| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | two 9-inch layer cakes |
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon red gel food coloring
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bottom and sides of two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Whisk the cocoa powder and hot water in a small bowl until smooth; let cool. Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat the oil, sugar, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar in a large bowl. Whisk in the cocoa mixture until smooth, then whisk in the flour mixture. Divide the batter between the pans.
- Bake the cakes until the centers spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 15 minutes in the pans. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn out the cakes onto the rack; remove the parchment and let cool completely.