About the Recipe
This ain't your grandma's dry-as-a-bone chocolate cake. Nope. This is the moist, decadent, chocolatey dream you've been searching for. And the best part? It's ridiculously easy. One bowl, people! ONE BOWL!
Gear Up (aka the stuff you'll need):
Two 9-inch cake pans (because two cakes are better than one, duh)
A mixing bowl (the bigger, the better)
A balloon whisk (or your stand mixer if you're fancy)
The Good Stuff (aka the ingredients)
2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour (the base of all things good)
2 cups (396g) sugar (because we're not here for healthy eating, we're here for cake)
¾ cup (63g) unsweetened cocoa powder (the darker, the better – like your soul)
2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder (for that fluffy lift)
1 ½ teaspoons (9g) baking soda (because we're doubling down on the fluff)
1 teaspoon (2.8g) kosher salt (just a pinch, because we're not savages)
1 teaspoon (2.3g) espresso powder (the secret weapon – trust me)
1 cup (227g) milk or buttermilk, almond, or coconut milk (whatever floats your boat)
½ cup (99g) vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil (because we need that moisture)
2 large (100g) eggs (the glue that holds it all together)
2 teaspoons (9.4g) vanilla extract (because vanilla makes everything better)
1 cup (227g) boiling water (the magic ingredient – seriously!)
Let's Get Baking (aka the instructions)
Preheat your oven to 350ºF (because that's what the recipe says). Grease and flour your pans.
In your giant bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Basically, everything dry.
Add the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until everything's combined and looking luscious.
Now for the magic: SLOWLY add the boiling water while mixing on low speed. The batter will be thin – don't panic! That's how it's supposed to be.
Pour the batter into your prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes. Stick a toothpick in the center – if it comes out clean, you're good to go!
Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then flip them out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Important Stuff (aka the notes):
The batter is supposed to be thin. Seriously. Trust the process.
You can freeze the cakes if you're not planning on inhaling them immediately.
Metric conversions are there for the nerds (I kid, I kid!).
Salt notes: Diamond Crystal is the bomb. If you use Morton's, half the amount.
Nutrition (aka the stuff you'll ignore after eating half the cake): Who cares? It's cake!
Now go forth and bake, my friends! And don't forget to tag me in your cake pics. I'll be drooling with envy.