This is seriously the best and only chocolate cake recipe you will ever need! 🎂 It is rich and moist and decadent! I’ve used it as a base for so many different cakes – some of my favorite pairings are swiss buttercream with fresh strawberries, peanut butter buttercream, swiss buttercream with fresh blackberries and blackberry jam, caramel sauce with chocolate buttercream… I could go on for hours! I ALWAYS save my cake scraps from this recipe to make myself a trifle or some cake balls to snack on!!
🎂➕🍓➕🍦= 💖
Chocolate Cake
1 3/4 cups Water
1 1/4 cups Cocoa Powder
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
3 cups Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk
1 1/4 cups Oil
3 each Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1. First, measure out all of your ingredients. You can combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in your mixing bowl. You can also combine the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a separate bowl.
2. Put your water in a saucepan and put it on the stove, using medium-high heat until it boils. Once the water is boiling, pour in your cocoa powder. Turn off the heat and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remove the pot completely from the heat and let it cool slightly, whisking occasionally to help the cooling process.
3. While that chocolate mixture is cooling a bit, whisk together your flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in your mixer, using the whisk attachment. Add in your liquid ingredient: buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whip on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl with your spatula and whip for an additional minute.
4. Now, pour the chocolate mixture into your cake batter and whisk on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. The batter will be not feel very thick.
5. Preheat your oven to 350℉. Next, you need to prep your cake pans. I filled two, deep 8-inch cake pans, to make a 4 layer cake. If you use a standard 9-inch pan with shorter sides, you may need 3 pans. Spray your pans with cooking spray generously. Cut out parchment the size of the bottom of your pan, place it in the pan, and spray the pan again.
6. Fill your cake pans a little over halfway with batter. Let them sit while your oven is preheating. This batter needs to rest for at least 10 minutes before going into the oven.
7. Place your cakes in the 350℉ oven and let them bake for about an hour and fifteen minutes. If you used three 9-inch pans, your bake time might be closer to 45 minutes. Always poke your cake in the center with a skewer or toothpick to make sure it’s done baking, as everyone’s oven is different.
8. When the cakes are done, let them cool slightly. Loosen the edges on the pan with a knife and flip them out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap them tightly while they are still warm and put them directly in your freezer. This will lock in the moisture in them, and help them cool more quickly.
9. Once they’ve cooled, take them out, unwrap them, and cut the layers. You can pair almost any flavor of icing with this cake. My absolute favorite is to frost is with my vanilla Swiss buttercream and fresh strawberry slices.
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