Homemade, must have Chocolate Cake!

The other day I was looking at different blogs and I happened across a cooking blog called A Bountiful Kitchen and on her sidebar I saw the most beautiful chocolate cake ever, well, I am a chocolate-baked-goods kinda girl and I thought, I think I am making this.  The recipe is similar to one of my favorite family recipes my Dads Maple and Almond Chocolate cake, so, after looking it over I printed it out and walked straight into the kitchen!

Besides, can I admit that I pretty much only make boxed cakes?  I don't even have a regular chocolate cake recipe.  And that is what Si from A Bountiful Kitchen was on the look out for, and she said this was the cake, so I tried it.  

People this it THE cake!

YOU MUST TRY THIS CAKE!

If you like chocolate cake, and I mean like- like, maybe more than just friends, like- love chocolate cake YOU MUST TRY THIS recipe.  

**the only problem with this cake is that the instructions tell you to freeze it, which means that you can't eat it hot right out of the oven... So I suggest baking them in 8 inch rounds and pouring the extra into a small loaf, so you can try it right when it comes out of the oven! HEAVENLY!  

A-MA-ZA-ZING Chocolate Cake

HUGE CAKE! invite some friends over!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Line two 9-inch round cake pans with circles of wax paper or baking parchment.

1 3/4 cups boiling water

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, OR chocolate chips (for a double recipe, use 15 oz. chocolate chips, which equals 2 1/2 cups.)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

10 oz (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar ( I only had light)

4 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Pour the boiling water over the chocolate chips. Add cocoa and stir until mixture is smooth. 

Set aside to cool. 


Cream the butter and brown sugar. 

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. 

In a separate bowl whisk dry ingredients together.  Add the dry ingredients and half of the chocolate mixture. 

 

Beat on low to combine, then on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the remaining chocolate mixture and beat on low until mixed.

Pour batter into pans and bake 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out completely clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes; remove from pans. Wrap in double layers of plastic wrap while still warm and freeze.  ( I just threw them in a freezer bag, cuz I was lazy!)

Double recipe makes two 10" layers plus two 8" layers or four 9" layers. Never fill pans more than 2/3 full.

Frosting:

1 1/4 cups plus 2 T. butter, softened

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (For really dark frosting, use part Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa, about 4 T.)

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup plus 2 T. Milk

Cream butter with electric mixer. Whisk together sugar and cocoa. Beat one-third of the sugar/cocoa mixture into the butter. Mix in vanilla. Add the rest of the sugar/cocoa mixture alternately with milk and beat until frosting is smooth.

When cake is frozen solid, frost between the two layers and spread a thin layer over the whole cake. Freeze again for about 20 minutes. Frost again. Repeat if desired- Put in fridge til ready to serve.  (I pulled mine out about 10 - 15 minutes before serving)


My forte is NOT frosting cakes, so, forgive it's not perfectly frosted-ness it didn't effect the taste whatsoever!  Wanna come give me cake frosting lessons?  Let me know!

On Si's blog she said to use dark chocolate cocoa, and I didn't have any, so I melted some 90% cocoa bar about 2 ozs and just threw it in there! FYI!  She had more little tips at the bottom of her post, check it out.

What have you all been baking and making?  

Recipe link time!

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