black (like my soul) magic cake

Okay. So obviously I'm the worst kind of writer. The kind who gets inspired to write only on a quarterly basis for about 1-2 weeks at a time. This yields approximately 8 weeks of productivity a year. There have been many times I meant to write in here, truly. But usually I came up with a feeble excuse not to. Usually involving disappointing food photos. However, today I decided to break out one set of disappointing photos, albeit two months later than originally planned.

It's foggy again today, so maybe fog just inspires me.

Today I'm showcasing my all-time favorite cake recipe: Black Magic Cake (with French Silk Frosting). Ever since I discovered this recipe, I rarely use any other. And so far I haven't found a better chocolate cake recipe in alllll the interwebz. This is the cake that made me ask myself a few years ago, "why the eff have I been using cake mix my whole life?". Like most of the food I make, I got it from allrecipes.com (my favorite recipe site...period). Usually when I cook with recipes, I read all the reviews and make changes according to what the reviewers say. But this recipe needs no modification. It's beautifully moist and the combination of the coffee and the cocoa give it a dark, intense flavor. That said, I've also served it to kids on multiple occasions and even they seemed to enjoy it. And it's easy to make too. Which is always a plus when I need to pull a last minute dessert out of my ass nowhere.

 strong brewed coffee (thanks, Keurig), white sugar, vanilla, baking soda, eggs, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, buttermilk, vegetable oil, all-purpose flour

 combine the dry ingredients...

 after everything is mixed evenly, make a well in the center with a rubber spatula.

 (just wanted to take a minute to brag about the awesomeness of my liquid measuring cup plunger from ThinkGeek...I tried to find a link for it but they must no longer sell it...boo)

 add the wet ingredients to the well in the center of the bowl. (I usually try to let the coffee cool down a bit before using it, but it's still warm when I add it).

 mix on medium speed for a couple of minutes, being sure to incorporate both wet and dry; batter will be thin.

pour into greased and floured pans (when I'm making this for company I will often use cocoa powder instead of flour so it's uninterrupted chocolate brown goodness) and bake for 30-40 minutes on 350°.

ta-da!

after cooling for 10 minutes, run a spatula around the edges and remove the cake from the pans to cool on racks.

those streaks of flour are why I like to use cocoa powder...

finished product!

I kind of forgot to take pictures of the frosting process, sooo sorry about that...maybe I'll do a post about it sometime. But trust me, it's creamy and amazing. Again, recipe here.


Here are the step by step instructions for the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans or one 9x13 inch pan.
2. In large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center.
3. Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack. Fill and frost as desired.

Here's to a chocolatey future. :)