Classic Chocolate Cake
This chocolate cake recipe has been a staple in my kitchen for years. From the texture of the cake layers to the incredible chocolate buttercream within each bite (frosting recipe posted separately), I have never met anyone who doesn't ask for seconds.
Ingredients
Method
- Prep the Pans: Coat three 8" round cake pans with butter. Place parchment paper circles on the bottom of each pan and then coat the sides with a light dusting of flour.
- Prep the Oven: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. I prefer to sift my cocoa powder to ensure that it isn't clumpy!
- Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix together all of the wet ingredients. Make sure the milk, sour cream, and eggs are room temperature!
- Combine: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. The batter will be very runny.
- Fill the Pans: Pour the batter into your pre-prepped 8" pans and make sure to fill them evenly so that they bake evenly!
- Time to Bake: Place your cake pans in the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 – 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The baking time may vary depending on your oven so begin to check it every couple of minutes at the 25 minute mark.
- Let it Cool: After your cake layers are baked, allow them to cool in their pans for about 20 minutes before flipping them out onto a cooling rack. See below for details on how to carefully remove your cake layers so that they don't fall apart!
- Make the Buttercream: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until its silky in texture and pale in color.
- Add the small pinch of salt and vanilla extract and mix to combine. Scrape the bowl down with a rubber spatula to ensure it is all mixed well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Add this to the bowl of your stand mixer along with the heavy cream.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel in order to avoid a big mess. Mix on low speed for 1 minute until the ingredients have begun to incorporate and then increase the speed to medium. Mix on medium for 8 minutes until the buttercream is smooth.
- Decorate the Cake: Once your cake layers are fully cooled and the buttercream is ready, add as much or as little buttercream as you would like on top of the first cake layer, place the second cake layer on top of that, add more buttercream, and then top it off with the final cake layer. Lastly, cover the outside of the cake with the remaining chocolate buttercream frosting before slicing and serving!
Notes
1. When prepping your cake pans, it is important to never skip this step if you want to ensure the easy removal of your cake layers after they have baked. I find it best to coat the bottom and sides of the inside of each pan with butter, then place a parchment paper circle at the bottom of the pan, and then coat the sides with a light dusting of flour. Since we are making chocolate cake here, you can also use cocoa powder!
2. Along with properly prepping your cake pans for easy removal, make sure you allow the cake layers to cool for about 20 minutes in their pans after they have baked. If you try to flip the cake layers out of their pans immediately after baking, they will most likely fall apart and you will be left with a big mess.
3. When making my chocolate cake and buttercream, I always like to use a high-fat cocoa powder. My favorite (which is what I always use for this recipe) is the Guittard “organic natural unsweetened cocoa powder”. You can find this cocoa powder on Guittard’s website, Whole Foods, and Amazon (it is packaged in a pink tube). This cocoa powder will give you an incredibly smooth texture that is very noticeable in the buttercream and it also brings out the most incredible chocolate flavor without being overly sweet.
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