I’ve never made my own cake recipe before, mostly because the task seemed daunting. The dry ingredient to wet ingredient ratio has to be just right, and, of course, it has to taste good—or at least resemble the flavor of chocolate cake! But instead of beating myself up worrying about the outcome, I decided to cautiously experiment with baking a cake for the first time, keeping my favorite recipes in mind. Especially since I just launched Antone Appetit, I figured baking my own classic cake is a right of passage, you know?
I like to “procrastibake.” To me, cooking is a way to relieve stress and melt it away in sugary goodness. But, developing a recipe proved a bit different. While it was definitely fun, it was disorienting at times not to have a recipe to look back on for guidance. But, the cake made it out unscathed and, if I do say so myself, delicious. I added less flour than a traditional fluffy cake, so I consider this a hybrid between a flourless chocolate cake and a classic chocolate cake—a chocolate torte, if you will. The layers came out medium-thin, the flavors were rich, and the consistency dense. I’m proud of my little cake, and I promise you’ll enjoy it! Just make sure you bake it while you’re hungry because one slice is decadent and more than satisfying. Check out the recipe below.
Ingredients:
Cake –
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup coffee
- 1 cup buttermilk
Frosting –
- 5 oz semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 stick butter (room temperature)
- 1/2 tsp espresso powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and have two 9-inch cake pans at the ready.
Cake –
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, sugar, brown sugar, and flour.
- In another large mixing bowl, add the eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup of brewed coffee, and 1 cup buttermilk
- Use an electric mixer to mix wet ingredients until combined
- Gradually add the dry ingredients into the mixture with the electric mixer on medium
- Whip until batter is smooth
- Grease two 9-inch round pans with cooking spray, and pour batter evenly into both
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until a skewer, fork, or toothpick comes out clean
- Let cakes cool completely before frosting
Frosting –
- Here’s how to melt the chocolate:
- In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat, simmer water
- Once the water is slightly bubbling, add a glass bowl on top of the pan
- Add the semi-sweet chocolate and espresso powder. Gradually mix until completely melted (this will smell divine!)
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the chocolate mixture, butter, and vanilla
- Whip on high in the electric mixer for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. This is the key to making it a true buttercream frosting
- Finally, add the powdered sugar
- Mix on high until combined and fluffy
- To frost, add a generous amount of frosting on the top of the first layer of the cake and spread evenly
- Then add the next cake layer on top
- With a frosting spatula or knife, frost the top of the cake and then the sides
- Serve and enjoy!
Antone Appetit 