This is my absolute favorite chocolate cake ever and I use it all the time! It’s incredibly moist and has a rich, deep chocolate flavor. I’ve already used this cake in my Chocoholic’s Bat Cake and for My Brother’s 27th Birthday Cake.
What can I say? It’s just amazing!
It’s great on its own with a nice cup of tea or coffee, smothered in a rich chocolate ganache or paired with fresh fruit and softly whipped cream. However, this is not a cake that will get lost in a flavor explosion, so it’s the perfect cake to experiment with!
- 60g (or 2 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 240ml (or 1 cup) boiling water
- 190g (or 1½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 145g (or 1¼ cups) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 120ml (or ½ cup) sunflower oil
- 240ml (or 1 cup) milk or buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 450g (or 2½ cups) granulated sugar
- Start by preheating the oven to 175°C or 350°F (standard oven setting). Liberally butter a 25-cm (10-inch) cake pan with butter, line the bottom with baking parchment and dust it with cocoa. Pour the water over the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and stir to dissolve. Set aside. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until foamy. Keep mixing and slowly drizzle in the oil. Once the oil is fully incorporated, add the milk and vanilla to the chocolate-water mixture. Pour the now cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Add the sugar and mix until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- NOTE: to check whether the sugar has dissolved, rub the batter between your fingers. If you can't feel any sugar grains, the sugar has properly dissolved.
- Stop the mixer. Add the flour mixture and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Once the flour mixture has been absorbed, give the batter a quick whiz with the mixer to get rid of any lumps. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake the cake until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 70 minutes. You may need to place a sheet of aluminum foil over the cake after 45 minutes if it's browning too fast.
- Transfer the cake to a wire rack and leave to cool for twenty minutes in the pan before turning the cake out.
- If you want to split or frost the cake, let it cool to room temperature, wrap it with plastic wrap and leave to chill in the fridge for two hours or overnight. Can be stored, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 months in the freezer.