| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 10 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), plus more for the pan
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour, plus more for the pan
- 1/2 cup good-quality cocoa powder, such as Valrhona or Droste
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups ice water
Instructions
- Serving suggestion: Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve with milk
- Arrange a rack in the upper 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Butter and flour a bundt pan or tube pan. (You can use a mixture of cocoa powder and flour instead of flour, to prevent white spots on the cake.)
- In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar. One at a time, mix in the eggs, then the vanilla, occasionally scraping down the mixing bowl.
- Meanwhile, in another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture; then 1/3 of the ice water. Repeat, mixing after each addition. Transfer the batter to the pan and bake until springy and dry, about 40 to 45 minutes.
- Let cool in the pan on a rack, then carefully turn the cake out. Just before serving, sift confectioners’ sugar over the top. Serve with very cold milk!
- Notes about the recipe: When I developed this recipe I was just looking for a good, reliable dark cocoa cake that could sit on the counter over the weekend and be enjoyed in slivers, craving by craving. This cake is really moist and keeps for days. I just finished one that’s been hanging around the kitchen for 6 days! You could frost it with creamy white icing but it hardly needs it. My friend Lana’s mom June was one of the best cooks I knew as a kid in the ’60s and she did a cake by the same name, though the recipe handed down to me from her daughter is a bit different.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 327 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Carbohydrates | 51 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 29 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Cholesterol | 57 mg |
| Sodium | 245 mg |
Reviews
Winner. I mixed a little of the flour with a half cup of mini chocolate chips and folded them in at the end.
Great
It want very light or fluffy but still tasty
Over all it was delicious! It was a very easy recipe to follow and came out beautifully! It’s moist chocolate inside pears beautifully with the crispy crunchy outside! Everyone absolutely loved it and I would definitely recommend it!
The cake is great, I did it at least 3 times because my husband loves it. However I always struggle removing my cake off the tin 🙁
I was so tired, I didn’t read “cake flour” and used AP flour. So, I had to babysit that cake in the oven for about an hour and 20 mins (checking it every 10 mins after the first 40 min bake time. The toothpick finally came out clean so I let it cool completely and drizzled a chocolate glaze on it. Parts of the bottom of the cake were dry/crumbly ish but not bad! Overall, considering prolonged baking time, it was still moist and delicious. It didn’t NEED the glaze but was still good. This is a really good, simple moist cake. I like that there isn’t a lot of sugar in it compared to a chocolate pound cake. Good for any reason!
I just had a piece of the Chocolate cake I made 12/24/17. I must say I was impressed with the overall outcome. I followed the recipe too the T. Since I have a sweet tooth, I believe I could use A bit more sugar. If I hadn’t put Chocolate glaze on top, the Droste Cocoa seem to be a bit overwhelming making the cake not as sweet. The texture was nice also. It’s a keeper in my household with just a little modification on my behalf. I enjoyed making the cake and thanks for sharing.
I just made this cake as my first baking experience. I followed the instructions to the T and turned out amazing. My wife and daughter just loved it. It’s very light and fluffy. The only substitute I made was to add 2 table spoon of corn starch per cup of all purpose flour because I didn’t have baking flour. I give it 5 star. Thanks for great recipe.
I thought this was one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever made. I also used cold coffee instead of water and I appreciated that it wasn’t too sweet. My only slightly negative comment is that the cake was a bit crumbly. I have 3 grown up boys and it disappeared quickly. They ate it with ice cream and/or whipped cream, or just out of hand. This will be my go to chocolate cake from now on.
Made this, twice. The 1st time I used Dutch processed cocoa powder, so I left out the baking soda & salt & substituted the proper amount of baking powder. I figured the texture & taste would be the same. But, I must have miscounted the sugar because the cake was sweet like candy and really had no cocoa flavor.
So, I threw it out and made it again, this time using natural cocoa powder & baking soda & salt. The 2nd time, I used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, but the texture was just fine and the taste was much better with the cocoa flavor adequately prominent. The daughter who had eaten a piece of the 1st cake (one of my test subjects!) said the 2nd cake tasted MUCH better, but she still liked the 1st one.
I had used a silicon Bundt pan for the 1st cake and, even tho I had done all the steps to prevent sticking (per multiple web sites – grease & sugar the pan immediately before filling with batter, and loosening the pan after the cake was fully cooled), but it still stuck. The 2nd cake was baked in a brand new non-stick $8.00 pan using the same precautions, and it came out perfectly.
This cake is a winner! I just have to try it again using the right sugar amount and a combination of Dutched and black cocoa powder to see if it really knocks off my sox!