By Amy Johnson, She Wears Many Hats
Not every day is a chocolate cake kind of day, but when it is, oh boy do I have the most perfect Chocolate Cake Recipe for you!
Yield: 2 9-inch round cake layers
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*
- 3/4 cup good cocoa powder** (sift to remove any lumps)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks or 6 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Butter and flour two 9-inch*** round cake pans.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together butter and sugar on medium-high speed until totally combined and smooth, stopping to scrape down bowl at least twice; about 5 minutes.
- Add beaten eggs and vanilla. Beat together, stopping to scrape down bowl once. Continue to beat on medium-high for 1-2 minutes until fluffy.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with buttermilk; stop to scrape down bowl twice.
- Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake at 350-degrees F until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Invert onto cooling racks; cool completely.
- Once cool, frost and serve. Or to store in freezer, wrap cake layers separately in 2 layers of plastic wrap, insert into a large freezer ziptop plastic bag, removing extra air and store in freezer for up to 2 months.
Notes
- Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart’s Velvet Cocoa Cake.
- *I used White Lily as it contains a smaller percentage of protein that makes for a lighter cake and tender crumb. Flour specified as cake flour could be used too.
- **I recommend using a dutch-processed cocoa.
- ***If using another cake pan size, adjust bake times accordingly. If time permits I recommend freezing the layers as noted above. It helps create a more moist cake. As noted above, freeze layers separately wrapped in 2 layers of plastic wrap and inserted into a ziptop freezer bag.
