Giant Chocolate Cake with Cowboy Coffee Frosting

Name: Giant Chocolate Cake with Cowboy Coffee Frosting
Yield: serves 12 to 14
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 1/2 pound good-quality bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped; 4 cups granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; 1 tablespoon baking soda; 1 cup sour cream; 4 large eggs; 4 cups all-purpose flour; 2 cups hot brewed coffee; 8 tablespoons instant espresso coffee powder; 1/3 cup hot brewed coffee; 2 pounds (8 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 4 cups powdered sugar; 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste; Fresh strawberries, for garnish (optional)

December 14, 2011

I named this dense chocolate cake with a mountain of coffee-flavored icing for the 1956 movie Giant. which put the small West Texas town of Marfa on the map. The stars were Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean in his last movie role before he died in a car accident at age twenty-four. Hotel Paisano, where the cast stayed during the filming, still pays homage to the production with a Giant memorabilia room and Jett’s Grill, named after Dean’s character, oilman Jett Rink.

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