SIMPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

This recipe is a special Valentine’s Day treat that I asked MaryJo to prepare since she is the best and only baker in the house.  While this technically is not a healthy meal, it is a necessary indulgence for this particular day.  MaryJo’s Simple Chocolate Cake…take it away MaryJo!

Tuesday (the 10th) was our wedding anniversary and since it’s so close to Valentine’s Day, Joe and I always celebrate both occasions on one day or the other. This year, I’ll be gone all day on the 14th, so we celebrated last night and went out for dinner with my two brothers and their wives.  We all came back to our house afterwards for a special but simple-to-make dessert of chocolate cake with a scoop of premium vanilla ice cream topped with Joe’s Raspberry Coulis.

I had planned to make a fabulous white chocolate cream cheese frosting to go on this, but Joe wanted something simpler.  So he made the raspberry sauce, and I made a favorite recipe of ours that is so easy but it produces a cake that is deliciously moist and fudgy. If you want a special treat for Valentine’s Day (or any day), skip the bakery or a box of cake mix and instead just get out a bowl, a wire whisk, and a few staple ingredients and you’ll be on your way to chocolate heaven.

Both my sugars were a little lumpy (Florida humidity, you know), so I sifted all of the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl.

I whisked the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl,

then combined them.

The batter is quite liquid and doesn’t look all that dark,

but, the oven magically turns that runny batter into something wonderful!

You have several choices of what size pan or pans to use with this recipe.  You can bake it in a 9″ X 13″, two 8″ or 9″ round or square cake pans, a single 9″ round cake pan that is 3″ deep (that’s what I used in these photos), or a single 10″ round or square pan.  I haven’t tried it in a regular size Bundt pan, but I have used my Bundt Duet pan successfully.  You can look for a pan here.  Which ever size you choose, you just need to adjust the baking time and expect a single pan to take longer to bake than two pans will require.

The cake is just sweet enough, the Raspberry Coulis is a little tangy, and the vanilla bean ice cream is smooth and silky.

Cover leftovers (if there are any!) and they will keep a couple of days at room temperature.

SIMPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Serve this versatile cake plain, with a dusting of sifted powder sugar, with fresh berries and a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream, alongside a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce, completely covered with a smooth ganache, or swirled with a luscious cream cheese frosting. Bake in two 8" or 9" round or square pans, or in one 9" X 13" pan.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 12 servings

Author: MaryJo

Ingredients

• 2 cups (400 grams) white granulated sugar (I use a mixture of white & light brown sugar)
• 2 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (60 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-processed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup water and/or coffee (I use half of each)
• 1 cup milk (I use whole milk)
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• Have all ingredients at room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 350°F and place oven rack in the center of the oven.
• Spray the pan with a non-stick vegetable spray then flour it, or line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray it.
• In a large bowl whisk or sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, water (and/or coffee), milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir or whisk until combined (the batter will be quite thin).
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, it springs back when you lightly tap the middle of the cake, and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Do not under-bake.
• Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan.
• Serve warm or at room temperature plain or with whatever toppings you like.
• Be sure to let the cake cool completely before frosting.