The Girl made this Ina Garten Recipe the other day and I’m not gonna lie. It was the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had in my entire life. Ever. Hands down. Did I mention it was awesome? Like put on your elastic-waist pants awesome.
Like had it for breakfast 3 days in a row awesome. Like drop everything and make it right now awesome.
Yep. That good.
Make this! You’ll be so glad you did.
~Mavis
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The Best Chocolate Cake on the Planet Earth
Ingredients
Cake:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Sprinkles {optional}
Frosting:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter two 8 x 2 round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, and then butter and flour the pans.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the mixer and stir on low until combined. 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 about 35 or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely on wire racks.
While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Chop the chocolate and heat over double broiler just until melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.
Beat the butter on medium-high speed in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, or about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for an additional 3 minutes. Turn the mixer on low, and gradually add the confectioners sugar.
Increase speed to medium and beat until smooth and creamy, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Dissolve the instant coffee in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water.
Reduce speed to medium and add the chocolate and coffee. Mix until blended. Use immediately to frost the cooled cake.
Gwenn says
I would have to agree with you, this is an AMAZING chocolate cake recipe. My Barefoot Contessa cookbooks are some of my favorites and Ina`s suggestion to put coffee or espresso with chocolate has made all of my chocolate recipes better.
Mary Ann says
I hate coffee. Can you taste it?
Mavis Butterfield says
No. My daughter made the cake and I had no idea it had coffee in it until she told me. It’s sooooo good Mary Ann.
mary says
I always use coffee in chocolate as it intensifies the chocolate flavor.
Starbeamer says
Is there something other than coffee you can substitute it for? It is against my religion 🙁
Or has anyone tried it without the coffee?
Mavis Butterfield says
You could try making it without the coffee {just hot water instead}.
Katie says
I was going to say that you could swap it out for Guinness, but that’s probably also verboten. 😉 Really, though, this reminds me of Nigella Lawson’s Guinness Chocolate Cake, which also might be the best cake on the planet.
Kathleen O'Meal says
http://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/10-reasons-to-quit-coffee-plus-healthy-alternatives….Im a Mormon, and in nursing….would never ever drink Coffee its so bad for you…my breast clinic specialist clinic doc said to never drink coffee or take anything with caffeine and to decrease chocolate consumption….she said she could tell immediately from tissue samples who does and who does not….when I cant resist some chocolate cake…I see this recipe but sub in dark cacao powder and its just fine…the smell of the acid in coffee makes me want to vomit….mostly when I want something sweet its fresh carrot and apple juice or a popsicle of some fruit…or a carob and rice milk cake using whole grains with a little maple syrup…….we all have our choices to make
Shannon says
Agreed! I make this cake for birthdays all year long and everyone always says it is the best chocolate cake they’ve ever had. It is perfection. If anyone thinks they won’t like it because of the coffee, I’m here to tell you that you don’t really taste the coffee, it just makes the chocolate taste more chocolate-ey.
Jenise Dunn says
Totally agree. The day I got her cookbook, I made the whiskey sours and sat our on the deck. I saw this recipe and immediately jumped up and made it. Family (and neighbors, because who doesn’t love an impromptu dinner with friends!) loved it. Such a great cake!
Lisa says
This is the only chocolate cake I’ll make. It is the best!
Susannah says
Ooh, thanks for the recipe, Mavis! My father’s always waxing nostalgically about the mocha frosting my grandmother used to make for him when he was a kid, so I think I’ll give this a try for Father’s Day and just up the coffee a bit.
Sherry in Sumner says
Mavis, I have all of Ina Garten’s cookbooks and have not made one recipe that wasn’t delicious. I will definitely try her chocolate cake. One fabulous and easy recipe is the Rosemary Cashews in her Paris cookbook. I’ve gotten rave reviews for that one. Hope you’ll try it.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Sherry, I will check them out. I LOVE her brownies too!!!
Reeniedi says
What is the measurement of sticks of butter. 1/2 c
Mavis Butterfield says
4 ounces, or 1 stick of butter.
lynne says
Made this tonight, cutting the recipe in 1/2 (just me and the man). FAN-Freakin’-Tastic! Best chocolate cake recipe I’ve done. Definitely will make it again, and definitely will eat it for b’fast, too! 🙂 Thank you for sharing the recipe! Lynne in MN.
Debbi Atkinson says
What could be better: chocolate and coffee the two best things in the world!!!
McMitchell says
I love Ina, but you guys know this is just the Hershey’s perfectly chocolate cake recipe from the back of the cocoa can? Ina has just replaced the milk with buttermilk and the boiling water with coffee. The only difference is the bitterness of the coffee makes it taste a little more chocolatey. So those of you asking if you can swap out the coffee – use the same amount of boiling water. Seriously, check your cocoa can!
Cari says
Okay…I’m in the middle of baking. The cake has totally overflowed both of my pans and the batter is burning on the bottom of the oven as I write… It looked extremely runny when I put it in the pans, and I checked the recipe. Seemed like very little binder (flour) in the recipe. I have just moved the cake pans to a cookie sheet, and hopefully the cake will set up. All I can smell right now is burned chocolate cake batter. I hope my husband likes chocolate soup for his birthday! Sorry; but I wanted to let you know. I followed the posted recipe to a “T”.
Cari says
Just wanted to follow up. The cake was lovely after I trimmed it and iced it. I still have a bit of a mess to chisel off the bottom of the oven, but it’s a good trade. I will remember next time (there will be a next time), that this batter is very thin when poured into the pans, that I need a catch pan underneath, and that the cake needs over 40 minutes to finish baking. No harm, no foul. It is a lovely cake!
Carolyn says
Only thing wrong ! Can’t handle the raw egg yolk in the frosting !!