Wow is all I can say. I don't think you'll ever go back to a boxed cake after making this one. It's fantastic. It's what grandma used to make with it's one-of-a-kind flavor and "Betty Crocker" looks.
No mixer required. No eggs even. The oil in the ingredients keeps it moist and it keeps well...not that there are going to be leftovers.
It's really, really fabulous. Just remember when you are baking from scratch...do not overmix, measure exactly, sift your dry ingredients (especially the cocoa which tends to be clumpy) and follow directions. Your cake will be amazing and you will not go back to the box mix.
Preheat oven to 350o F with rack in the center. Spray two 8" round cake pans with nonstick spray. Whisk dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl (sift everything too).
Combine water, oil, vinegar, instant coffee and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined - a few lumps are okay. Divide batter among pans (3 cups in each), then bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
Cool cakes for 20 minutes on a rack, then invert them onto the rack. Leave cakes upside down to cool completely (this flattens domed cakes), then frost.
For the icing, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sir in sugar, cocoa and salt. Mixture will be extremely thick and grainy. Combine heavy cream, sour cream and instant coffee in a large measuring cup, mixing until smooth. Cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is smooth and hot to the touch. Do not boil.
Off heat, add vanilla. Cool icing at room temperature until spreadable, about three hours. The icing is quite soft. If it seems too thin to stay put on the cake, stir in powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon at a time until it's easily spreadable.
Spread 1 cup icing all the way to the edges of the first layer of the cake. Top first layer with second cake and spread with 1 cup of icing. Blob more icing on the sides, then spread around.
Your family is going to go crazy over this.
Chocolate Cake
Adapted from Cuisine at Home
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 cups hot water
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1 Tablespoon instant coffee granules
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Icing
Adapted from Cuisine at Home
1 stick (8 T.) unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Powdered sugar if needed
Preheat oven to 350o F with rack in the center. Spray two 8" round cake pans with nonstick spray. Whisk dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl (sift everything too).
Combine water, oil, vinegar, instant coffee and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined - a few lumps are okay. Divide batter among pans (3 cups in each), then bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
Cool cakes for 20 minutes on a rack, then invert them onto the rack. Leave cakes upside down to cool completely (this flattens domed cakes), then frost.
For the icing, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sir in sugar, cocoa and salt. Mixture will be extremely thick and grainy. Combine heavy cream, sour cream and instant coffee in a large measuring cup, mixing until smooth. Cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is smooth and hot to the touch. Do not boil.
Off heat, add vanilla. Cool icing at room temperature until spreadable, about three hours. The icing is quite soft. If it seems too thin to stay put on the cake, stir in powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon at a time until it's easily spreadable.
Spread 1 cup icing all the way to the edges of the first layer of the cake. Top first layer with second cake and spread with 1 cup of icing. Blob more icing on the sides, then spread around.
One Year Ago: Chocolate-Glazed Chocolate Tart
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Three Years Ago: Some Mysteries in My Universe
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I am always in search of the next chocolate cake recipe. I love this cooked frosting. This and milk and it’s last meal delish.
This cake looks amazing, it reminds me of that chocolate cake in Matilda! And I love how the frosting in the middle looks like it just melds into the rest of the cake, bookmarked!
Ooh, that does look great!
Not the icing, but with no eggs and having oil instead of butter, isn’t this cake vegan? Another plus for some.
glossy is right! this is a gorgeous cake.
I am not a coffee fan. Do you taste the coffee flavor or how would it affect the taste to leave it out?
Coffee is meant to bring out the flavor of the chocolate, you cannot taste it but it makes a huge difference in chocolate cakes.
That cake looks amazing! There is nothing like a chocolate on chocolate homemade cake!
I am not the author nor have I baked this recipe but…. to comment on that, you won’t even taste the coffee. Coffee is used in chocolate recipes to intensify the flavor of chocolate. Similar to what the vodka does to vodka sauce. I’m sure you can leave it out, but I would put it in… I promise you won’t taste it!
Just the look of them, made my mouth salivate! Yuuummy, thank you for that!
Yes, please!
YAY you are finally back!
This makes me want to head to the kitchen to bake Cathy.
This looks like Heaven on a plate! I can’t wait to try to make this for my family! YUM!
This looks amazing. I can’t wait to try this icing
Oh mommy!
Want want want. Nothing beats a homemade chocolate cake!
BTW, congrats on the new tasting room!
Oh…this is what we call our Wacky cake. However ours does not call for coffee…BRILLIANT. It is so moist we usually don’t frost it but I found a glaze that, again, is much like yours and didn’t overwhelm the non-frosting lovers in the house.
OH MY GOODNESS. My boyfriend’s instant reaction to this post was “WHOA. THAT LOOKS UNBELIEVABLE.” Seriously! That cake looks amazing, I can’t wait. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such luscious, glossy frosting. Mmm I can almost taste it!
Now that is some serious chocolate! My kind of cake.
This looks great. Can you use espresso powder instead of the coffee?
I tried the recipe. To respond to several earlier comments — yes, the cake itself is fantastic. The icing recipe I found not to be workable. The icing TASTES terrific, but even after adding loads of additional powdered sugar, it stayed too thin. It was actually so thin that when I put the top cake on the bottom iced cake, the top cake started to slide off. Needless to say, I’ll keep the cake recipe, but keep searching for a frosting recipe that yields more body/stiffness with the same great flavor.
Oh this cake looks totally mouth watering…I wish I had something like this in my fridge…freshly baked…daily MMMMM
Let me have one of those! Yummy! I’ll try the recipes, I definitely will!
I just made this. I halved the recipe and made a dozen cupcakes. I was a bit nervous about the frosting…it didn’t seem to thicken very much but after I let it sit for about 3 hours I stirred it, transferred it to a tupperware container, and tossed it in the fridge for 5 minutes it was PERFECT. Thick and lush. It wasn’t thick enough to pipe but it swirled beautifully. We had quite a bit left, even with halving the frosting recipe so we re-heated the rest and dipped strawberries in it. Warm chocolate ganache + cool strawberries = one hell of a Thursday night.
perfect timing!!! the hubby’s birthday is on tuesday and he has requested his fave cake, chocolate with chocolate frosting, filled with fresh strawberries! so glad i came across your recipe:)
i also just took out of the oven your pepperoni pizza muffins for my sons lunch. they smell yummy! my son was at the oven the whole time saying, yummy (while rubbing his tummy, haha).
can’t wait to continue to explore your site!
this cake is fantastic, I have made it numerous times and my family loves it
I am soooo disappointed at how this turned out. As mentioned above, the icing was too thin and the cake wasn’t very sweet at all. I made this for my nephew’s birthday and the top layer fell apart. Not sure I’ll try this again.
For those who had a tough time with the frosting: DO NOT add more sugar!
Similarly to a ganache, this frosting will thicken (and stay thick) after a short stay in the refrigerator. After you cool at room temp, put it in the fridge and stir every ten mins until it is the spreading consistency that you would like. I PROMISE this will fix the problem of it being too thin.
Also, the best part of a homemade cake is that it gets better with age! Today, after sitting on the counter, covered, overnight, it is even better than it was yesterday! No box cake gets better overnight. I am in LOVE!
I have made this recipe three times. It is rich, delicious and easy. The icing needs to sit for a few hours to thicken up and it goes on beautifully.
Just made this recipe and it turned out great! Actually, it was great on Day 2, but I didn’t care for it on day it was made. Something about it didn’t taste right then. But am very glad I didn’t throw it out
I’ve made ganache type frosting before and they always turn out runny, so this time I put in the refrigerator for however long until it was cold but still spreadable and it was NOT thin at all. I left on counter overnight and the frosting is thick and creamy. The frosting reminds me of the Entenmann’s cake actually, and I’ve been trying to find something similar that doesn’t taste like it’s from the can, so glad I stumbled across this. If you think you don’t like it after you try it, give it a chance again the next day. It get’s better. Although next time I think I’ll line the pans with parchment. I just used spray but big chunks of the cake stayed attached to the pan. Maybe that’s just a testament to how moist it is.