Chocolate Fudge Cake

I love watching cooking shows and my favorites are Paula Deen, Ina Garten, Trisha Yearwood and old Tyler Florence's old reruns. So one day I watched Ina make the most decadent chocolate cake and top it with a luscious chocolate frosting, I knew I had to make it. But a big cake is just too much for one or two people.  So I made a six inch cake and a half a dozen cupcakes out of the rest of the batter! I sliced a piece of cake, set aside a cupcake and froze the rest!  This recipe is for a 9 inch double layer cake.  You will have batter and frosting left over for your cupcakes.

Chocolate Fudge 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.

Again this makes a single 8 or 9 inch cake.  If you choose to make the smaller 6 inch cake as I did, you will have batter and frosting left over to make your cupcakes. 

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