Wooden Spoon Chocolate Cake

If you enjoy chocolate and cake, this is the cake recipe for you. Seriously, this is the moistest, richest, fluffiest chocolate cake recipe ever and then I top it with a ganache frosting to push it to the chocolate limit. And you don't need a fancy mixer for this recipe, just a wooden spoon.


CHOCOLATE CAKE INGREDIENTS [makes 12" x 8" sheet cake]:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons cocoa - I prefer the dark chocolate kind
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and then mixing together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Next, it's time to prep the chocolate part of the cake. Put the butter and water in a small saucepan and put it over high heat. When it's melted and starts to bubble, add in the cocoa powder. Stir vigorously, with a wooden spoon, until it's smooth and combined and remove from the heat to cool. There should be a slight sheen from the fatty butter.

While the cocoa mixture cools, mix together the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. I cheated and used a fork to mix this in order to break up the yolk. Set aside for a minute and don't worry if it looks curdled. That's probably just the buttermilk reacting to the alcohol in the vanilla extract.

Add the brown sugar to the cocoa mix to cool it down even more and stir until the ingredients are fully combined. The residual heat should help dissolve all of the sugar. Then add the cocoa mixture to the large bowl with the dry ingredients in it. Stir until it's thick and gooey and smooth then add in the buttermilk mixture. Give the batter a final stir. It should have the consistency of melted ice cream.

I decided to use a disposable pan to bake my cakes. I love these sheet cake pans because they're portable, have nifty little lids, and though they are reusable, if you are lazy (like I can be sometimes) then you can just toss them once the cake has been devoured.

I use the wrapper from the butter to just lightly grease the cake pan. It's not really necessary to grease the pan but I like to give myself a little insurance to make sure the cake doesn't stick.

Pour the batter into the pan and give it a little shake to get rid of any large air bubbles and to make sure the batter is spread evenly in the pan.

Place in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and batter-free. I put my disposable sheet pan into my non-disposable one, just to give it some stability.

While the cake is left to cool a bit, you can assemble the frosting.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE FROSTING INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup milk
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter

Heat up the milk in a saucepan just until it's scalding. Babysit that pan because when milk boils, it makes a HUGE mess. Put half the chocolate chips (which is 1/2 cup) in a bowl and then pour the milk over the chips. Whisk until the chocolate dissolves. At this point, you've essentially made yourself a bowl of hot cocoa.

Next, while the mixture is still hot, add in the butter and whisk until it melts. Then add in the powdered sugar and stir. Return the mixture to the saucepan (the same one the milk was warmed in) and place over a low heat and whisk. I like doing this to make sure that the powdered sugar completely dissolves and there are no lumps. The mixture will start violently bubbling, because of the milk, and that's when you can take it off the stove.

Return the mixture to the bowl and add in the rest of the chocolate chips. Whisk until the chocolate dissolves. The ganache should be ooey gooey. If you stick a finger in there (but be careful because it's still warm) it should coat your finger like honey.

Pour the ganache over the cake. It's fine if the cake isn't completely cooled because the ganache will still be warm. You have to frost the cake while the ganache is warm because once it's cooled, it'll set up. Spread the ganache over the whole cake using a butter knife or an offset spatula. Put the cake in the refrigerator for at least an hour so the ganache can set up.

Slice into the cake using a sharp knife that's been dipped in hot water and wiped dry. This will help make a smooth cut into the ganache.

Serve with a large glass of milk and enjoy.