Double-Chocolate Layer Cake

"From Ina Garten, published in Food & Wine March 2007. She says it's "the most fabulous chocolate cake that I've ever made." Allow some extra time for cooling and chilling."
 
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photo by Dine  Dish photo by Dine  Dish
photo by Dine Dish
Ready In:
1hr 5mins
Ingredients:
20
Yields:
1 cake
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350°F
  • Butter two 8 inch round cake pans and line them with parchment paper; butter the paper. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out any excess.
  • Mix the flour with the sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt at low speed.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the oil, eggs and vanilla.
  • Slowly beat the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until just incorporated, then slowly beat in the hot coffee until fully incorporated.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
  • Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.
  • Let the cakes cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then invert the cakes onto a rack to cool completely.
  • Peel off the parchment paper.
  • FROSTING: In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate at high power in 30 second intervals, stirring, until most of the chocolate is melted.
  • Stir until completely melted, then set aside to cool to room temperature.
  • Beat the butter at medium speed until pale and fluffy.
  • Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat for 1 minute.
  • At low speed, slowly beat in the confectioners’ sugar, about 1 minute.
  • In a small bowl, dissolve the instant coffee in 2 teaspoons of hot water.
  • Slowly beat the coffee and the cooled chocolate into the butter mixture until just combined.
  • Evenly spread 1/3 of the frosting over one cake layer to the edge.
  • Top with the second cake layer, rounded side up.
  • Spread the remaining frosting over the top and side of the cake.
  • Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before slicing.

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Reviews

  1. I just wrote about this on my blog after finding the recipe in F&W magazine. The coffee in this cake adds such a unique flavor... it really keeps the cake from being overly sweet, but maintains a strong chocolate flavor. Moist and delicious!
     
  2. The texture of the cake was moist and rich, and the flavor was superb. This will be a new standard in our family. <br/><br/>Instead of the frosting posted here, I used salted caramel cream cheese frosting and chopped toasted pecans. It was one of the the best cakes I have had.
     
  3. Cake was great, nice and moist. The frosting was a little sweet for me.
     
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Tweaks

  1. The texture of the cake was moist and rich, and the flavor was superb. This will be a new standard in our family. <br/><br/>Instead of the frosting posted here, I used salted caramel cream cheese frosting and chopped toasted pecans. It was one of the the best cakes I have had.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

My husband and I married straight out of college in July of 1992. I work as the Assistant Manager at a wine shop which allows me to drink on the job! (OK, not that much, but it's still a fun job...) Besides helping customers choose wine they will like (and also help with food and wine pairings for their menus), I also get to help with the catering end of the business, so I get to spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen making fun appetizers and beautiful food displays. I also work part-time at the fromagerie next door. So yeah - that means I eat on the job, too. :^D We live on several peaceful wooded acres on a cute little river in rural NE Wisconsin, with a cranky old-lady Burmese and whatever stray outdoor cats that have decided to adopt us on any given day. The cute puppy in the picture is Jake, our Elhew-bred English Pointer that we brought home on Easter weekend 2007. I've also got 2 painted turtles named Dennis and Fuzz, and a bunch of fish (koi and goldfish, along with the guppies & swordtails in the turtle tank). I USUALLY eat and cook healthy, but I rarely pass up dessert, either. I do not eat red meat, and try to limit other animal products, too. I love to bake, although I seem to collect a lot of scone and biscotti recipes which I NEVER get around to making. I bake and eat A LOT of cookies and muffins... I almost always reduce the sugar by 1/4 and use whole wheat pastry flour for at least part of the flour. Those two changes do so much to make recipes healthier without compromising taste. I try to reduce fat whenever I can, too, but while I want to eat healthy, I still want to ENJOY what I eat!!! I seem to give a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews here - I seem to have a pretty good sense of what I like by looking at a recipe before I try it. Thank you to anyone that tries my recipes in return, or photographs them. Amber: <img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/amber2.jpg"> ........And a grown up Jake (one year old in January 2008) :) - <img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/JAKE111307.JPG"> Charlotte (May 27, 1992-June 1, 2009): <img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/Charlott.jpg"> Ashley: Adopted October 8, 1996 - Passed Away January 6, 2009 <img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/ashley2.jpg"> Mike: September 26, 1994 - March 19, 2004<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/mike1997-lr.JPG">.... <a href='http://www.niftymaps.com/visitor-map.php?id=36321'><img src='http://i.niftymaps.com/36321.png' alt='Click to zoom in on my visitor map!' border='0'></a>Create your free world <a href='http://www.niftymaps.com/' target='_blank'>visitor maps</a>
 
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