chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

I’ve been making this dessert since 2010, starting with my son’s 11th birthday party. I wrote in the margin of the Macrina Cookbook, “absolutely delicious!” Baked with our Sonora whole wheat flour, it is even more delicious than when I used to bake with white flour.

INGREDIENTS

CAKE LAYERS

• 4 eggs

• 1 ½ cups whole milk

• 2/3 canola or olive oil

• 4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

• 3 ½ granulated sugar

• 3 cups sonora whole wheat flour

• ½ cup dark cocoa powder, sifted

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1 ½ tsp salt

• 1 ½ cups boiling water 

FROSTING

• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

• ½ pound, 2 sticks butter, at room temperature

• 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted

• 1 Tbls pure vanilla extract

METHOD

CAKE LAYERS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 2 (9 inch) cake pans by brushing the inside with oil, then lining the bottom with a 9 inch circle of parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Combine the eggs, milk, sugar, canola or olive oil, and vanilla extract in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix well.

3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a separate bowl. Toss together with your hands to combine.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the stand mixer and whisk for 2 minutes on medium speed. Keep mixing as you add the boiling water in a slow stream, mixing until the water is incorporated, about 30 seconds.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans. Place on the center rack of your oven and bake 55-60 minutes, or until the cake is set in the center. Test center with a skewer to make sure the cake is done. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes.

FROSTING

1. Place chocolate in a medium stainless steal bowl or double-boiler. Place bowl on top of a saucepan filled with 2 inches of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. It’s important that the water be just simmering; if it’s too hot it will scorch the chocolate. Stir chocolate with a rubber spatula until all of the pieces have melted and reached a smooth consistency. Remove the bowl from heat and let cool to room temperature.

2. Combine butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer and using the paddle attachment, mix for 5 to 8 minutes to cream butter and sugar. Start on low speed and gradually increase to medium. Starting out on a higher speed will likely result in a snow-storm of powdered sugar. When the butter mixture is light and fluffy, add the melted chocolate and mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and continue missing until the frosting is thick enough to spread, a few more minutes. If the frosting gets too soft, simply chill in the refrigerator to firm up. If it stays in the refrigerator too long, let sit out for a few minutes and then whip it.