"This cake was edible, but I found the texture to be somewhat unrefined for having used cake flour, and there were many very large bubbles baked into this cake which somewhat compromised its integrity.

I wasn't so sold on the idea of vinegar baking soda being used to leaven this cake, but it -did- rise. It just wasn't the sort of cake I was expecting.

It might be as a result of being an untested scaled-back recipe. That would be my guess.

"While the icing was fairly simple to make with my stand mixer, I didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was smooth, sweet and buttery... but I found it to be a little too much like a sweet whipped butter than a "frosting". Maybe it would be good melted over some cornbread or a warm muffin, but I really couldn't see enjoying this frosting all over a cake. It would just be "too much".

"I found this frosting to be a little bit looser in consistency than I would have liked it to be for the task at hand. Having said that, I will note that it -did- set up considerably after cooling in the fridge. Still, this isn't the sort of frosting I could see you using to "fill in" or "build" a tiered cake with. It is more appropriate as a glaze-type frosting.

I used chocolate chips and a stand mixer. There was no need to chop the chocolate, and all I needed to do was whip up the melted mixture.

The flavor is creamy and chocolaty, with a dense, velvety mouthfeel. Even when it's cold, it has a real melt-in-your-mouth quality to it. I'm using my extra chilled frosting to dip some fruit slices in!