The only chocolate cake I ever make now

This is the only chocolate cake I ever make now, because it is so delicious! 

I never used to be a fan of cake with ice cream (despite a strong fondness for both cake and ice cream)… but this one is fantastic served plain with some vanilla ice cream and some sprinkles for crunch! Frosting not required.

Based on https://cakebycourtney.com/best-ever-chocolate-bundt-cake-recipe/

Ingredients

• 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar (or less according to your preference. I used 300g this time and you could definitely drop it to 250)
• 3/4 cups (88.5 g) dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons (8 g)  baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon (5.6 g) salt
• 1 cup (240 g)  buttermilk, ideally at room temperature (I just add 1tbs white vinegar to a cup of milk… it would also work to use half milk, half yogourt whey. And I rarely bother to do the room temperature thing)
• 1 cup (236.6 g) hot water (I boil it before doing everything else and then it is about right when I’m ready for it. Even if it is too hot and it seems like you cooked your eggs and milk with it, the cake will likely turn out just fine.. this happened to me and I thought it was going to be a disaster but it was delish)
• 1/2 cup (109 g)  vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten, ideally at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon (4.2 g) pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips dusted in cocoa powder or flour (I have always gone with the cocoa option. Also, regular sized ones work too.. it doesn’t really matter if they all sink to the bottom)

The original recipe includes instructions for a chocolate ganache topping so check it out if you want that.. I haven’t ever tried it.

Method

1. Prepare your pan(s). Until today, I have always cooked this in a Bundt pan and the hardest part of the whole process is evenly coating the Bundt pan in butter with a dusting of cocoa powder on all sides. Today I am trying layer cake pans instead, which I imagine will be much easier to prepare.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 F
3. Dry ingredients: Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk it together then put it in the mixer with the paddle attachment. You can sift the ingredients as you add them, especially if your cocoa is lumpy, but you could also just chuck it all in and it will still taste great.
4. Wet ingredients: In another bowl (or large Pyrex measuring cup), combine the buttermilk, eggs, oil, vanilla, and hot water. I would recommend whisking together everything except the hot water first then pouring in the hot water slowly as you mix in order to avoid cooking your eggs. Don’t worry if it still seems a bit lumpy - it can look awful and still taste great at the end.
5. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Pour the batter into your prepared pan(s). Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes (might be a little shorter if making cupcakes), or until a toothpick inserted in the centre is mostly clean (though if you happen to hit those chocolate chips it can be hard to tell).
8. Let the cake cool for a while in the pan before flipping it onto a cooling rack or serving platter

As mentioned above, this is great sliced and served with a scoop of ice cream .. and some sprinkles if you are so inclined. But today I have assembled it into a layer cake with raspberry buttercream frosting. 

Birthday cake complete

Cake making in progress…