Beatty's Chocolate Cake

**Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (you can just use instant; coffee brings out the flavor of the chocolate without making it taste like coffee)

Directions

Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans, or three 8 inch. (when i made this the first time, i used two 8 inch and it was a disaster...it overflowed all over the oven). Ina recommends using parchment in the bottom and then greasing, but I was too lazy to do that. Just greasing and flouring worked fine for me.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up (or flat if you want), and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting:

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (Ina recommends Callebaut, i used ghirardelli)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder (I didn't use coffee in mine)

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

***I decorated my cake with glazed whole strawberries and chocolate shavings. In a saucepan, combine 1/4 cup apricot jam and 1 Tbsp water. Simmer. Use a pastry brush (cooking paint brush) and paint the strawberries before placing them on the cake. I shaved part of the ghirardelli bar with a peeler and sprinkled in the center. This makes the cake look so much prettier and its super easy.

Happy Mother's Day!