Stuff-Your-Face Chocolate Cake

Have you ever read my all time favourite book, Matilda?  Or watched the movie? (It’s directed by Danny DeVito – and one of my most un-guilty pleasures.)

Do you remember the scene where one of Matilda’s classmates snuck into the Trunchbull’s office and ate her chocolate cake, and then she made him sit down in front of an assembly and eat the entire cake?  

That moist, gooey, irresistible, makes-me-almost-wish-I-were-Bruce-Bogtrotter death-by-chocolate cake?  

This is that cake.  

Imagine me as Bruce Bogtrotter, with this baby slabbed on my grimey hand.  

I know, it’s not the prettiest cake in the world.  Its rounded top would make any pastry chef shudder – but I couldn’t afford to slice off any bit of deliciousness.  Don’t judge it. Its gooey-ness will certainly make up for its less-than-perfect attributes.

I made it as a birthday cake, took one bite, and holy smokes, I’m eating the Trunch’s cake.  It is that good.  

Stuff-Your-Face Chocolate Cake – adapted from Ina Garten

• 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

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. 

In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry one third at a time, and continue beating.  Add the coffee.  Scrape down sides of the bowl with a 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, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

 Chocolate Buttercream

• 6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Callebaut)
• 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 (or 2 tablespoons of freshly brewed coffee)

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.

Using an electric mixer, 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 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.