Chocolate Cake

When Rachel emailed me and asked me for my favourite chocolate cake recipe, I really had to think hard. There are so many to choose from. Cakes that I have made and cakes that I have wanted to make. I decided on the chocolate cake from the newest Barefoot Contessa Book (Barefoot Contessa At Home).

I would like to mention a few other gems, in case you have any of these cookbooks in your collection.

The original Barefoot Contessa cookbook has a really delicious chocolate cake. The frosting is a chocolate buttercream and I have made it several times. The Rose & Thistle Cookbook from Kingsville, Ontario has an excellent Chocolate Layer Cake. I made this cake while in France at the Chateau Drouilles (I'll go into details about the Chateau another time!) and it was fabulous. I think the French butter and cream put it over the top.

The "Eat to the Beat Cookbook" is a collection of recipes from the most talented women chefs in Toronto and Niagara. There is a simple chocolate layer cake from Joanne Yolles, freelance pastry chef. The frosting is a chocolate cream, just whipped cream, cocoa and sugar. In the "Sugar" cookbook, Anna Olson includes a recipe for the Ultimate Chocolate Cake. Anna's recipes always turn out great.

There are so many chocolate cakes that I would like to try. Nigella Lawson's book "Feast" has a chapter called "Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame" and the Rococoa Cake on page 288 sounds incredible. Dorie Greenspan has a new cookbook out and the cover has a gorgeous chocolate cake layered with fluffy white icing, with the sides coated in cake crumbs. Her book is called "Baking: From My Home to Yours". She is the woman that co-authored "Baking with Julia", another wonderful baking book.

I could go on, but here's the recipe for a simple, delicious chocolate cake. The Barefoot Contessa mentions the recipe coming from a milkman's wife in Pennsylvania. I made this in February for Ellen's 2nd Birthday and several times since. Enjoy!

Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cake

butter for greasing the pans
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. good cocoa powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. kosher salt
1 c. buttermilk, shaken
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1 c. freshly brewed hot coffee
Chocolate Frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place one layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting

6 oz. good semisweet chocolate (don't use chocolate chips)
1/2 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. sifted confectioners' sugar
1 T. instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 t. of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

*I would suggest waiting to make the icing for the cake until the cakes have cooled down to room temperature. And whatever you do, don't try to ice ANY cake until it has cooled completely! Sounds like a no-brainer but I can't tell you the number of times I have started to ice a cake while it was still a little warm. Nothing like ruining a cake just as you are nearing the finishing line!