Magnolia Kitchen’s signature rich chocolate cake
You need to know that this is the BEST chocolate cake EVER — it is my signature recipe, and to date only my staff and my sister know it. It keeps everyone happy, even the ‘‘I don’t like chocolate cake’’ people out there (you know who you are). It is rich and chocolatey, but at the same time light in texture. It has served me well for so many years and was the first cake I sold for money way back when. I might even go so far as to say that the feedback on the deliciousness of this cake from that very first sale is what gave me the confidence to open Magnolia Kitchen. It will continue to serve me well for years to come, and now that I am sharing it with you guys I know it will serve you well, too.
Serves 18 | Makes 3 when decorated 18cm round layers Prep 20 | Baking 3040 | Chill 2 minutes minutes hours
365g plain flour
600g brown sugar
120g Dutch cocoa
15g baking soda
250g butter, at room temperature 1 tsp instant coffee (or 30g shot of espresso)
370g warm water
4 whole eggs
120g canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
260g buttermilk
Method
Heat your oven to 170degC. Prepare three 18cm cake tins with cooking spray or butter and line with baking paper.
Place the flour, sugar, cocoa and baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on low to combine.
Add the butter and mix on low until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
In a separate bowl, dissolve the instant coffee in the warm water (or just use the shot of espresso), add the eggs, oil and vanilla and mix together.
Add twothirds of the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on mediumhigh until thick and fluffy. Add the remaining wet ingredients and mix well until combined and the batter is smooth. Make sure you scrape down the bowl and then continue mixing, as the dry mixture can get stuck at the bottom and you really want a nice, smooth consistency.
Add the buttermilk and mix slowly to combine. There may be small chunks of buttermilk but don’t fret, this is normal. This batter is also wetter than the basic vanilla recipe, so don’t panic if it’s not thick.
Pour the mixture evenly into the prepared tins (use your scales to get them all the same), and bake for 3040 minutes until a skewer or knitting needle poked into the cakes comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tins for 510 minutes, then turn out on to cooling racks.
When the cakes are cool, wrap them in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight — this will make them easier to trim and ice.
This cake goes perfectly with every type of icing. If you are after something classic, go for dark chocolate ganache; if you want to balance the rich chocolate cake with something lighter, use vanilla bean swiss meringue buttercream. Note: Try out these flavour variations with my rich chocolate cake recipe.
Orange chocolate cake: Replace the vanilla extract in the wet ingredients with 1 teaspoon of orange oil.
Berry chocolate cake: Make the cake as per the recipe, then distribute 180g frozen berries evenly over the batter and bake as normal. If using larger berries such as strawberries or boysenberries, chop these up before adding to the batter.
Coconut chocolate cake: Add 150g desiccated coconut to the dry ingredients at the start.