Chocolate Cake

Ina Garten’s Chocolate Cake recipe ~ it’s a classic! When I hear the word dessert, this homey, rich, chocolatey cake is what springs to mind. Everybody should make it at least once.

It will take a lot for me to look for another chocolate cake recipe in the near future. The texture and flavor of Ina Garten’s chocolate cake is just my style — it’s very moist without being dense or heavy at all, and has just the right balance of sweetness with rich chocolate flavor. I can see why this is a beloved recipe, and will be my go-to from now on.

I feel that the salt and sour cream help offset the added sugar a little bit. The added sour cream also makes for a slightly softer frosting that doesn’t go quite as crusty over time as a plain buttercream frosting tends to do.

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk (I used half-and-half, which worked fine, too!)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot coffee

For the frosting

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream