♥ Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

This is the only Chocolate Cake I remember my Mom ever making. This cake was so special and we always had so much fun making it. The recipe is written on one of the hundreds of little cards that she left me when she moved to Heaven. The note on the back of this card reads.......

"My little girl, someday you may not remember making this, but I hope you do. So much love goes into making this cake and it's your brother's favorite. We always have so much fun making it for his birthday. You can hardly wait to put the candles on it and you sit by the window and wait for him to come home to surprise him. I love that about you. I hope you always have that kind and generous spirit of giving to others and that you will remember this cake was always made with so much love. ~Mom."

 
My Mom's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good quality cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (you don't taste it)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk (shake well before using), oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Then add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. You will not taste coffee in this cake. It enhances the chocolate only.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

6 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder (optional but good!)

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature. Add butter to a large bowl and with an electric mixer on medium-high beat the butter until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 more minutes.

Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

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