the rest.

5. Pour batter into pans. Bake for 25 minutes. Cake should spring back to the touch and will probably NOT look completely done. Cool cakes in pans on wire racks for about 10 minutes. Then, remove carefully from pans and cool completely before frosting.

For buttercream:

Beat 1 cup of softened butter on medium-high. Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar, spices, and cocoa. Gradually beat in kahlua, coffee, and vanilla. Slowly mix in the rest of the powdered sugar until the frosting is a smooth consistency.

This is the cake that Cristina built - remember this cake