Back to Edward Kostyra’s Birthday Cake
All Reviews for Edward Kostyra’s Birthday Cake
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Read the full recipe after the video.
Recipe Summary
Yield: Makes one 8-inch layer cake
mb_1001_edward_kostyras_birthday_cake.jpg
Ingredients
For the Frosting
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
2 2/3 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
For the Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk
For the Orange Curd
12 large egg yolks
Zest of 2 oranges
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks), plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
Gallery
Read the full recipe after the video.
Recipe Summary
Yield: Makes one 8-inch layer cake
mb_1001_edward_kostyras_birthday_cake.jpg
Gallery
Read the full recipe after the video.
Read the full recipe after the video.
Recipe Summary
Yield: Makes one 8-inch layer cake
Recipe Summary
Yield: Makes one 8-inch layer cake
Yield: Makes one 8-inch layer cake
Makes one 8-inch layer cake
mb_1001_edward_kostyras_birthday_cake.jpg
mb_1001_edward_kostyras_birthday_cake.jpg
Ingredients
Ingredients
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
2 2/3 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk
12 large egg yolks
Zest of 2 oranges
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks), plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
Directions
Make the frosting: Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring cream to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Pour over chocolate and let sit, undisturbed, for 3 minutes. Gently whisk until combined and smooth. Whisk in the corn syrup.
Let cool to room temperature, then transfer ganache to refrigerator and chill, stirring frequently and scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula, until slightly stiff and cool enough to spread, about 1 hour. If frosting becomes too firm, briefly place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until desired consistency is reached. Frosting should be smooth and spreadable, but not runny.
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. Into a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto the rack; peel off the parchment. Re-invert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
Make the orange curd: Combine yolks, orange zest, orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottom saucepan; whisk to combine. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until the mixture is thick, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let mixture come to a vigorous simmer and cook, continually scraping sides of pan, for 2 minutes.
Remove saucepan from heat. Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth. If desired, strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate until chilled and very firm, at least 2 hours or up to 1 1/2 weeks.
Assemble cake: Using a serrated knife, trim the tops of the cakes to make level. Split each layer into two, for a total of four. Place bottom layer on a rotating cake stand and with an offset spatula, carefully top with 1/2 cup of orange curd, leaving a 1-inch border. Place the second cake layer on top, spread with another 3/4 cup of the orange curd. Repeat with the third layer; top with the final cake layer. Insert 3 wooden skewers into the top of the cake to secure.
For the crumb coat, spread the entire cake with a thin coat of frosting using an offset spatula. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
Spread the entire cake with remaining frosting, swirling to coat in a decorative fashion. Serve immediately, or refrigerate, covered with a cake dome. Let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving.
Reviews (27)
Add Rating & Review
442 Ratings
5 star values:
88
4 star values:
90
3 star values:
152
2 star values:
86
1 star values:
26
Load More Reviews
Reviews (27)
Add Rating & Review
442 Ratings
5 star values:
88
4 star values:
90
3 star values:
152
2 star values:
86
1 star values:
26
Add Rating & Review
442 Ratings
5 star values:
88
4 star values:
90
3 star values:
152
2 star values:
86
1 star values:
26
442 Ratings
5 star values:
88
4 star values:
90
3 star values:
152
2 star values:
86
1 star values:
26
442 Ratings
5 star values:
88
4 star values:
90
3 star values:
152
2 star values:
86
1 star values:
26
- 5 star values:
- 88
- 4 star values:
- 90
- 3 star values:
- 152
- 2 star values:
- 86
- 1 star values:
- 26
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
04/23/2016
I love this, but shouldn't the printed version say medium low not medium high for the curd?
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
10/11/2015
The cake is okay, but I prefer a moister cake with a tighter crumb that I've found in other recipes. The biggest disappointment was in the frosting. Absolutely, disastrous!!! I'm not sure if the intent was to make a spreadable solid frosting or a chocolate glaze. I realise that it's a ganache but after following it to the "T" this ganache simply would not solidify. In fact, even after 4 hours in the freezer, the stuff would not harden into an easy spreadable frosting. Any suggestions?
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 5 stars
05/19/2014
My new favorite cake! I took other commenters' advice about the frosting and cut the cream down to 2 cups, that was a mistake, the frosting is a bit too hard now. Made everything else exactly as the recipe stated and it came out perfectly. I used 2 8" pans 2" tall and it barely baked up to the rim, the orange curd is DELICIOUS and I'm glad I have some extra.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
04/22/2014
Very tasty, if fussy. Orange curd was great, though I think it doesn't need as much butter as the recipe called for; I only got through two sticks of the cubed butter before the butter, plus the stirring, brought the curd down to room temperature and the curd could no longer melt the butter. Absolutely delicious, though, and holds a very nice shape. Like other reviewers, I reduced the cream in the ganache down to 1C, and got a firm but spreadable (and pipeable) ganache. Will make again.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
02/01/2014
Not sure what people are doing wrong. My frosting turned out as expected. Make sure you are stir it a couple of times when you are chilling it in the fridge and also don't place it in the fridge until it reaches room temp. I used 8" pan from Williams and Sonoma which are pretty deep (2") and mine cake didn't overlflow. I haven't tasted it yet but the only thing that went wrong was that one of my layers started to fall apart when I was cutting it in two.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
01/15/2014
If using an 8 inch pan, make sure it is at least 2 inches deep, otherwise the cake will ooze out of the top. Otherwise, a 9 inch pan works too.
The frosting worked well for me. I used heavy cream and a darker chocolate.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
09/22/2013
I made this cake for my 3 year-old`s birthday and it came out DELICIOUS. I would definitely make it again! I have read some reviews before I decided which cake I was going to make and somebody was saying the ganache came out too runny. Someone else said it was perfect.
I have to agree with LEAH7058 - the ganache was way too runny. Let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours and it still was runny. Next time, I would definitely try using less and maybe go with what she suggested. :-)
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
09/15/2013
I've made the frosting recipe many times. Definitely way too much cream. Used 2 cups and still my frosting is pretty soft. Cake batter is too much for 2-8 inch pans. Maybe 2-9 inch pans would work better. I just put the extra batter into a mini loaf pan and we sampled the baked mini cake before the big cake unveiling for my son's birthday. He loves orange chocolate and this cake with it's filling and chocolate frosting really hit the spot. It was super yummy. Would definitely make again.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
05/30/2013
This cake came out perfect I added a teaspoon of almond extract to it and i frosted with chocolate hazelnut frosting it taste heavenly! Thank you!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
04/13/2013
I think there is a mistake in the frosting recipe--I used 1 1/3 cups of cream and it worked perfectly! This is the same ratio of cream to chocolate as my other ganache recipes.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
04/13/2013
The frosting is a ganache, so it should be "runny" to a certain degree (at least when it's hot). My usual ganache recipe is 10 oz chocolate to 1 cup cream. This ratio works for me!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
04/08/2013
8" cake pans are definitely too small for this recipe. The cake ran all over the top of the pans and make a mess in the oven. What a huge disappointment.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 5 stars
04/01/2013
To follow up, the frosting did not set for me either. Even after refrigerating overnight, it stayed the consistency of a glaze. I simply used it as a glaze. I think the proportion of cream to chocolate is off. I used chocolate chips. Maybe that messed it up. I didn't try to fix it because the glaze still tasted good. I definitely make this delicious cake again because the curd is super. I'll just look for a similar frosting with different proportions.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 5 stars
03/28/2013
I haven't eaten or even assembled the cake yet. I can't contain my enthusiasm lol. I made the cake and the curd today. I sampled of the top of the cake that I leveled off and tasted a bit of the curd. They're both very yummy!! I'm a little concerned about other reviewers calling the frosting runny. I'm going to make the recipe as is. I'll plan longer for it to set in the fridge. If for some reason it doesn't set I'll simply reheat it and add a bit more chocolate. I'm so jazzed about this cake!!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
12/15/2012
I made this cake for a special friend of mine. It's the first cake I ever did! But I just followed the exact recipe and everything turned out great!!! I also did a little stop motion how I made it, you can find it on youtube if you search for "Edward Kostyra's Birthday Cake". It was a YUMMIE CAKE!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
12/15/2012
This is the first Cake I have ever done! It made it as a present for a very special person... I just followed the exact recipe and everything turned out great! I also did a little stop motion of me baking this cake, you can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbF2gtQ74ls
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
11/08/2012
This cake should never have been baked in an 8" pan. It ran over the edge and down into my oven. What a mess. Had to make it a second time in 9" pans. Also, the frosting wouldn't hold together. If this was her fathers favorite cake, should you have put more thought into pan size and frosting?! Wast of time and money.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
09/26/2012
I made the frosting just as the recipe suggested and it ended up runny. After 3 hours of waiting for it to set up I finally put it in the mixer and whipped it up. I was very disappointed.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
09/26/2012
The icing was runny. This was the worst cake I have ever made. YUCK with a capital Y! Wasted time and money!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 5 stars
08/26/2012
I'm a Martha wannabe! This the first home made cake that I made that was great. It took Martha 30 minutes on TV to make this cake and it took me all day. I did not want to mess up this cake as it was to be my birthday cake. I. had my husband buy a second cake in case it did not come out right..After the party my guest took home leftover cake that I made and the bought cake was left behind. Thank you Martha for a great birthday cake recipe.. I will do it again and in less time.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
02/24/2012
My frosting is runny!! How do I save it?
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: 5 stars
11/11/2011
I made this cake for my son's 1st birthday party back in April 2011 in the shape of a monkey's head from this web site. It came out awesome. Everyone loved it. The frosting is so easy to make. I will definitely make this again.
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
11/05/2011
This cake is truly delicious ! First time I made a cake using the US measurements without converting. The directions are very easy to follow. Yummy :)
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
03/03/2011
I will be baking this cake for a party I am hosting next week for my women friends! Can't wait! I love to BAKE!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
02/10/2011
If you click on the "print" icon above the image of the cake, a printer-friendly version of the recipe will appear on your screen. Hope that helps!
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
02/06/2011
This is darleene Iwould love to make this cake . But i can not print it out, The same with the other one. thank you
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
02/06/2011
Iwould like a copes of your recipes . but i can not . dareene
Martha Stewart Member
Rating: Unrated
04/23/2016
I love this, but shouldn't the printed version say medium low not medium high for the curd?
Rating: Unrated
Rating: Unrated
10/11/2015
The cake is okay, but I prefer a moister cake with a tighter crumb that I've found in other recipes. The biggest disappointment was in the frosting. Absolutely, disastrous!!! I'm not sure if the intent was to make a spreadable solid frosting or a chocolate glaze. I realise that it's a ganache but after following it to the "T" this ganache simply would not solidify. In fact, even after 4 hours in the freezer, the stuff would not harden into an easy spreadable frosting. Any suggestions?
Rating: 5 stars
05/19/2014
My new favorite cake! I took other commenters' advice about the frosting and cut the cream down to 2 cups, that was a mistake, the frosting is a bit too hard now. Made everything else exactly as the recipe stated and it came out perfectly. I used 2 8" pans 2" tall and it barely baked up to the rim, the orange curd is DELICIOUS and I'm glad I have some extra.
Rating: 5 stars
Rating: Unrated
04/22/2014
Very tasty, if fussy. Orange curd was great, though I think it doesn't need as much butter as the recipe called for; I only got through two sticks of the cubed butter before the butter, plus the stirring, brought the curd down to room temperature and the curd could no longer melt the butter. Absolutely delicious, though, and holds a very nice shape. Like other reviewers, I reduced the cream in the ganache down to 1C, and got a firm but spreadable (and pipeable) ganache. Will make again.
Rating: Unrated
02/01/2014
Not sure what people are doing wrong. My frosting turned out as expected. Make sure you are stir it a couple of times when you are chilling it in the fridge and also don't place it in the fridge until it reaches room temp. I used 8" pan from Williams and Sonoma which are pretty deep (2") and mine cake didn't overlflow. I haven't tasted it yet but the only thing that went wrong was that one of my layers started to fall apart when I was cutting it in two.
Rating: Unrated
01/15/2014
If using an 8 inch pan, make sure it is at least 2 inches deep, otherwise the cake will ooze out of the top. Otherwise, a 9 inch pan works too.
The frosting worked well for me. I used heavy cream and a darker chocolate.
Rating: Unrated
09/22/2013
I made this cake for my 3 year-old`s birthday and it came out DELICIOUS. I would definitely make it again! I have read some reviews before I decided which cake I was going to make and somebody was saying the ganache came out too runny. Someone else said it was perfect.
I have to agree with LEAH7058 - the ganache was way too runny. Let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours and it still was runny. Next time, I would definitely try using less and maybe go with what she suggested. :-)
Rating: Unrated
09/15/2013
I've made the frosting recipe many times. Definitely way too much cream. Used 2 cups and still my frosting is pretty soft. Cake batter is too much for 2-8 inch pans. Maybe 2-9 inch pans would work better. I just put the extra batter into a mini loaf pan and we sampled the baked mini cake before the big cake unveiling for my son's birthday. He loves orange chocolate and this cake with it's filling and chocolate frosting really hit the spot. It was super yummy. Would definitely make again.
Rating: Unrated
05/30/2013
This cake came out perfect I added a teaspoon of almond extract to it and i frosted with chocolate hazelnut frosting it taste heavenly! Thank you!
Rating: Unrated
04/13/2013
I think there is a mistake in the frosting recipe--I used 1 1/3 cups of cream and it worked perfectly! This is the same ratio of cream to chocolate as my other ganache recipes.
The frosting is a ganache, so it should be "runny" to a certain degree (at least when it's hot). My usual ganache recipe is 10 oz chocolate to 1 cup cream. This ratio works for me!
Rating: Unrated
04/08/2013
8" cake pans are definitely too small for this recipe. The cake ran all over the top of the pans and make a mess in the oven. What a huge disappointment.
Rating: 5 stars
04/01/2013
To follow up, the frosting did not set for me either. Even after refrigerating overnight, it stayed the consistency of a glaze. I simply used it as a glaze. I think the proportion of cream to chocolate is off. I used chocolate chips. Maybe that messed it up. I didn't try to fix it because the glaze still tasted good. I definitely make this delicious cake again because the curd is super. I'll just look for a similar frosting with different proportions.
Rating: 5 stars
03/28/2013
I haven't eaten or even assembled the cake yet. I can't contain my enthusiasm lol. I made the cake and the curd today. I sampled of the top of the cake that I leveled off and tasted a bit of the curd. They're both very yummy!! I'm a little concerned about other reviewers calling the frosting runny. I'm going to make the recipe as is. I'll plan longer for it to set in the fridge. If for some reason it doesn't set I'll simply reheat it and add a bit more chocolate. I'm so jazzed about this cake!!
Rating: Unrated
12/15/2012
I made this cake for a special friend of mine. It's the first cake I ever did! But I just followed the exact recipe and everything turned out great!!! I also did a little stop motion how I made it, you can find it on youtube if you search for "Edward Kostyra's Birthday Cake". It was a YUMMIE CAKE!
This is the first Cake I have ever done! It made it as a present for a very special person... I just followed the exact recipe and everything turned out great! I also did a little stop motion of me baking this cake, you can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbF2gtQ74ls
Rating: Unrated
11/08/2012
This cake should never have been baked in an 8" pan. It ran over the edge and down into my oven. What a mess. Had to make it a second time in 9" pans. Also, the frosting wouldn't hold together. If this was her fathers favorite cake, should you have put more thought into pan size and frosting?! Wast of time and money.
Rating: Unrated
09/26/2012
I made the frosting just as the recipe suggested and it ended up runny. After 3 hours of waiting for it to set up I finally put it in the mixer and whipped it up. I was very disappointed.
The icing was runny. This was the worst cake I have ever made. YUCK with a capital Y! Wasted time and money!
Rating: 5 stars
08/26/2012
I'm a Martha wannabe! This the first home made cake that I made that was great. It took Martha 30 minutes on TV to make this cake and it took me all day. I did not want to mess up this cake as it was to be my birthday cake. I. had my husband buy a second cake in case it did not come out right..After the party my guest took home leftover cake that I made and the bought cake was left behind. Thank you Martha for a great birthday cake recipe.. I will do it again and in less time.
Rating: Unrated
02/24/2012
My frosting is runny!! How do I save it?
Rating: 5 stars
11/11/2011
I made this cake for my son's 1st birthday party back in April 2011 in the shape of a monkey's head from this web site. It came out awesome. Everyone loved it. The frosting is so easy to make. I will definitely make this again.
Rating: Unrated
11/05/2011
This cake is truly delicious ! First time I made a cake using the US measurements without converting. The directions are very easy to follow. Yummy :)
Rating: Unrated
03/03/2011
I will be baking this cake for a party I am hosting next week for my women friends! Can't wait! I love to BAKE!
Rating: Unrated
02/10/2011
If you click on the "print" icon above the image of the cake, a printer-friendly version of the recipe will appear on your screen. Hope that helps!
Rating: Unrated
02/06/2011
This is darleene Iwould love to make this cake . But i can not print it out, The same with the other one. thank you
Iwould like a copes of your recipes . but i can not . dareene
All Reviews for Edward Kostyra’s Birthday Cake
- of Reviews
Reviews:
Most Helpful
Most Helpful
Most Positive
Least Positive
Newest
All Reviews for Edward Kostyra’s Birthday Cake
- of Reviews
Reviews:
Most Helpful
Most Helpful
Most Positive
Least Positive
Newest
Reviews:
Most Helpful
Most Helpful
Most Positive
Least Positive
Newest
