Chocolate overload!

Last night we had dinner with friends. I asked what I could bring over and the response was dessert! I was going to make an apple pie but I got a request for something chocolatey and so I decided to flip through some of my cookooks that I haven't used in awhile for inspiration.

I came upon a recipe for "Beatty's Chocolate Cake" from my Barefood Contessa at Home cookbook. It definitely fit the chocolatey bill! I decided to make the cake but not the frosting recipe that goes along with it because it called for an uncooked egg yolk. Something about that just didn't seem right. I searched on allrecipes.com and found an easy recipe for Mocha Frosting on there. The recipe for that will appear as written, I, however, found the original recipe's frosting was a bit too thin for my taste and so I added more confectioner's sugar to achieve the consistency I wanted. I garnished the cake with mini-chocolate chips, just to up the chocolate factor a tad.

But, long story short, this cake was tasty, rich, and just really great and really easy too! The addition of coffee to the cake, and obviously the frosting (duh! That's why it's "mocha") were a great combination. I think it was a hit with our friends Matt & Alexis! My friend Melanie was over today and I gave her a piece and she loved it too.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake

(from Barefoot Contess at Home)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans*

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup good cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used regular 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 over to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans. (*I skippted this process and just used "PAM" for baking and sprayed that generously on my cake pans - they came out perfectly)

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, andsalt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With the mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pans for 30 minutes, then turn them onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place one 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 eveny on the top and sides of the cake.

Mocha Frosting

(from AllRecipes.com)

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup strong, hot, brewed coffee
3 cups confectioners' sugar*
1/3 cup melted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Combine coffee and cocoa in small bowl of electric mixer. Beat until blended. Add sugar, butter or margarine, salt, and vanilla. Beat until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat icing until it has a spreading consistency. Frost the cake. (*I added at least a 1/2 cup more confectioner's sugar to achieve a thicker consistency)