Notes
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup dark cocoa powder
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot coffee (or hot water)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup dark cocoa powder
- 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup heavy cream (more as needed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8 inch pans and line with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla until combined.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry and whisk gently until just combined.
- Slowly whisk in the hot coffee. The batter will be thin.
- Divide batter between pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely on a rack before frosting.
- Whip butter until creamy, then beat in cocoa powder.
- Add powdered sugar in batches, alternating with cream, until smooth.
- Beat in vanilla and salt until silky.
- Frost between layers, then over the top and sides.
- Bloom the cocoa with hot liquid for deeper flavor
- Avoid overmixing the batter
- Use room temperature ingredients for the best texture
- Chill layers before frosting for cleaner edges
- Room temperature, covered, up to 2 days
- Refrigerate up to 5 days
- Freeze unfrosted layers up to 3 months