Dark Chocolate Cake

Preperation time
15 m
Skills level

Serving size
8
Country of origin

Preparation time: 15 m
Cooking time: 35 m
Ready in: 1h 0 m
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cup cake flour
  • 1/2 cup Hershey's Cocoa - Special Dark Chocolate
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher salt - fine
  • 1 cup freshly brewed strong coffee
  • 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate chips
  • few tablespoons all purpose flour for the pan
    • N/A
Recipe Type:
Course:

What’s more delicious than coffee and chocolate? Coffee and chocolate together. Coffee will enhance the taste of the chocolate in this cake. This cake is very simple to make. You can add any kind of chocolate icing or just a little powdered sugar to each slice as it is served. The best way to keep it fresh is in an air tight container. I add olive oil, but you can omit it and add vegetable oil if that is what you have. This is an interesting twist on a chocolate cake, some unexpected combinations, but delicious and light. My daughter LOVES it!

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 10-inch round pan and lightly dust with flour.

In a large bowl, mix together your dry ingredients: cake flour, dark chocolate cocoa, baking soda, and fine kosher salt. Set that aside. Be sure to spoon in flour/cocoa and level.

In the stand mixer with paddle attachment add:  white sugar, olive oil, vanilla, and balsamic vinegar.  Mix for 2 minutes. Then add in flour mixture and mix until smooth. Last add, 1 cup of freshly brewed strong coffee. Optional, To give the cake some texture add chocolate chips – dark chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the 10 inch round, and place in middle of oven. Let it bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry, oven temperatures can vary.

Let it cool on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. I like to serve this with a little powdered sugar. Simple and delicious! Or you may ice with a homemade or store-bought icing.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
I have made this recipe but doubled it and made 24 cupcakes. The oven temperature is the same, but cooking time is roughly 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or the top of the muffin has a little spring to it. Also, use a brightly colored foil cupcake holder which will hold up great and has a nice bold color.
Cupcakes

Valentine's Day cake

This was a double layer cake I made. In the center I put a marshmallow icing.

I heated about 15 medium sized marshmallows in a pot, and I put the pot inside a larger pot filled with boiling water. I added about 3 tablespoons of butter, and stirred the marshmallows until they melted. Then, once slightly cooled, I added the marshmallow filling between the two cake layers. You can use a double boiler as well.  A little trick is to heat up each slice for a few seconds in the microwave so the marshmallow icing melts and oozes over the sides of the cake.