Fudgey Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake cures pretty much everything --- whether you've had a long day a work, or a long day with the kids....or both!  It's rich, creamy, moist and the espresso brings out the chocolate flavor even MORE.  And it's all topped off with the MOST divine fluffy buttercream frosting EVER.

This cake is riffed from one of my favorite dessert blog Sweet and Simple Kitchen.

 

Buttermilk Chocolate Almond Cake

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Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 eggs, room temp
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
  • 1 cup hot coffee
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 2 cups all purpose flour 3/4 cup almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Chocolate Fudge Frosting
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp espresso powder
  • 1 tbsp heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 6 oz dark chocolate, melted (you can also use bittersweet sweet chocolate, if you like a more mellow chocolate flavor)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3 8 inch round cake pans with butter and dust with cocoa powder. Set them aside.
  • In a small mixing bowl, combine fresh coffee and cocoa powder. Whisk together until the cocoa powder is completely combined, and there aren't any bits of powder floating around in the coffee. Once that's done, whisk in the buttermilk and set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer combine butter and both sugars. Cream together, on medium high setting until butter and sugars until pale and fluffy – about 5 minutes. The butter will become lighter in color -- that's when you know the mixture is good to go! Add in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Mix in vanilla and almond extract, and beat until smooth and fluffy.
  • In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until combined. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to your batter and mix on low until batter comes together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then add in half of the coffee mixture and continue to mix on low until it starts coming together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining half of the coffee mixture. Add the final 1/3 of the flour and mix on low until batter is smooth and there are no lumps. Don't over mix. As soon as the batter is smooth and there aren't lumps, stop mixing!
  • Distribute batter evenly among the prepared cake pans.
  • Bake in preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back to the touch.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pans for 20 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack and allowing to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

  • Finely chop the dark chocolate and place in a medium sized heat proof bowl. Melt in your microwave in 30 second intervals. This usually takes about 1 minute for me, so keep checking your microwave. Stir gently with a spatula until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature – at least 20 minutes. This is REALLY important!! If the chocolate is too hot, you'll melt the frosting.
  • Once your chocolate is cooled, continue with frosting. Start by beating the softened butter in a large bowl for 3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. Beat until creamy – about 2 minutes. Add in melted chocolate and beat until combined.

TO ASSEMBLE:

  • Put one cake layer, top down, on a cake plate. Scoop out 1/3 of the frosting, and with an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the cake. You can also use a knife for this, if you don't have an offset spatula. Place the 2nd cake layer on top of the first (again, place it top down -- that way you have a lovely flat top!) top it with 1/3 of the frosting and evenly spread the frosting across the top. Place the final cake layer, top down, on top. With the remaining frosting, frost the top and sides of the cake.

EXTRAS:

  • You can gently pressed sliced almonds into the cake. Or sprinkle colored sugar over the top. For an extra festive look, place edible flowers on top. Or, just leave as is!

Notes

Recipe from The Sweet and Simple Kitchen
Have you made this recipe?I'd love to know! Leave a comment or recipe rating and tag me @amenuforyou on social media!

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