Although I loved baking a decadent cake for Father’s Day, sometimes simple is best. I had some extra white chocolate buttercream from the Father’s Day cake and needed to bake something for a coworker’s birthday. I went with my favorite chocolate cake. Oh, how I love this cake.
- It requires ONE bowl. One bowl recipes are always a selling point to me. Who wants to dirty up two or three bowls for one cake?
- It uses ingredients I almost always keep on hand. This means it’s perfect when you need an easy cake at the last minute… or when you get a desperate craving for chocolate cake at 9PM.
- Preparation is fast! I swear, it takes maybe three more minutes of preparation than a boxed mix, and it yields a much, MUCH better cake (not hating on the boxed cake mix at all!).
- The result is a light and incredibly moist cake – perfect to pair with a very rich frosting such as the white chocolate buttercream I had leftover. I’ve also topped the cake with a layer of ganache and eaten it without any kind of frosting. Trust me – this cake is perfect any way! I’m sure it would be perfect served warm with a drizzle of chocolate or peanut butter syrup.
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I use non-Dutch processed)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup strong coffee
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9″ pans. (Or if you’re lazy like me, coat the pans with Baking Joy.)
2. Sift together all the dry ingredients.
3. Add in the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium-high.
4. Stir in the coffee and divide batter between two pans.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the cakes spring back lightly.
There are plenty of tasty chocolate cake recipes out there, but this remains my go-to. The cake is so chocolately – perfect to enjoy with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk, and it couldn’t be easier to make.
This is all that was left at the end of the day – a pretty good sign that I did OK, in my opinion!
[...] July 16, 2011 by southerngirlbakes I am definitely my mom’s daughter. The ability to rationalize my Anthropologie shopping, the preference to skip to the end of a book and then read the middle, and most importantly…. our love of cake. Don’t get me wrong, I love all desserts. Brownies? Of course I’m down. Blondies? I may love those more than brownies. Frozen yogurt? One of the main reasons I can’t go vegan. But deep down, I’m a cake kind of girl, and so is my mom. Our gazes skim over the pies and cookies and instead linger on the cakes at bakeries. When I want to throw together a quick dessert one night, it’s often my favorite chocolate cake. [...]