Recipe: French Butter Cake with Fudge Frosting

You had us at "butter." This recipe from our friends at Around the World in 80 Plates has our mouths watering!

Prolific traveler, food lover, and Soirée Advisory Board member Angela Ballard shares with us what she calls "a Southern skillet cake with a decadent French past." There's not one word in that description we don't love!

Inspired, in part, by delectable desserts on a road trip through France some years ago with hubby and Advisory Board member, Mike, this recipe combines a buttery French cake with the cooking techniques of Angela's southern roots. 

The Ballards are kindred spirits: they've traveled to more than 100 countries (to include a recent circumnavigation of the globe) and both write for Lonely Planet. 

For more recipes inspired by their travels, subscribe to Around the World in 80 plates, and for an inside look at their travel adventures, visit the Ballards' website We Married Adventure.

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In the meantime, enjoy the tempting recipe below!

Servings: 12 (recipe is adjustable)​

Around the World in 80 Plates photos and recipe used by permission

French Butter Cake with Fudge Frosting

Ingredients:
Cake

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup milk

Fudge Frosting

• 6 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 16 oz. confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat 1 cup of butter until smooth. Add granulated sugar and mix until fluffy and light yellow in color. Add eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla, beating until smooth.
3. Add one third of the flour to the butter mixture, mixing well to combine, then add half of the milk, another third of the flour, the remaining milk, and the remaining flour, mixing well between each addition.
4. Pour half of the batter into an 8-inch cast iron skillet. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the top begins to lightly brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the skillet for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter.
5. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the chocolate and 1/2 cup of butter on high for 20 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir. (It won’t appear to need stirring at first, but doing so will help distribute the heat.) Repeat in 20-second intervals until melted, approximately 2 minutes total.
6. Transfer the melted chocolate and butter to a large mixing bowl. Add the confectioners sugar, vanilla, and milk and mix on low to combine. If the frosting is too thick, add additional milk one teaspoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. Mix on high for approximately 5 minutes, at which point it should be smooth and creamy.
7. Place one cake layer on a serving plate and top with frosting. Add the second layer, covering the top and sides with an even layer of frosting 

Tips:

• Due to the use of butter, there is no need to grease the skillet
• ​The recipe is scaled for an 8-inch cast iron skillet, but you could easily increase the ingredients by half to prepare it in a more standard 10-inch skillet. Double the recipe to make a 10-inch, three-layer cake for a bigger celebration.
• Don't have a cast iron skillet? Use a normal cake pan but but grease and flour first, and adjust cook time as needed

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