chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Yes. Chocolate squared cake. CHOCOLATE^2.

That would make much more of an impression if I knew how to actually make the "2" a superscript. I'm slowly teaching myself how to edit HTML. I remember doing a lot of it in seventh grade, but that was the exact time I had just begun baking, and I was inexperienced and unfamiliar with the world of blogging. Can't blame me for not utilizing my knowledge of HTML at the wee age of 13.




Well I made chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I do not particularly enjoy chocolate cake, but I made a bet with my brother. I told him I would give him half of this double layer cake for all his Borders gift cards. He agreed. It was a BI-WINNING situation, as he got cake he likes and I got $65 worth of gift cards.

There's the division line for the half of the cake that was his.

The recipe I followed for the cake is that of Ina Garten. Honestly, I dare you to try and find another plain chocolate cake recipe online that is not hers, or basically hers. The cake itself has good flavor and an excellent crumb. The cup of coffee added serves to enhance the flavor of the chocolate. You cannot even taste the coffee in the final product. Be sure to grease and flour the pans, or else your cake will definitely stick. Trust me on the basis of my experiences.

Chocolate Cake
by Ina Garten.

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (again, I used a combination of whole wheat & all-purpose, as usual)
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tspn baking soda
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1 tspn salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the paper and flour the entire inside of the pan.
2. Mix together the dry ingredients, flour - salt.
3. Whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
4. Slowly beat wet mixture into the dry mixture, until just incorporated.
5. Add coffee in slowly until fully incorporated.
6. Pour batter into prepared pans.
7. Bake about 35-40 minutes. Let cakes cool in pan for about 20-30 minutes before sliding a knife along the edge and inverting onto cooling racks. Remove the parchment paper. If the pans were prepared properly, there should be no problems in doing this.

Chocolate Frosting

I have used this many times, and the recipe never changes, just the proportions do.

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 scant Tb flour
• 1 1/2 Tb cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup (3 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips, melted

1. In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt. Whisk in milk.
2. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Boil 1 minute, or until thick. Remove from heat.
3. Pout chocolate base in a bowl and in the fridge to cool completely. The thicker this mixture is (and it will thicken significantly as it cools), the thicker your frosting will be.
4. Beat butter until really creamy. Beat in chocolate mixture. If the mixture looks curdled, don't worry, it will be okay.

5. Then add in the melted, slightly cooled chocolate. Make sure the chocolate isn't too hot, or it will melt the butter. Beat very well. You cannot overbeat this (at least, I or the many guys I have had beat this, have not overbeat it yet).

6. Sandwich between layers of cake and enjoy.