When I think of “romance tips,” I think of those taglines on the front of womens’ magazines. I remember being like twelve always reading them and being curious what it meant to use your tongue in such and such way and what “surprising him” really meant. I sort of can’t believe I was sort of allowed to read those magazines at that age and not allowed to watch rated R movies but whatever.
As an adult, I can now say the one thing you should do to infuse romance into your relationship is not any of those things (I mean, I’m sure they work) but the real thing is to laugh. And a lot. Not like just a chuckle here and there but like really laugh. Laugh so hard tears are rolling down your face. And talk about everything and anything all the time, which most likely will lead to more laughing. And nothing is more funny and more unexpected than pantsing your bf/gf when they least expect it.
I do this to Josh regularly when he’s making coffee in the morning and he always gets “mad” and screams curse words and says I’m annoying but I know deep down starting the day on an absurd note is great. (Or at least I think it is.)
Another sure fire thing to do is eat cake. Especially rich, decadent chocolate cake. This cake is intended for two people but if I’m being honest, it’s a little much for two people to finish all of it in one sitting. It’ll definitely result in cake for breakfast. Never a bad thing.
These roses look more complicated than they are, but the only thing you’ll really need is a closed star tip. You just start in the center and go around in a circle. The first time I did this was a few weeks ago. To practice, you can do it on a sheet of parchment and then simply add the frosting bag to the piping bag.
If you need some visual video help, I love Cupcake Gemma on Youtube. This video she shows you how to do all sorts of designs, including a heart. SUPER EASY!
This is a naked cake so really minimal effort minus the whole roses on the top.
And everything chocolate is always made a million times better with a little sprinkling of salt.
Happy Valentine’s/Pantsing Day!
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cups white granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup dutch cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon, buttermilk
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon, warm water
- 1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 3 ounces dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cream or milk
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Flaked sea salt, for topping
Directions
- To make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 6-inch cake pans. This batter is sticky so I also lined the bottoms with parchment. I highly recommend this. You don’t want to bake the whole thing up and have it stick. Set the pans aside. See below for link as to how to bake cake layers flat. I do this every single time and it’s SO helpful.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand-up mixer (with the paddle attachment), add the all-purpose flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined. Next, crack in the egg, pour in the buttermilk, warm water, olive oil and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth, about 1 minute. The batter will be thinner than cake batter that you’re probably used to—that’s ok!
- Divide the cake batter amongst the two cake pans and transfer to the oven to bake for 27 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Clean out the bowl you used to make the cake and dry it thoroughly. While the cake is cooling, use it to make the frosting.
- To make the frosting: add all of the ingredients to the the cleaned large bowl or the bowl of the stand-up mixer (with the paddle attachment), add the butter, powdered sugar, melted chocolate, cream or milk and vanilla extract. Beat until thoroughly combined and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix one last time, just to ensure everything is combined.
- Decorating: Add a few tablespoons of frosting to the center of one of the rounds of cake. Smooth it around, until it reaches the edges. Add a pinch of salt all around. Place the second layer on top. Since I was going for a “naked cake” look, I added more frosting to the seam of the two cakes and smoothed it all around. Neat is not the goal! Add the remaining frosting to piping bag with a star tip attached. In the center of the top layer of cake, pipe out a rose by starting in the center and going all the way around twice. Complete the cake by adding smaller roses around the center rose. Don’t be shy to practice on a piece of parchment first and then simply add the frosting back to the piping bag—no waste!
- Top the cake with a sprinkling of flaked sea salt.
63 Comments
good job
حراج السيارات
Thanks!
how would you adjust ingredients to make a standard 8-9″ layer cake?
looks & sounds delicious so would love to make for a family birthday
thank you!
I would recommend doubling it and baking it in 9-inch cake pans. It will overflow in 8-inch cake pans but 9-inch should be safe. OR you could keep the recipe as is and just have thin layers in 8-inch pans. 🙂
I baked it today in 2 7 inch cake pans and it really was a little flat for my liking, so in an 8 inch pan it definitely would be. I’d suggest increase the mixture by an extra 50% and make two deeper cakes or a third thin layer. Don’t forget for a bigger cake you will need more buttercream too. Hope this helps.
i love that you pants your partner on a regular basis. best relationship tip ever.
also this cake. xoxoxo
Hahaha I TRY! 🙂
You are my hero. I love the balance. Pantsing and chocolate roses. My dream relationship!
Haha. It’s my dream relationship too. BALANCE!
I love how simple it is to put together yet it looks really stunning and gorgeous! I need to get a rose tip now. Now I am in desperate need of chocolate cake, no thanks to you. : D
Ahh! I corrected myself above. It’s actually a closed star tip. Very standard tip. I linked to it on Amazon as well as including a video that might be helpful. Looks a lot more difficult than it actually is.
This cake is beautiful! Also, love the new background color. 🙂
Your relationship tips are spot on. I have been with my boyfriend for over 6 year (yikes) and laughing is what gets us through everything. I will have to try the pantsing technique, although I think he might like it. Haha.
Haha. Thank you! It’s a new color I’m trying out!
And your last comment: hahaha. That’s awesome.
This looks so great with the salt on top!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
This cake would be perfect for supper tonight ♥
summerdaisy.net
Pantsing!! I do this too (while he’s brushing his teeth). Lololol. I love it. Those roses are on point!
Hi – this looks fabulous!
In the recipe you say “See below for link as to how to bake cake layers flat” – have you provided the link? I can’t seem to find it… 🙁
Thanks!
Ahh! Let me add the link to the post. For now, here it is:
http://acozykitchen.com/how-to-bake-flat-cake-layers/
Thanks!
Love it! Super cute idea! The roses are perfect!
This cake looks amazing! I am definitely going to make it to celebrate Valentine’s Day with my man. Is there a certain brand cake pan that you recommend??
Yes, I have Wilton Cake Pans. Here they are:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004S7YS/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00004S7YS&linkCode=as2&tag=acoki-20&linkId=N3NKSMSY7KGYNHYD
You can buy them from Amazon and Michael’s Craft Stores carries them, too! There’s not much of a price difference and if you download the Michael’s app, you can get a 40% coupon!
And by saying “…you can do it on a sheet of parchment and then simply add the frosting bag to the piping bag…”, I’m sure you meant that I can just eat the practice roses until I have mastered this piping skill. WOOHOO!
This looks great and you have reassured us enough times that it is easy that I will actually try it. THANKS!
Yes, I definitely mean that!
I like the idea of pantsing day better than Valentine’s Day. Too cute, and this is tooooooo pretty!
This cake is beautiful! And the perfect way to celebrate your Love!
All around the word, people are pantsing their loved one..all because of you! Hahaha
This cake is beautiful btw, I definitely need to try this recipe out!
My greatest contribution to the world! Hahaha.
AH HAHAHAHAHA. You made my day. I have totally been greeted with curse words and angry faces after pantsing Moses. It always makes my day, regardless of profanity and grouchiness. Also, this cake is simply beautiful. I’m so inspired to pipe roses on everything. I’m currently eating hummus and celery and that’s clearly not happening rn but I so wish it was.
Hahaha…that’s awesome. And same. I ate a salad for dinner. 🙁
I’m so tempted to put chocolate roses on everything now, and maybe get my pantsing on… Glorious!
DO IT x 2!
This is awesome! I went into target today and bought 6 inch cake pans, a set of 5! I can’t wait to make this cake and more! Why is salt so amazing on chocolate?! Salt and chocolate are the best things ever! Also I plan to try the pantsing idea out tomorrow!
Oooo…that’s awesome! You make one very small tall cake! Tell me how the pantsing goes! Haha
Lovely post, through and through. I couldn’t agree with you more about the power of laughter. Thank you for sharing!
I couldn’t agree more with your tips, laughing together is huge. And investing into a good waterproof mascara.
The cake looks delicious! I’d be tempted to just eat the roses first and then dig in, haha.
[…] A plethora of delicious options for Valentine’s Day dessert: conversation heart sugar cookies, Valentine’s Day almond cake, orange blossom almond cream tart for two, conversation heart cookies, peanut butter chocolate lava cakes, chocolate sugar cookie hearts, and one-bowl chocolate rose cake for two. […]
[…] one bowl chocolate cake for two via a cozy kitchen […]
I’m in love with this cake for two! And I’m fully on board with absurdity in all forms. Cuz if we’re not having fun, what the heck are we doing?
What’s pantsing? This word hasn’t made it across the pond!
This cake looks fabulous and I love salt and chocolate!
It’s when you pull someone’s pants down when they’re least expecting it!
[…] points for this one bowl chocolate rose cake for two. […]
Cake for breakfast is never a bad proposition. . .especially when the cake is as divine as this beauty. As for the pantsing. . .well I’m pretty sure . . .no, no. . . I KNOW my hubby would like that way too much. He’s that kind of guy. 😉
Seriously drooling! And cake for breakfast is must, especially on Valentines’s Day! Thanks for sharing!
This cake looks so rich and chocolatey! Love it!
I love this! Also wondering where you got that cutlery from? Dying over the forks in these photos
Oh! I got them from a little shop in Shoreditch, London. They’re enamel but I believe Anthropologie or CB2 might have something similar!
Looks amazing!! 🙂
[…] One-bowl chocolate rose cake. Look how gorgeous this looks! […]
This looks amazing! I’m going to make it tomorrow. Do you think the icing is firm enough to use in piping bags to make other flowers?
Yes, it should work with other type of flowers too!
[…] One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes (Adapted from A Cozy Kitchen) […]
now I forget what brought me to this page, but the cake is beautiful and gave me the idea to use strawberry cream cheese buttercream frosting for my rose cake creation. I use a standard cream cheese frosting recipe but add strawberry CRUNCHIES, which have been pulverized to dust, into the mix for a terrific strawberry flavor and color. I also collect cake stands, so here’s a link where I shared my creation:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/202950-waffle–moss-agate-ware-atterbury-and?in=user
Where do you buy your dutch cocoa powder and espresso powder?
You can find them at any regular grocery store!
Can you use regular cocoa powder and espresso?
This cake is beautiful! I’m thinking about making it for a birthday. Any chance you could provide a link to the type of flaked salt you referenced?
Thanks!
I used Maldon but any flaky sea salt will do 🙂
Can I use 6×2 round cake pans?
that should work!
Thank you. Making this cake with whipped cream strawberry frosting for Easter.
I received 6 inch cake pans for Mother’s day this year and couldn’t wait to try them. Been trying to eat healthier, but I will splurge once a month and this cake was my splurge. I didn’t have espresso powder, so I used regular coffee and I skipped the sea salt as I didn’t have any of it.
This cake is awesome! I love it! And so did my 4.5 year old granddaughter. Mine wasn’t as pretty as yours, but I tried. Lol.
Definitely going to keep this recipe. Thank you sooo much!
I tried this recipe out, and followed everything pretty exactly. The final product looked beautiful but the cake itself was a little dry. Suggestions?
Excited to make other tiny cakes! This really is a perfect size for 2-4.