the best chocolate cake of my life

A week ago, I made Samin’s chocolate cake.

That evening, when I cut slices for my husband and me, the cake was so fresh it was still warm, but just barely. I took one bite, and moaned. Another bite, and then in a hushed voice, sticky with fudgy chocolate, I said, “This is the best chocolate cake of my entire life.”

It was so soft, so incredibly tender, and so entirely and completely and irrevocably chocolate-y — the chocolatey-est of chocolate chocolate cakes.

Another bite, and I took my glasses off and hurled them across the room.

My husband gaped.

So then I had to explain to him about the trend where people eat something good and then throw their glasses. (I think it started here, but I only became aware of it when I started getting comments on my YouTube channel, such as:  “Thought you were going to throw your glasses against the wall there for a second.”)

After I got done crawling around on the floor in search of my glasses, I sat back down and finished the piece. The tender crumb and fudgy velvety frosting was better than any cake I’d ever eaten, but, despite my glass-throwing, it wasn’t perfect. Specifically, it was much too salty.

This was my fault. The frosting recipe called for unsalted butter and then a teaspoon of salt, but I’d used salted butter and the full amount of salt, oops. So I made notes for next time. 

Sunday afternoon, in the middle of the Giant Snowstorm That Wasn’t, I made the cake again, this time with my adaptations. 

It’s perfection. I double dog dare you to contradict me.

(Mother, I know you are skeptical of my newfound chocolate cake crush, and I know you are deeply attached to your favorite chocolate cake [which is very, very good], and I know I gave you a taste of the dried-out-and-too-salty first version so I can’t really blame you for having doubts, but I do think you oughta at least try this one so you can understand what I mean when I say it’s more tender-dense — because it is.)

P.S. Just make sure you take off your glasses before forking that first piece into your mouth. 

The Best Chocolate Cake of My Entire Life
Adapted from Samin Nosrat’s new cookbook, Good Things

Samin claims this is a one-bowl cake. It is not. Many dishes got soiled in the making of this cake but: no regrets. However, this entire recipe is measured in grams (minus the teaspoons), so no measuring cups are needed, simplifying things dramatically. 

Samin says to use Dutch process cocoa powder. I used what I had in my cupboard.

The frosting is wildly delicious. It’s official name (if searching for it in the recipe index) is Sour Cream Fudge Frosting.

This cake is best eaten as soon as it cools, or within 24 hours. If you can’t manage that, then freeze the cake layers. OR! Horizontally halve the layers to more evenly distribute the luscious frosting. Thisaway, if the cake gets a little dry, it’ll never even cross your mind.

for the cake:
236 grams flour
75 grams cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1¾ teaspoon salt
150 grams brown sugar
150 grams white sugar
2 eggs
180 grams sour cream
110 grams oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
240 grams hot coffee

Sift the first 4 ingredients. Add the sugars and salt and stir. 

In a separate bowl (see? I told you!), whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla.

Add the sour cream mix to the dry ingredients and whisk just a little. Add the hot coffee and whisk vigorously until super velvety. 

Divide the batter between 2 greased and parchment-lined cake pans — about 625 grams batter per pan. 

Bake at 350 for 25-ish minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges and inverting onto a cooling rack. Cool completely and then ice.

for the frosting
If using unsalted butter, increase the salt to ¾ teaspoon — and then add more as needed, to taste.

228 grams salted butter
114 grams chocolate chips
240 grams powdered sugar
68 grams cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
320 grams sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

Melt the butter and chocolate chips in a double boiler. Cool to room temp.

Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Add the salt and then whisk in the melted chocolate and butter. Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla. It will look like ganache at first, but within minutes, it will set up into a spreadable frosting.

This same time, years previous: one drunk pig, banoffee pie, eight fun things, launching, the quotidian (1.27.20), butter dumplings, vindication, omeletty egg bake, crispy pan pizzas, sour cream and berry baked oatmeal, about a picture, swimming in the sunshine.