Welcome to my blog! This is my first blog post so I want to do a quick introduction… I’m Blaire, a self-taught baker, wife and business woman. I love to venture out and try new things, while traveling for work or Pinterest surfing I am always on the look out for mouth-watering desserts. Recently, I completed my first cake decorating class, now my desserts must taste and look amazing, Sugar B approved! Taste will always be the most important factor for me, I promise that what you see in the pictures will always be the true result of my baking. I hate making a dessert that comes out looking nothing like the picture (this is especially true for frosting recipes). I’d love to hear from you if you have ideas for ways to improve, and stick with me while I work on my photography skills.

And now, onto the important stuff, the sweets! I originally made this S’mores Cake for my husband and his twin brother’s surprise 30^th birthday. It was such a big hit (there was literally none left) and I had so many requests for the recipe, it finally pushed me over the edge to start a baking blog. I’m not much for the extra fluff when looking at blog recipes, so I will walk you through my methods but try to keep it short and sweet (pun intended) :).

To start, we make the best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. I make it for EVERYTHING.   It is my go to recipe for anything chocolate and, trust me, you won’t regret it!

For the purposes of this post, I only made a small two layer cake, but don’t worry the original recipe was used for the party and it’s definitely perfect!

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Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

From Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Makes a 10-inch triple-layer cake

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 1/4 cups warm coffee
• 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 1 jar of marshmallow fluff
• 1 cup or more of crushed graham crackers

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper. This is an extremely important step, do not skip it. Your cakes will remove easily from the pans after cooling.

2. Sift the 3c flour, 3 3/4c sugar, 1c+2T cocoa powder, 3t baking soda, and 1 1/2t salt into a large bowl. Stir to combine them well.  Add the 1 1/2c oil and 1 1/2c sour cream and whisk to blend. Mix in the 2 1/4c coffee a ½ cup at a time. Blend in the 3T vinegar and 1 1/2t vanilla. Whisk in the 3 eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the 3 prepared cake pans.
   

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in the pans until completely cool. Invert onto wire racks and carefully peel off the paper liners.

I always freeze my cake layers for roughly 1 week (I prefer to make cakes / cupcakes on Sunday or Monday for a Saturday event). When freezing your layers you will want to wrap them first in saran wrap and then in aluminum foil and place them back into the cake pan. When you are ready to frost the cake, remove the layers from the freezer. I pre cut mine before freezing, the layers are so much easier to frost when frozen. I recommend frosting the cake the day before your event.

Now, It’s time to make the Ganache. You’ll want to make this with some time to spare so that it can thicken and cool for a little while.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

From Natasha’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 16 oz (1lb or about 2 2/3 cup of ) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 cup heavy whipping crea

Instructions:

1. Bring 2c heavy cream to a simmer on the stove top, stirring occasionally. Just as soon as you see a simmer, remove from heat and poor over 16oz chocolate chips, swirling the bowl to make sure all chips are covered.
2. Place lid on chocolate chips to trap the heat and let sit undisturbed (no mixing) for 5 minutes. Remove lid and swirl the chocolate chips with a whisk starting in the center and working outward until smooth. It will turn into velvety ganache right before your eyes and you’ll get excited.
3. Once it’s velvety, let it sit uncovered at room until cool and thickened for frosting your cake. I waited at least 30 minutes. Chill very briefly in the refrigerator, if necessary.

Finishing Touches

Now for the S’mores filling. In between each layer, add a hefty helping of your Marshmallow fluff topping (I used marshmallow sundae topping which is ooey gooey delicious but a little more difficult to keep from dripping) and crushed Graham Crackers (I chose cinnamon reduced fat). The more layers you make this cake, the better! The filling in between layer makes this cake taste even more like a S’mores!

When your ganache frosting has cooled and thickened, you can frost your cake however you like.

Voila! Now you have the most delicious cake I’ve ever made. Enjoy!

Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter – @sugarbbaking.

Happy Baking!

-SugarB