Your Grandma's Chocolate Cake

This chocolate layer cake is absolutely divine! Super moist and chocolatey and so easy to make. It really is quite simple and it'll make anyone in your life feel special. 

You'll need two 8-inch cake pans.

Ingredients:

For the icing (makes about 4 cups)

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (buy decent cocoa powder, it makes all the difference, I recommend Callebaut or Ghiradelli)

Pinch of table salt

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon instant espresso (optional: only because it can be hard to find and substituting ground coffee will not work)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the cake

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 (preferably cold-pressed Canola)

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon instant espresso (optional)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Start by making the icing, it needs to cool for at least two hours (probably more) to become spreadable. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium-low heat. Combine sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl and then add to the butter, stirring until completely combined. The mixture should be thick and grainy.

Combine the heavy cream, sour cream and instant espresso in a measuring cup. Slowly add the cream mixture to the butter and chocolate mixture. Whisk until fully blended and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved (~6 minutes). Do not let it boil. Add the vanilla off the heat and stir to combine. Let cool completely. 

Then, make the cake. Preheat the oven to 350F with a rack in the center. Spray two 8-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray or use a paper towel to coat with vegetable oil.

Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine. Combine the water, oil, vinegar, instant espresso, and vanilla in a large measuring cup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine - don't worry if there are a few lumps. 

Divide the batter evenly between pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes and then turn out to cool completely (1 hour). When the cakes have completely cooled they may not be level (they often dome in the baking process). Use a large serrated bread knife to create two flat cake rounds. 

To assemble and ice the cake, start by cutting a piece of parchment paper roughly the size of the cake plate. Then, cut the parchment paper in half and place both halves on the cake plate, so that they meet in the middle of the plate and do not overlap. Place the first cake round on top of the parchment paper and spread 1/4 of the icing evenly across the cake round. Then place the second cake round on top. Spread another 1/4 of the icing evenly across the top and the remaining 1/2 of the icing around the sides. When you are done icing gently remove the parchment paper (this keeps the plate clean). 

Bon appetit!