I originally published the recipe for this frantastic chocolate cake to celebrate Valentine’s Day over 10 years ago in 2016. This cake is too delicious to wait another four months before appearing on the blog once more. After all, who needs a reason to have chocolate cake any day of the year?
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Originally published on February 12, 2016
Some friends from Rhode Island made the trip to the Cape last weekend. Obviously, this called for a special dessert—and, since my friend Barb is a chocoholic and Valentine’s Day was around the corner, it was a no-brainer to make this cake.
The recipe for this outstanding chocolate cake is from Ina Garten of the Food Network. All the reviews were stellar and spot on. The cake is a deep, dark chocolate, nicely dense, and oh so moist. It easily makes my list of the top ten best-ever chocolate cakes.
If you want to please the chocoholic in your life, make this decadently delicious chocolate cake and pair it with Ina’s chocolate frosting, my favorite chocolate ganache, or your own favorite frosting.
Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Beatty’s Chocolate Cake
- Butter, for greasing the pans
- 1 3/4 cups flour, plus more for pans
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
- Ina’s Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows
Directions for Cake
Preheat the oven to 350o F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. (You can use two 9″ round cake pans instead, but you will need to adjust the baking time by a few minutes less.)
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place one layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.
Fran’s Notes
I have included Ina’s recipe for chocolate frosting here, but I decided to use one of my favorite chocolate ganaches instead (recipe below) so that I wouldn’t have to worry about pasteurizing the raw egg called for in Ina’s recipe. The ganache is the one I used to frost my Southern style chocolate cake, another top contender for best chocolate cake ever.
Ingredients for Ina’s Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 6 ounces good semisweet chocolate
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tbl. instant coffee powder
Directions for Ina’s Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don’t whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.
Fran’s Favorite Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup double-strength brewed coffee (I used 3/4 tsp. instant espresso powder with 1/4 cup of hot water)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Directions
Heat the cream, butter, sugar and salt over low heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted and smooth. (I pre-melted the chocolate in the microwave at 50% power before stirring into the melted butter mixture.) Add coffee and vanilla; stir until blended. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature, stirring minimally, until it reaches a spreadable consistency (about 2 hours). You might want to eat a spoonful, say, every 15 minutes or so just to make sure the frosting is setting up properly. 🙂
Source: A recipe from Ina Garten
