Recipe: Super Bowl Cake

Here's the cake that made an appearance at my Super Bowl Festivities yesterday. We had the whole gamut: little hot dogs, chili dip and chips, wings and Super Bowl Cake, made by the best wife ever, Mrs. BA. Goalposts made by Brave Astronaut's Dad. Sprinkles added by LBA. The picture does not look like the one that Mrs. BA made, I'll have to see if OSG has a good one.

Here's the recipe, from the Food Network kitchens:

Cake:

• 3 ounces semisweet or bitter sweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup flat cola
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Icing:

• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 9 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• Pinch fine salt
• 1 1/4 pounds (5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
• 2 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted
  

Football Sugar Cookies, homemade or store bought, recipe follows (as mentioned, we used football-themed sprinkles, placed on the cake by LBA)

Plastic goal posts, available a specialty baking stores (My dad made them out of lollipop sticks and a hot glue gun - there may be chocolate lollipops in the future - we had left over sticks)

For the cake: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter and line the bottom of 9 by 13-inch cake pan with parchment paper, overlapping on 2 sides to create flaps.

Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat cola just to a simmer over low heat and pour over chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes; stir until smooth.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In another large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until slightly thickened and pale, about 3 minutes. Gradually add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs. Beat on low until combined well, but not aerated. Add the flour mixture and continue to beat until just combined. (Stir lightly with a rubber spatula to remove any pockets of flour.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake springs back lightly when touched, and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.

Cool cake completely in the pan on a rack. Run a knife around edge of the pan and invert cake onto a rack. Carefully remove parchment paper and cool completely. (The cake may be made in advance, tightly wrapped and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

For the Icing: Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a standing mixer's bowl above the water. Whisk the sugar, the egg whites, lemon juice, or cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl by hand. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the bowl to a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the whites at medium-high speed until they almost hold a stiff peak and are fully cooled, about 10 minutes. Beat in the butter, a little at a time, until the icing is smooth and spreadable. (If the icing separates, just keep beating and it will come back together.)

To decorate the cake: Divide the icing in half. Set aside a couple of tablespoons white icing for field line. Blend a few drops of green food coloring into 1 portion so it is the same color as football field turf. Beat the cocoa powder and melted chocolate into remaining icing.

Cover sides of the cake with chocolate icing. (Save some chocolate icing to decorate football cookie, if desired.)

Transfer the green icing to a pastry bag fitted with a small tip, and cover the top of the cake, moving back and forth in small motions to create the turf. Clean bag and tip thoroughly, fill with white icing and add yard lines to field as desired.

Pressed football themed cookies into the top or sides of the cake, as desired, and finish with plastic goal posts.

Serve or set aside at room temperature for up to 2 hours before serving, refrigerate if needed. (If cake is refrigerated, bring to room temperature 1 hour before serving.)