Cream Cheese Chocolate Cake

This is my second attempt at this icing for a chocolate cake and I must say it definitely needed that second try since the first one just did not work (see here).



A little while ago I finally got myself a proper set of piping tools (all the tips and bags) so I have been dying to try out some of the piping methods that I have learned via youtube - very useful!

The icing is a Cream Cheese Butter Cream Icing:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
8 oz (one package) cream cheese
5 cups sifted icing sugar

Step 1: Beat butter until soft
Step 2: Beat in cream cheese, just enough until it's blended
Step 3: Cup by cup sift in icing sugar and blend

There is a lot talk on the forums about whether cream cheese icing can be piped and so far, in my experience, it can. It was a nice firm icing that came out and held its shape quite nicely - even on the sides of the cake.

I did a quick sweep over the cake with the icing so that it was completely covered - but thinly - you don't want to use all of your icing here. Add a little extra in between the layers since this is the filling as well. The thin layer is just so the cake crumbs don't flick into the icing, as well as if any spots are missed while piping it isn't as obvious.

I put the final cake into the fridge because of the cream cheese but it would be fine out and would most likely continue holding its shape as long as it's not in a super hot area.

*If the icing is too thick, milk (or cream) can be added tsp by tsp. Likewise, if it is too thin for your liking, simply add more icing sugar.