While many are gathering for holiday celebrations with family and friends, our family is celebrating something else this weekend. We are celebrating a birthday! Our eldest son is turning 7. He said he won’t be 7 until he has his first bite of birthday cake. It is good cake, but doesn’t age everyone, just the birthday child. *grin* They pick the cake and frosting color (isn’t that a lovely shade of green?) and get to decorate the cake themselves. I love his choice of Star Wars figures!
I came across the recipe on food.com (formerly know as recipezaar.com). I was looking for a chocolate cake recipe that called for cocoa instead of melting chocolate and all-purpose flour instead of cake flour. As is usual for me, I made a few tweaks to make it my own. The name is “the only chocolate cake recipe you’ll ever need!” and it really is. I don’t make any other recipe if I am making a chocolate cake. It is moist, chocolatey and not too sweet. We have it with simple butter/powdered sugar frosting, cream cheese frosting and when we are feeling very chocolate-deprived, chocolate frosting is the choice. I don’t have any specific recipes for the frosting, I improvise and taste as I go. I do have the recipe to share for the cake, complete with my tweaks.
2 C flour, all purpose
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
3/4C unsweetened cocoa
2 C granulated sugar
1 C butter, melted
1 C coffee, hot
1 C milk
2 lg eggs
2 t vanilla
Preheat oven to 325º In large bowl, or bowl of mixer, stir dry ingredients. Add melted butter, coffee and milk. Mix on medium for 2 minutes. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and mix for 2 more minutes. Batter is very thin.
Pour into greased and floured pans. Bake 30-45 minutes depending upon pan size. Let cool in pans 15 minutes then cool completely on racks.
The recipe as is makes 2 – 8” or 9” round layers (30 minutes bake time) or 1 – 9”x13” or 3qt casserole (45 minute bake time). The cake is very moist and can be delicate if handled a lot. I don’t stack more than 2 layers or attempt to build anything fancy (like for special cakes for children’s birthdays).
Enjoy!