January 11, 2012

From Scratch Chocolate Cake Recipe

If you are reading this blog most likely you like cake. (It is hard to imagine there is ANYone out there who doesn’t, even if they are not reading this blog).

And seriously, it can only be a myth that there are people who don’t like chocolate.

After we have established these two facts, we can boldly draw the conclusion that chocolate cake must be one of the best things ever.

This must be the reason why on several occasions I have received inquiries for chocolate cake recipes. And going through my blog statistics I realized that month after month a lot of people land on my page looking for “chocolate cake recipe“.

Interestingly enough, I do not have a chocolate cake recipe posted anywhere. It is time to remedy this and eliminate frustrations of any future “searchers”.

Here is one if my favorite From Scratch Chocolate Cake Recipes:

For a 8″ or 9″ double-layered cake you need

1/2 c + 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (lightly spooned)

1 c boiling water

3 large eggs

2 1/4 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 c + 2 tbsp sifted cake flour

1 1/2 c sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 c unsalted butter (softened)

Start by combining the cocoa powder with the boiling water in a small bowl until smooth and let it cool to room temperature.

(Oops, actually the very first thing to do is preheating your oven to 350F.)

In a medium bowl lightly combine eggs, 1/4 of the cocoa mixture, and vanilla. I use vanilla bean powder, but that’s only my preference. The liquid version works just fine.

In a large mixing bowl combine all remaining dry ingredients on low speed for about 30 seconds.

Next, add the butter and remaining cocoa mixture, also on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Then, and only then, increase mixing speed to medium. Otherwise you, your counter, mixer, and kitchen will be covered in a flour cloud for while.

Beat for a couple minutes to fully combine the ingredients, scrape down bowl when necessary.

Add the egg mixture in 3 parts, mix for about 20 seconds after each addition and scrape down the sides. Do not over-mix at this step. It will mess with your cake structure.

Fill your greased, lined, and floured cake pans with the batter (I also sprinkled a few chocolate chips on top for this one) and bake for 25-35 minutes.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of this step until the pans were in the oven already.

The cake layers are done when the top springs back after pressing down lightly and an inserted skewer or toothpick comes out clean.

Sorry, for the blurry picture. At this point the chocolate withdrawal must have kicked in.

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