Chocolate Fudge Cake

By norsegal8

The molasses in the brown sugar gives this cake a distinctive and and pleasantly bitter edge. The texture is soft and light yet moist with good chocolate flavor impact and a lingering bittersweet aftertaste. The particular bittersweet chocolate flavor of this cake goes splendidly with Milk Chocolate Buttercream.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease 2 9-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment; grease the parchment, then dust the entire thing with flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, lightly combine the eggs, 1/4 of the cocoa mixture and the vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the remaining cocoa mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develop the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans will be about 1/2 full. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cakes should start to shrink away from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven.

Let the cakes cool in the pans on racks for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto greased wire racks. To prevent splitting, reinvert so that the tops are up and cool completely before wrapping airtight.