Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake can be tricky business. There are many different recipes on the internet that finding the perfect one can be tricky. I scoured the web for hours looking for something easy, simple ingredients and with great reviews.

Finally, I found a recipe on Add a Pinch that looked amazing so I decided to give it a shot.

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Measure out 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup cocoa and 2 cups sugar.

Sift the flour and cocoa in a sieve. This helps break down any lumps of cocoa and prevents bitter lumps in your batter.

Measure out 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon of espresso powder. Don’t omit the espresso!! It helps give the cake a rich chocolate taste. I also used instant decaf espresso powder instead of the regular stuff because I knew some kids would end up eating the cake.

Set aside the dry ingredients. For the wet ingredients, you will need 2 eggs at room temperature, 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup canola oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1 cup boiling water.

In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients and make sure it is well combined. Add the milk, eggs, oil and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix until combined. You should get a nice thick batter.

Slowly add the boiling water and stir until everything is well combined. The batter will look really runny but that is ok!

In two 9 inch pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper. Fill both pans evenly with the batter. Place in a pre-heated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

When the cakes are ready, make sure you let them cool for at least 10 minutes before you remove them from the pan. Cool them on a cooling rack before icing them.

Since I love cream cheese frosting, I decided to make that instead of the buttercream. Start with 8 oz cream cheese. Place it in a bowl and beat until smooth. Add 1/2 cup softened butter and mix until blended. In a separate bowl, shift the 3 cups icing sugar and 1/2 cup cocoa. Add the salt, vanilla and icing sugar mixture slowly into the cream cheese.

Combine until smooth.

Once the cakes are completely cooled, it is time to get decorating! Place the first cake on a cake stand or cake tray. Add a generous layer of cream cheese frosting.

Place the second cake layer on the first but make sure you do it upside down. This make the top look smooth. You can also cut the tops of the cake off if its too round.

Layer the rest of your cream cheese frosting on the cake and smooth it out. I like leaving a rough texture on my cake to make it more rustic.

To add something more to the cake, make some chocolate shavings. Take a chunk of dark chocolate and using a vegetable peeler, carefully make shavings.

Sprinkle the entire top with chocolate shavings and a dusting of icing sugar. This cake serves 12 people. I hope you enjoy this recipe and this cake! Make sure to check out our other recipes on this blog. https://eatitnoworeatitlater.com/recipe-list/