I try to keep things simple in my kitchen and on this blog. You won’t find a lot of complicated, time-consuming recipes here. Sure, I get overly ambitious from time to time, but I generally like to keep things a bit more approachable and attainable.
I actually resisted making this cake for a while. It seemed almost too simple. I mean, it’s a no-frills chocolate cake. I’m as much of a fan of chocolate as anyone, but most of the time I prefer it with just a little extra interest.
Then, today I decided I would finally make this cake. It is not “just” chocolate. The simplicity of it is also the beauty of it. It’s much like what cake mixes wish they could produce.
Every dessert has its place. This is not necessarily a cake to make if you want to wow a crowd. But, it’s a great cake to whip up when you want to revel in a bit of pure chocolate goodness.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 & 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 & 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 & 1/3 cups water
- confectioners sugar, for dusting
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9-inch round (2 inches deep) cake pan. Dust with flour and knock out excess.
Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture in batches, alternating with water. Begin and end with flour. Mix just until combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 55-60 minutes, until cake is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for an hour. Invert onto rack, then onto serving plate. Dust with confectioners sugar before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Gourmet.
January 5th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Yummm sometimes the simplest things are the best, this looks awesome!
January 6th, 2012 at 5:21 am
I’ve been looking for a simple chocolate cake to break in a couple of new pans. I think this is the one! Thanks…
January 6th, 2012 at 9:04 am
This sounds lovely! I adore simple cakes like this. Perfect!
January 6th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Sounds great! I am craving chocolate and was going back-and-forth between making a Texas sheet cake and a pudding cake, but now this sounds even better.
January 6th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Perfect for those nights when my husband jokes, “And where’s my chocolate cake?” What an awesome surprise this would be.
January 7th, 2012 at 7:48 am
the best things are simple.This cake looks like those heavenly group of cakes I eat.
January 7th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
a plain cocoa cake sometimes is better than over decorated and full of different ingredients cake, simple is better and the cake looks simple and delicious
January 8th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
This maybe simple but it’s absolutely killer !!
January 9th, 2012 at 11:58 am
Love this recipe and the pictures. The cake looks amazing, and I like that it´s not complicated to make. Thanks for sharing.
January 9th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Simple and chocolate can’t get much better than that.
January 10th, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Amazing cake. I love chocolate so much.
February 9th, 2012 at 5:04 am
This looks so good. I was going through the recipe but can’t seem to figure out where the water comes into it. Am I missing something?
February 9th, 2012 at 10:39 am
TiKi, it’s in the 4th step. It’s added alternating with the dry ingredients.