Chocolate — Grand Marnier Cake — The Birthday Tradition That Keeps Showing Up

The birthday is behind us now and I am carrying it the way I carry things I want to keep: carefully, without looking at it directly too often, knowing it will be there when I want it. The photos from the party are on my phone and I look at them in the morning while I wait for the coffee and each time I see Priya crouching down to Owen and I feel the thing I felt then, which is a kind of full-circle grief-and-joy that I do not have one word for.

They are one year old. A full year. They sleep through the night now, mostly, with occasional exceptions that remind me of where we started, but mostly through the night, mostly in their cribs, mostly giving us six or seven hours. I slept seven hours last Tuesday night and woke up feeling like a person who had just returned from a long trip in a country where everything was slightly different, in a good way. Oh, I thought. I remember this.

My birthday is March 3rd. I am turning twenty-nine. Last year I turned twenty-eight with one baby on each side of me on the NICU anniversary. This year I will turn twenty-nine with one baby walking toward me and one baby running. The distinction matters. Running. Nora runs now. She has been walking for months and she has moved on to running, a slightly lurching forward-leaning run that looks like a small person who has decided that her destination is urgent, which for Nora it always is.

I made a birthday soup, which is my annual birthday tradition: whatever soup sounds right to me on my birthday week, which this year is a simple chicken noodle from scratch because I wanted the process of making it, the cutting and the simmering and the hour in the kitchen that ends in something warm and complete. It was good. It was the right birthday soup for this year.

The soup was my ritual this year — the process of it, the hour of quiet making — but the birthday week always ends in cake, and this year I wanted something that felt like a real occasion, the kind that matches the weight of what we’re marking. This Chocolate & Grand Marnier Cake is that cake: deep and grown-up and a little bit celebratory in the way that feels earned rather than performed, which is exactly right for turning twenty-nine on the other side of the year we just lived through.

Chocolate & Grand Marnier Cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier, divided
• For the ganache frosting:
• 8 oz dark chocolate (70%), finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
3. Combine wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, cooled coffee, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of the Grand Marnier.
4. Make the batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just smooth. The batter will be thin — that’s expected.
5. Bake. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 32–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Soak the layers. Once the cakes are cool, brush the top of each layer with the remaining 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (split between the two), letting it absorb for a few minutes.
7. Make the ganache. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until just simmering. Pour over the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and let sit for 2 minutes. Stir from the center outward until smooth, then stir in the Grand Marnier and butter until fully incorporated. Let cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until thick and spreadable, about 30–45 minutes.
8. Frost and finish. Place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread a generous layer of ganache over the top. Set the second layer on top and use the remaining ganache to frost the top and sides. Let set for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 62g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 340mg