Chocolate Cake

This is from Martha's Baking Handbook. Martha would like you to believe that it is a grand feat to produce a cake from scratch, but I'm here to let you know that this cake can be made from scratch in less than ten minutes using only one bowl and less than 4 utensils. Yep. That's right.



For a full how and why on cake visit my blog over here.

Cake Ingredients:

DRY
2.5 cups flour
1.25 cups Dutch Process cocoa powder (I prefer Hershey's Special Dark, in grocery stores)
2.5 cups sugar
2.5 t. baking soda
1.25 t. baking powder
1.25 t. salt
WET
2 large eggs plus one egg yolk
1.25 cups milk (2% or whole if possible)
.5 cup plus 2 T. vegetable oil
1.25 t. vanilla
1.25 cups hot water

Put all the dry stuff in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low with paddle attachment until combined. Put all the wet stuff in the bowl. Mix on low for three minutes until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed. (EASY RIGHT?)




Pour into prepared 9" cake pans (video on proper pan preparation found here). Oven should be preheated to 350 degrees. Bake about 45 minutes, rotate halfway through. Cakes are done when toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 30 minutes, take cakes out, peel off parchment and allow to cool completely.



You can frost these with any frosting you like, but it goes best with Martha's Swiss Meringue Buttercream. It's a little trickier than the cake but so worth it you'll hate yourself if you don't try it.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
8 oz. melted chocolate (bittersweet, try Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips)
3 sticks unsalted butter cut into tablespoons @ room temperature

Place bowl of an electric mixer with whites and sugar over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture reaches 160 degrees.



Attach bowl to mixer fitted with whisk attachment and beat on high until it holds stiff peaks ( a few minutes). Continue to beat another 6 minutes until it is fluffy and cooled.
Switch to the paddle attachment. On medium low speed add the butter a few tablespoons at a time and beat in well before adding more.



Continue until all butter is added and then beat on high for 3 to 5 minutes. Add cooled melted chocolate and stir on low for two minutes.



Now you can keep it simple and leave it as two layers. Or you can get fancy and make it four layers. Use only a small amount of frosting between layers so it doesn't slide all over the place. (And make sure it's cooled, or you'll have a nasty melty mess on your hands.)






Frost cooled cake, place in fridge (covered) until frosting is set. Cut, serve, eat. (If there is any left keep it covered in the fridge)