chocolate cake

Elaboration of the chocolate cake recipe found on I am Baker.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 c (210g) cake flour (AP works too)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1/2 c (112g) vegetable oil
• 1 c (240g) buttermilk¹
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 c (90g) good unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 c (400g) granulated sugar
• 1 c (237g) freshly brewed hot coffee (I use decaf)

Additional foodstuffs

• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 3-4 tbsp cake flour
• Chocolate buttercream frosting or ganache

Hardware

• stand mixer or whisk- the batter ends up being really thin so a whisk is better than a spoon.
• spatula
• 2 10” round cake pans
• parchment paper
• cake tester or toothpick

Instructions

1. Prep cake pans
   1. Grab a 2 square portions of parchment paper that are wider, in both directions, than the inner diameter of the cake pan.
   2. Cut disks that fits neatly into the bottom of the cake pan. The KITCHN has a good explainer on this until I get one posted…
   3. Take a small amount butter and rub the inside surfaces of both pans.
   4. Smear an additional amount of butter on one side of each parchment disk.
   5. Place the disks, clean side down, into the pans press them into the butter. They should stick lightly in place.
   6. For each of the pans, spoon in approx 1 tbsp of the reserved flour then move/tip/shake/jiggle/tap/curse the pan around until all of the butter is covered with the loose flour. Add small amounts of additional flour if that 1st tbsp is not enough to cover the entirety of the inside of the pan. Tip out any excess.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder together into a stand mixer bowl.
3. Mix sugar and salt into the flour/cocoa until combined.
4. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
5. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.
6. With mixer still on low, add the coffee until just combined. The batter will be really thin at this point. It will, indeed, make a cake though!
7. Scrape the sides and across the of the bowl with a rubber spatula and stir slightly more
8. Pour the batter into the pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350°F
9. The cake will be done when a cake tester or toothpick comes out free of any batter.
10. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes.
11. Turn them out onto a cooling rack. Remove the parchment paper from their bottoms, then cool completely.

Footnotes

1. Buttermilk can be made by adding a small amount of acidic liquid to milk. Stir 1 tbsp of lemon juice or white vinegar into 1 cup whole milk. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes before use. The milk should look slightly curdled…well…because it is. ↩