Author Notes: Knowing my love for chocolate, my friend Hilary made me a version of this cake for my birthday one year. The recipe was inspired by something similar she had tasted in a restaurant during college. I’ve since made adaptations to her recipe and often take this to friends for special occasions. In the past I’ve added frosting or glazes, but have come to like it best with just powdered sugar on top. —Kelsey Banfield
Food52 Review: If Betty Crocker had a sophisticated, seductive cousin, this would be her signature cake: it’s pure deep, dark, fudgy goodness. Because KelseyTheNaptimeChef’s cake uses oil instead of butter, plus a fair amount of coffee, it emerges from the oven incredibly tender and moist. In fact, we noted that it has a texture similar to that of a British steamed pudding. The best part is that you can throw this together in 15 minutes, and it will be out of the oven in another 45 — making your total time to greatness about an hour. —The Editors
Serves: bundt cake
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients
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2
cups sugar
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1 3/4
cups all-purpose flour
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3/4
cup dutch process cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
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1/2
teaspoon salt
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1
teaspoon baking powder
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2
teaspoons baking soda
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1
cup sour milk
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1
cup freshly brewed strong black coffee
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1/2
cup vegetable oil
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2
eggs
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1
teaspoon vanilla
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a bundt pan and dust the inside with cocoa powder, set aside.
- Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a mixer on low add the milk, coffee, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla one at a time. mix until everything is incorporated. Then, with the mixer still on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Once all of the flour mixture is added, mix the batter for a full four minutes on medium speed.
- Then, pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Then, dust with powdered sugar and serve.
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Photo by Bobbi Lin
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Photo by James Ransom
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Yet another recipe contemplation…
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Only organic milk in Amanda's house! This brand is quite good.
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Amanda coats the inside of a tube pan (our bundt pan was in use) with butter and an even coating of cocoa powder.
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Getting the ingredients all laid out — they go into the mixer in quick succession.
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Amanda digs in the cupboard for something we've forgotten (not unusual).
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Adding the dry ingredients a little at a time.
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Once all of the ingredients are incorporated, you beat the cake for 4 full minutes. This gives the cake its unique, dense texture.
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While the batter mixes, we survey the dish situation. Not too bad for this late in the day!
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Pouring batter is fun!
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It looks so dark and mysterious once it's in the pan.
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And even more so when it comes out of the oven.
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Here we pause, mid-cake extraction, for Amanda to tell a shockingly funny story about her childhood. What happens at food52 stays at food52.
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Removing a cake from a tube pan can sometimes be a three-person job.
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Thanks to Amanda's excellent method, the cake slips right off the tube. Et voila!
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