Birthday cake! In my family, you get to choose your birthday cake and it's always homemade (with some exceptions, like when somebody wants a Mario Brothers cake with a picture of Luigi on top - I leave fancy decorations like that to a bakery). The most popular request by far is for CHOCOLATE.
This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe
Beatty's Chocolate Cake
from The Barefoot Contessa
1 3/4 cups flour (measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling with a knife)
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, at room temperature (I just warm the eggs gently by putting them into a bowl of very warm water while I measure the rest of the ingredients)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with circles of parchment paper, then butter the bottom and sides of the pans and dust with flour.
Blend the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla till well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients gradually, mixing on low speed. Mix in the coffee and make sure it's well incorporated.
Divide batter between the two pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pans for about 30 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely
**If you're making the cake in advance - and I often do - just wrap them well in plastic wrap and freeze them until you're ready to assemble the cake. No need to defrost. In fact I find it easier to frost when they're still frozen. I even freeze it if it's just baked one day in advance, just to make it easier to frost.
Fudge Frosting
*makes about 5 cups
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to incorporate, then process until the frosting is smooth.
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to incorporate, then process until the frosting is smooth.
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