I wanted dessert tonight. I wanted chocolate dessert. So I hit up the Internet and the Perfect Cake to look for inspiration. In the end, TF and I both liked the look of this chocolate cake, so I decided to give it a go.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Slightly adapted from The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 115g unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 c. hot water
• 1/4 c. Dutched cocoa powder
• 1 5/8 c. sugar (1 1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp.), divided
• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 c. buttermilk¹
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs²
• 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces
• 4-5 c. chocolate frosting³

Directions

Baking

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour two 23cm (9") round cake pans.
2. Combine chocolate, hot water, and cocoa in a heatproof bowl and set it over a pot of simmering water. Warm, stirring, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
3. Stir in 1/2 c. of the sugar and mix for 1-2 minutes until smooth and glossy.
4. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
5. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
6. In a small bowl (or measuring cup) combine the buttermilk and vanilla.
7. In another bowl -- yes, this recipe takes a lot of bowls! -- beat the eggs for a few seconds, then add the remaining 1 1/8 c. of sugar and beat until light and slightly thickened (2-3 minutes).
8. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture.
9. Beat in the butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time, mixing for ~10 seconds between each addition.
10. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix to combine.
11. Add half the buttermilk mixture and mix well.
12. Add another 1/3 of the flour (half the remaining dry ingredients) and mix, followed by the remaining buttermilk. Mix.
13. Add the remaining flour and mix it in.
14. Stir a few times by hand, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
15. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
16. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-40 minutes⁴
17. Remove from oven and let cool in tins for 10 minutes.
18. After 10 minutes, turn the cakes out onto wire racks to finish cooling.

Decorating

1. Once the cakes are completely cooled, transfer one layer to a platter or whatever you intend to serve it from.
2. Scoop a generous 1 1/2 c. of frosting onto the cake layer and spread it evenly across the top, all the way to the edges.
3. Place the second layer on top and gently press it down.
4. Scoop the rest of the icing out onto the top layer and spread it over the top and down the sides.
5. Share and enjoy!

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¹ If you don't have any buttermilk, you can use 1 Tbsp. of vinegar mixed with enough milk to bring the total volume up to 1 c. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 4 large eggs + 2 large egg yolks. I didn't want to have to deal with the leftover egg whites so I just used 5 whole eggs instead. If you happen to have leftover yolks from something else though, this would be a good place to use 'em! ^Back
3 The original recipe called for 5 c. of icing with 1 1/2 c. being used between the layers and the remaining 3 1/2 c. being used to ice the rest of the cake. I think I used slightly more than 1 1/2 c. between the layers, but the remaining icing was way more than I needed to cover the rest of the cake. I think I had about a cup left over. Hence the 4-5 c. range. If you like your cakes with a lot of icing or don't want to have to worry about running out of frosting, you'll probably want the full amount. If you like your cakes to be a bit lighter on the icing, then 4 c. will probably be enough. Go with whatever approach you prefer! (Or whatever you have enough butter for.) ^Back
4 The original recipe called for baking for 25-30 minutes, but my cakes were still very underdone at the 30-minute mark, so I put them in for another 10. It's possible that they might've been done after 35, but they seemed so liquid in the centre that I doubted another 5 minutes would cut it. ^Back