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Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake that is deep, rich, and moist. Also quite sturdy, so holds up well in multiple layers.
Course Dessert
Keyword chocolate, chocolate cake, cake, frosting, icing, dessert, layer cake
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 cups cake flour don't use regular flour
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder like Hershey's: not dutch processed
  • 3 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cubes butter cut into about 4 chunks each room temperature (12 oz.)
  • 1-1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 3 eggs
  • 1-1/2 cups brewed coffee coffee makes it richer and deeper, but you can use just water or any combination of water and Amaretto, Kahlua, or other liqueur. I don't like the taste of coffee, so I use very weak coffee just to give it a little depth.
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

Cake batter

  1. In the mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  2. Mix for a few seconds to combine the dry ingredients.
  3. To the mixing bowl, add the butter and buttermilk. Blend on low speed until moistened and so the batter doesn't fly all over the kitchen. Scrape bowl.

  4. Then blend on higher speed and beat until fluffy, 2 – 3 minutes, scraping bowl several times.

  5. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla, and coffee together.
  6. Add the wet ingredients to the batter in 3 steps. Beat just until blended and scrape the bowl after each addition.

Prepare pans

  1. Cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pans.
  2. Butter and flour (or use cocoa powder instead of flour) the pans (or use Baker's Joy).
  3. Line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper and butter or spray the paper. The parchment paper is extra insurance that the cake will come out neat and clean, without chunks of cake stuck to the bottom of the pan. Worth it.

Bake the cake

  1. Divide the batter among the prepared pans.

  2. Bake at 350° for 38 – 60 minutes (very much depends on the pan sizes), or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, depending on your oven and pan size.

  3. After removing from oven, let cakes sit in pans for about five minutes.
  4. Turn baked cakes onto a wire rack.
  5. When layers are cool, remove parchment paper (if it didn't come off when removing from pan).

  6. Frost layers. Or, if baking ahead, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze.

    When ready to frost the cake after it's been frozen, spread a thin crumb coat of frosting on the frozen layers. When that has dried, finish frosting and assembling the cake.

Recipe Notes

It's easier to frost cake when it's frozen, and if you're making a big special-occasion cake, you'll likely have to freeze the layers as you bake them because it will take you several days. If you wrap the unfrosted layers well in several layers of plastic wrap, place them inside a zip-lock bag, and freeze, the cake will still taste great.