Because of the lack of flour and use of cream it has a silkier mouthfeel than ermine, but overall it’s just ok. For chocolate frosting I don’t usually opt for something like ermine either.
ATK has it at 425 grams for 3 cups on their website. They typically use 140 g. Per cup.
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You rock, thanks! I don’t subscribe, obviously 
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What are your preferred chocolate frostings? I dislike most chocolate buttercreams because I find them too sweet, while I generally think whipped ganache is too stiff and too much like eating a truffle instead of frosting. I plan to try the sour cream frosting @pavlova posted about earlier on the thread, but I found the ermine frosting I made with cocoa last weekend to be just about perfect (for me) in terms of sweetness level (not very) and texture (soft and billowy). It could have had a little more chocolate flavor, but I think that would be easily fixed by adding a bit of melted chocolate to the mix.
Maybe this will help.
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I have never used cocoa in an ermine frosting, but I have made chocolate versions by whisking finely chopped chocolate into the cooked milk mixture while still hot. A high cocoa-content chocolate (like 70-73%) will give you a nicely chocolatey, not overly sweet result, while a more semisweet chocolate gives a lighter milk chocolate effect (not my preference, but I’ve done it for friends who prefer sweet milk chocolate).
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I like ganache, so I do tend to opt for some type of ganache most of the time.
But as for whipped ganache being too stiff, I’m guessing you’re using regular 1:1 ganache vs ganache montée?
A ganache made with half butter and half cream rather than all cream also works well for a different texture.
Otherwise with chocolate that’s actually the one time I like American buttercream, since the sweetness is offset by bitter chocolate and cocoa and it’s not too rich.
But otherwise I have a preference for French buttercream for chocolate frosting. As is typical of European buttercreams, it’s not very sweet, but rather more buttery. For me French buttercream is made for coffee and chocolate flavors.
Meringue buttercream with ganache whipped in also makes good chocolate buttercream, but I like French better.
I also make one “buttercream” in the food processor that involves pouring very hot coffee into the bowl of chocolate, egg yolks, butter, and vanilla. It’s very silky, and since there’s no added sugar and there’s coffee added, it’s not particularly sweet.
I absolutely loved Miss Irene Thompson’s dark chocolate frosting from RLB’s Heavenly Cakes made with unsweetened and dark chocolate, butter, and corn syrup. It’s a very unique frosting though, with a particular texture to it. It’s hard to explain unless you taste it.
It’s been a very long time since I’ve made this, so I can’t speak to the sweetness (ingredients would indicate it’s on the sweet side), but I remember really liking the consistency of this frosting from Abby Dodge’s Emergency Chocolate Cupcakes:
Using more bitter chocolate would balance sweetness.
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No, if I’m going to use it for frosting I do 2:1. Still feels truffle-y to me - maybe because I usually use 70%+ cacao dark chocolate? IDK. The one from RLB’s Heavenly cakes and the hot coffee one you mentioned both sound interesting, I’ll be sure to ping you for recipes next time I need chocolate frosting! 
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Yes, to me, too!
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Round 2 of VicSponges™️ are in the oven. Ginger syrup is made and strained; peach jam is on standby.
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Several times I made this recipe using cups, not weights. I always had to add a lot of flour to my counter to get the dough to hold together. Then, I decided to try weighing the flour … 15 oz of flour came to more than 3 cups! Also, my recipe specifies Gold Metal flour.
CI’s flour weight is definitely on the high end. If you’re using cups, they specify scooping and leveling, which gives a heavier cup than spooning.
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Yes, I was spooning. In the end, the result was the same but for people in general, for this recipe, they should use the weight because they might not know how much flour to add before they use the rolling pin.
I made a 1.5x version of the same recipe, baked it in the same (8") pans, and this time used some homemade peach/ginger/honey butter. I brushed the cakes with homemade ginger syrup as well.
I think I prefer the berry jam for sheer impact, but this was pretty good 
I feel like the ginger syrup will be more discernible tomorrow. I kept the syrup to one TBS per cake as noted above.
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I just finished my tiny cake today. and now you are making me want more!
(Did it sink in the middle or is it just the angle?)
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(I have the whole plate tilted awkwardly in this shot, and I also smushed the cake trying to cut it too soon. It doesn’t look so dramatically sunken in real life.)
Well it looks delicious and now I want another slice!
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It does look delicious; I want my first slice!
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You may have to stand in line!
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Nice combo of peach and ginger syrup!
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