Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

For each family member's birthday, I take requests. Whatever kind of dessert they want, I make for them. This year, my dad wanted a regular, 0ld-fashioned chocolate cake and this is what happened. Everyone ate it, then went into a food coma from sheer bliss. The end.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup hot water

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter cut into pieces and softened

A lot of frosting :)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and dust with a little extra cocoa powder. Trace the bottom of each pan onto parchment paper. Cut out the two circles and place one in the bottom of each pan.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In a different bowl, mix the buttermilk and vanilla.

In a glass bowl, mix the cocoa powder, chopped chocolate, and hot water. Place over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl with the chocolate in it. Whisk the mixture until melted and smooth, for just a couple of minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of sugar and whisk until thick and glossy. Remove the bowl from the heat and set it aside to cool.

In a separate, large bowl, whip the eggs and egg yolks with an electric mixer, gradually adding the remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar. Whip about 4 to 8 minutes until thick and voluminous.

Beat the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

Beat in the butter, one piece at a time.

Beat in a third of the flower mixture, then half of the buttermilk mixture, the next third of the flour mixture, the last half of the buttermilk mixture, then the last third of the flour mixture. After each addition, make sure everything is mixed in well.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans, making sure it's divided in half pretty evenly. Smooth out the tops, then tap the pans on the counter to make sure the batter settles.

Bake the cake about 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the center of the cake with only a few crumbs attached.

Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the cake and flip each cake on a wire rack. Let the cakes cool COMPLETELY before you try to frost them.

Coming up next....amazing chocolate frosting.

Special thanks to America's Test Kitchen :) Only my favorite cookbooks in the world.