My bookshelves are filled with cookbooks. Many sit around collecting dust while a select few are filled with pages that are sticky and splattered. Simple Cakes is the latter. This Chocolatey Chocolate Cake was the first cake I baked from Odette’s book and has become my standard. A few weeks later I baked the Very Vanilla Cake topped with a decadent Mascarpone Buttercream (yes, it’s as dreamy as it sounds). And from there I decided I would work my way through Odette’s entire collection, picking a cake for every occasion and non-occasions too… My family takes cake very seriously and no celebration is too small for the joy of delicious cake in our home!
Simple Cakes offers “ten base cakes, fifteen toppings, and endless decoration ideas that can be combined in a multitude of suggested ways to make every moment feel like a celebration.” I absolutely love how this book is written and have spent more time than I would like to admit dreaming up different combinations.
This recipe can be found on Odette’s website here but I can’t recommend her book highly enough. Here the cake is photographed with her silky marshmallow frosting. This cake happened to be my birthday cake this year and it transported me back to my childhood.
Odette Williams Chocolatey Chocolate Cake
Description
My bookshelves are filled with cookbooks. Many sit around collecting dust while a select few are filled with pages that are sticky and splattered. Simple Cakes is the latter. This Chocolatey Chocolate Cake was the first cake I baked from Odette’s book and has become my standard. A few weeks later I baked the Very Vanilla Cake topped with a decadent Mascarpone Buttercream (yes, it’s as dreamy as it sounds). And from there I decided I would work my way through Odette’s entire collection, picking a cake for every occasion and non-occasions too… My family takes cake very seriously and no celebration is too small for the joy of delicious cake in our home!
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups (225g) all- purpose flour
1⁄2 cup (45g) unsweetened Dutch- processed cocoa powder
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 1⁄2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
1⁄2 cup (120ml) grapeseed oil or any mild- flavored oil (I use avocado oil)
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (240ml) boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10 by 3- inch round pan with butter, line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper, and grease the paper. (I’ll let you just grease, line the bottom of the pan, and lightly flour the sides if you’re feeling lazy.)
- Place a large sifter or a sieve in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and sift.
- Add the sugar and whisk until combined.
- In another large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla together.Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until there are no lumps and the batter is smooth.
- Carefully pour in the boiling water and stir until combined. (Watch the little ones with the hot water!)Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the center of the oven for approximately 50 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, and the cake bounces back when lightly pressed.
- Remove from the oven and let the cake stand for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife around the cake to gently release. Peel off the parchment paper from the sides. Invert the cake, peel off the bottom piece of parchment, and cool on a wire rack.
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