Chocolate Love

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 c self rising flour (you can use all purpose, but self rising makes a difference) 
• 2 c sugar

Sift, or not, into a medium size bowl and set aside.  This bowl will eventually hold all ingredients for the batter of the cake so don't use too small of a bowl.

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 c water
• 1/2 c oil
• 6 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp "black" cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp double dutched cocoa powder
• 2 shots of fresh espresso or strong coffee

In a saucepan, whisk in the wet ingredients on the stove over medium heat: water, oil, butter and cocoa powder. This doesn't take long as you are just ensuring that the butter is melted and the cocoa incorporated. It will look like chocolate water, just what we want. 

Once the wet ingredients are thoroughly mixed, remove the mixture from the heat and slowly incorporate the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. It will start to look like a thick cake batter.  

Next, whisk together the rest of the wet ingredients in a small bowl or coffee cup: buttermilk, egg, baking soda and vanilla. Use a real vanilla bean if you have the luxury to do so. 

Rest of the Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 c buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla

Add this mixture to the cake batter and mix well, but don't overdo it. We're just trying to incorporate all the ingredients but not overwork the flour or the texture will become tough, not moist and soft, as is our aim.

Baking:

I use a greased and floured 9" spring form pan. Over time, I have found that lining the bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper is a real time saver as you are ensured that it won't stick to the pan and ultimately, it will slide right off if you want to present it on a cake platter or stand.  I also take the time to line the sides with strips of parchment paper.  It really seems to help the cake spring off the pan properly, but I have done it lots of times without the fuss and it will come out perfectly if you can allow the cake to properly cool ALL the way down before trying to spring it free.

In a greased and floured springform pan, pour the batter.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour.

Frosting:

• 1/2 c butter
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder (same as in the cake: 2 tbsp black + 2 tbsp of double dutch, if you have it, otherwise, 4 tbsp of any good dutch processed cocoa powder will work fine)
• 6 tbsp buttermilk
• 1 lb confectioner's sugar (2 c is the perfect consistency)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Spread or drizzle frosting over cake while cake is still warm. Frosting keeps very well.  It has a gorgeous shine that will set a perfectly smooth and flawless finish to the icing, like a chocolate jacket.

Variations and Notes from the Kitchen:
Tried this with homemade vanilla sour cream instead of buttermilk. This was amazing.

Did this again with all purpose flour in a large spring form line on the bottom with parchment took exactly an hour. It rose perfectly, cooked evenly, didn't burst or split on top. I melted cherry preserves and spread thin layer on top, spring form still on. I then melted extra icing from the previous cake and spread that on top of the cherry preserves, covering gently but quickly as it will set perfectly smooth if you don't go too slow. Looked beautiful.

It is such a dark black if you use the black cocoa powder. This is more chocolate flavor than most chocolate cakes and the black cocoa just makes it look devilishly good, which of course, it is.  This is my go-to and this particular one, I made specially for my neighbor who, at the time, was 7 months pregnant. Who better to share a chocolate cake with?