Easy Chocolate Cake

The following recipe is my "go-to"
chocolate cake recipe whenever I need to make a cake quickly.

I am not a fan of chocolate. I will eat a Cadbury egg at Easter (I am nearly 30 years old and I still ask my mother to make an Easter basket for me), I will drink a hot chocolate if offered but I do not dream of/crave/pine for chocolate. I am of a weird sort, I know. But this recipe is easily customizable for the chocolate lover in you.


Easy (Fo-Sheezy) Chocolate Cake

2 cups cake flour
2 cups Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt


Sift flour and sugar into large bowl.
Bring 1 cup butter, 1/4 cup cocoa and water to a boil in saucepan. Pour over flour mixture; mix well. Add buttermilk, baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, eggs and salt and mix well. (A handheld mixer works well here. A spoon will do just fine with you are of the low-tech kind)Pour into greased and floured 10x15-inch cake pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.

Substitutions: orange juice, double strength coffee, extra chocolatey milk, bourbon, Kahlua, creme de cacao, creme de cassis can be substituted for all or a portion of the 1 cup of water.

Cupcakes are also an option. Reduce baking time by 5 to 8 minutes. And don't forget to grease up the individual paper muffin cups, if youre using.

The list can go on but these are the tried and true additions I have found make this cake a winner.

TIPS:

• Use the freshest, highest quality ingredients you can find. I use Ghirardelli cocoa powder and Swans Down cake flour to make this cake.
• You can also make this cake 1 cup cake flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour to achieve similar results. The crumb will be denser.
• DO NOT use self rising flour. It contains salt and baking powder already. Since baking is a science, the amounts in the self-rising might mess up the end result of your cake.
• Make sure everything is room temperature.
• If you are out of or don't have buttermilk on hand, just add a 1tb of white or cider vinegar to the 1/2 cup of milk and let sit 10 minutes.