gluten free zen
Taking The Stress Out Of Gluten-Free Grain-Free & Dairy-Free Living
Chocolate Buttercream Cake with Boysenberry & Rum Filling
This cake was incredibly moist, delicious and very rich! I fed 10 people with it, sent two generous slices home with my mom, and my husband and I ate leftovers for two nights.
It’s incredibly easy and I hope that the next several people who are gluten-free and dairy-free that frequent my blog will pass this recipe on to the next person who complains about “how hard it is to live the gluten-free and dairy-free life”. Honestly, I hear it so often that I don’t even argue with people anymore. I just nod and say, “Yes, it’s definitely a transition at first, but it’s completely do-able if you’re up to doing a little research.” And then I write down my blog for them and hope that they at least have the sense to look up someone’s gluten free blog, even it it’s not mine!
Seriously folks, I don’t suffer one bit. My expanding waistline over the past year (since I started this blog!) is clearly proof that you can live without dairy and gluten and actually enjoy it. Maybe a little too much in my case.
*I made this cake and frosted it one day ahead. Store in a cool place. My fridge was full with Super Bowl food so I stored it in our garage on a shelf. If it’s extremely cold or damp where you are I would stick to the fridge or maybe a cool basement. Then, bring it to room temperature when you’re ready to serve it.
Chocolate Buttercream Cake with Boysenberry & Rum Filling
3 Boxes of Betty Crocker’s Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 1/2 Cups Dairy Free Butter ( I use Earth Balance Soy Free in the tub)
9 Eggs, room temperature
3 Cups Water
1 Jar Trader Joe’s Boysenberry Preserves
About 1 1/2 Tablespoons or so of Dark Rum
( 3 cake pans, buttered)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees for conventional, 325 degrees for convection.
Place butter in mixer bowl and cream until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating on medium low until fully incorporated, scraping down sides frequently. Turn off mixer and add the three bags of cake mix. With the mixer on low, slowly add the water. Mix on medium for 1 minute, scraping down sides twice. Then, mix on medium for 2-3 minutes until the batter is thicker and ingredients are fully incorporated.
Evenly (I use a measuring cup) distribute the cake batter into the three cake pans. Set timer for 35 minutes and check cakes, if not done, continue baking in 3 minute intervals. Do not over bake them. Nothing is more disappointing that taking a bite of a lovely cake just to find it’s dry and flavorless. I don’t stick something in mine to check them, I simply touch the tops and if they don’t jiggle and do feel moist and spongy, they are done.
Cool the cake in their pans on raised cooling racks until they are 100% cool.
In a cereal sized bowl, add the preserves and the rum, stir to combine. You can add more or less rum. You want it to remain a spreading consistency though, so not too much! Plus, the rum is meant to compliment the Boysenberries not overpower them.
Place the first layer on the cake plate upside down. Cut a thin layer off of the entire top of the cake with a long serrated knife. Spread 1/2 of the preserve mixture over the cake. Remove the second layer and remove a thin layer of the top of that cake. Place the side that you removed the layer from face down on top of the preserves. Remove a thin layer off of the top of that piece and spread with the remaining preserve mixture.
Remove the third layer of cake from its pan and slice a thin layer off of the bottom of the cake, lay it bottom down onto the second layer of the cake. If the top is uneven you can also shave a little off to even it out. Don’t worry if the cake has a couple of flaws, all flaws can be hidden by the delicious frosting!
Set aside.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1 Cup Dairy Free Butter
3 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Pure Almond Extract
4 Tablespoons Dairy Free Creamer
About 1 1/2 teaspoons Instant Coffee Granules
Pour the creamer in a measuring cup and add the instant coffee granules, stir to combine. Set aside and allow the coffee granules dissolve.
Cream the butter in a mixer until it is light and fluffy, scraping down sides once or twice. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and almond extract. Mix on lowest setting (so you don’t end up with a cloud of powdered sugar and cocoa powder over your whole kitchen) until mixture starts to come together.
Stir the cream mixture to make sure the coffee granules are dissolved. With the mixture on medium, slowly add the cream, 1 Tablespoon at a time, scraping down the bowl once or twice in between. Once all of the cream has been added, beat on medium for 3 minutes.
Using a frosting spatula and a small amount of frosting, cover the cake with a crumb coat.
Do a second thicker (but not too thick!) layer of frosting and smooth it out. Fill a piping bag with a star tip.
Pipe (however you like) around the bottom of the cake and the top. I have zero cake decorating experience so I always choose something easy that I know I can get away with without making it look too crazy.
3 Comments on “Chocolate Buttercream Cake with Boysenberry & Rum Filling”
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gluten free zen 
This cake looks absolutely incredible! Your decorating skills are far superior to mine. I’ll be happy just to get a layer of icing on it that is relatively even without any bare spots. This is another of your recipes I’ll be sending out. Thank you!
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So happy you like it! It was very tasty, the whole family enjoyed it. Although, my son didn’t think it had enough frosting. He would be happy if I could frost his frosting with cake instead of the other way around. 🙂
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