The Best Chocolate Cake You'll Ever Have
The Best Chocolate Cake You'll Ever Have
Seriously this chocolate cake is unreal. I’ll reference one of my favorite ladies again… Meryl Streep; specifically Meryl in “Its Complicated”.
Remember the scene when she makes this epic dinner for her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) with a rich, decadent, chocolatey, fudgey cake for dessert but then he never shows? And then she ended up eating it the next day after smoking a joint? Ha! It's literally the best movie of all time and I will probably reference it a lot because I just adore her.
BUT, the cake in “Its Complicated” and this cake have to be the same. It is really just that perfect chocolate cake. I get the recipe inspiration from one of my favorite publications, Food and Wine.
It's perfect for any occasion and your guests will leave forever in your debt because you blew their mind with this cake. Ok now I have to go make this cake- I just talked myself into it.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups of water
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I like to use the kind you actually need to melt. Not the powder.)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
Frosting:
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon bourbon
Pinch of salt
Set the oven to 350º degrees. Butter and flower two round 8in X 1 1/2 in cake pans.
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar with 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves; but don’t let it start to brown or caramelize.
Next, pour the sugar and water into a large bowl and add the chocolate and butter and let sit, stirring occasionally, until melted and slightly cooled. Whisk in the vanilla.
Beat the eggs into the chocolate mixture at medium speed until combined.
Add the dry ingredients all at once and beat at medium speed until combined and smooth. Try not to over mix. Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes. If you stick a skewer into the middle of the cake, it should come out clean. Also another indicator is checking the sides of the cake have slightly pulled away from the side of the pan.
Let the cake cool for at least 15 minutes before inverting onto a metal rack to finish cooling. Just to be safe I like to run a knife around the edges to make sure it pops out nice and easy!
Now for the Frosting!
In a medium saucepan, bring the cream and sugar to a boil. Allow for the sugar to melt into the cream, 5 minutes or so.
Then put the hot milk and sugar into a large glass or metal bowl and add the chocolate, butter, vanilla and bourbon. Stir around until the butter and chocolate have melted.
Place the bowl into a large bowl that is filled with ice to help bring down the temperature of the frosting.
Using a hand blender, whisk the mixture together on high for 6-8 minutes until its glossy and silky and GORGEOUS!
This frosting goes on so smooth and beautifully. Your guests are going to absolutely love it!
With love + salt and a little Meryl Streep.
