Better-Than-Boxed Chocolate Cake for the Sweetest Man

“This chocolate cake is completely delicious, and not the least formal, which I’ve learned, from the staunchly loyal, old-fashioned cake lovers in my family, is a very good thing.”  Sarah Copeland in The Newlywed Cookbook.

When my friend Sarah Copeland, author of the wonderful blog Edible Living, told me that she was writing a cookbook, I made room on my kitchen shelf right away. Sarah’s many readers and fans know that her food and spirit are one and the same: generous, vibrant, and inviting, and I welcomed the opportunity to bring Sarah’s words and ideas ‘into my kitchen’. Then I found out that her book is The Newlywed Cookbook: Fresh Ideas & Modern Recipes for Cooking With & For Each Other , and I paused.

Newlyweds?

 Well. With 26 wedding anniversaries behind me and another coming this summer, my bride-days are a distant memory (True, a few of my readers out there are still awaiting that thank-you note for long-cherished wedding presents I’ve been fixing to write; but that doesn’t mean I’m still a bride). But of course I do need this book, and love it, too. Sarah’s concept is a welcoming one; this book is celebration of cooking for love, and with love, and all the “oldie-weds” like me fit right in just fine.

Cooking for and with my husband has been both pleasure and pastime for us since we first met. That has never changed, even as we welcomed children to our little family, went from apartment to house, and moved around, from New York City to Southern California and eventually to North Carolina, my home state, where we’ve lived for the past twelve years. Sarah’s book not only offers up an abundance of recipes for multiple occasions and plain-to-fancy menus — it’s a guide to truly cooking with love: considering where our food comes from, how it’s grown, and what I can do in my kitchen, garden, and food community, to treat Mother Earth right.

The Newlywed Cookbook: Not just for newlyweds! 

When Sarah invited me to join her circle of food bloggers celebrating her lovely book with a Valentine’s Blog Tour, I was thrilled; and when I got the Better Than Boxed Chocolate Cake to make, I did a happy dance. Cakes are my favorite, chocolate is an essential food group at our house, and I knew my sweetheart would adore it, no problem.

For an illustrated play-by-play of the cake I baked using Sarah’s recipe, scroll down past Sarah’s recipe, and you can  follow along.*

You will love this book: Not only is it an abundance of fine recipes, it contains Sarah’s you-can-do-this advice on gardening, menus for celebrations, and gorgeous photographs that inspire and delight me beyond words.

 The Newlywed Cookbook ‘s Better-Than-Boxed Chocolate Cake

From the book:

{not just for birthdays} This cake is completely delicious, and not the least formal, which I’ve learned, from the staunchly loyal, old-fashioned cake lovers in my family, is a very good thing. It is filled with the love of my mother whose chocolate cake was never, ever remiss at a birthday or milestone even if it meant staying up past midnight while the rest of us slept. Her chocolate cake has flown miles and ridden over mountains in the backseat of a car to make it to our most special meals or occasions just in time, and it even made it on the menu at our wedding. And it’s kept my dad never far from her side for over forty years. 

For the ones you love, you won’t mind putting in the extra effort to make them a cake from scratch, especially when it’s almost as easy as cake from a box. This one is based on ingredients from your pantry and comes together all in one bowl. And when you taste its luscious textures, you may just swear off your old mix for good.  The rich, silky, buttery chocolate icing is what really takes this over the top and makes it just the thing to make your chocolate cake legendary.

This recipe comes from The Newlywed Cookbook: Fresh Ideas & Modern Recipes for Cooking With & For Each Other by Sarah Copeland. (Chronicle Books) Copyright: 2012. All rights reserved.

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*Here’s my Better Than Boxed Chocolate Cake.

I loved making it, and will do so again. It’s a wonderful cake, perfect for Valentine’s Day, but too good to save for just one day a year. Let me know if you make it, and also let me know what particular cakes make the celebration calendar around your house.

Here is what our friends in the ‘reality’ television business call “The Reveal”, and as you will see, this cake was a delightful surprise. I presented him with two big slices in a to-go pack, for consumption in his hotel room along with room service’s finest red wine or cold milk. Because this cake is wonderful rich and luscious, it will be perfectly lovely tonight when he gets home on the late side. I could probably have left it out and covered, but due to its popularity with our beloved progeny, I thought it best to wrap up a nice big slab and freeze it in an unlabeled package, under the peaches, brunswick stew, and country sausage. Next time, I may ask him to make this chocolate cake for me. With my help, of course.

Check out these other cake recipes:

Persimmon Upside-Down Cake

Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake

Nancie’s Shenandoah Valley Blueberry Cake

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The Newlywed Cookbook's Better-Than-Boxed Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake is completely delicious, and not the least formal, which I’ve learned, from the staunchly loyal, old-fashioned cake lovers in my family, is a very good thing.

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Ingredients

Cake

• 3 cups/ 385 g all-purpose/plain flour
• 2 2/3 cups/530 g granulated sugar
• 1 cup/100 g cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 3/4 cups/420 ml warm water
• 1 cup/ 240 ml vegetable or grapeseed oil
• 4 tbsp/ 55 g melted butter, plus more for the pans
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups/340 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 tbsp/45 ml agave nectar or honey
• 1/2 cup/50 g confectioners’/icing sugar
• 1 1/4 cup/120 g cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup/60 ml warm water
• 1/4 cup/60 ml cold heavy/double cream

Instructions

Make the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180˚C/gas 4. Lightly butter two 9-inch/23-cm round cake pan/tins. Line with parchment/baking paper. Butter the parchment/baking paper. Dust the inside of both pans with cocoa powder and knock against the side of the counter to settle a thin dusting of cocoa inside the pans; discard any extra cocoa.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda/bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer.
3. Add 1 cup/240 ml of the warm water, the oil, and melted butter and mix on medium speed until combined. Stop the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure all the ingredients are fully incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between additions to incorporate and aerate the batter, which gives the cake a more even crumb. Add the remaining 3/4 cup/180 ml warm water and vanilla and beat until smooth and aerated, about 2 minutes. The batter will look loose and watery, about the consistency of heavy cream or hot fudge.
4. Divide evenly between the prepared pans and tap lightly on the counter to smooth the top. Bake until the cakes are evenly domed and spring back lightly when touched, about 40 minutes. Test the cakes with a toothpick inserted into the centers; if it comes out clean your cakes are done.
5. Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool on a wire rack until they are just warm to the touch, about 15 minutes. The cakes will pull away from the sides of the pans slightly as they cool. Flip the pans to unmold the cakes onto a rack to cool completely, 1 hour.

Make the frosting

1. Before you begin, check to make sure the butter is room temperature, just soft enough to press easily with your finger. Beat together the butter, agave, confectioners’/icing sugar, cocoa powder, and warm water with a stand mixer until light and creamy and evenly combined, about 2 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides and make sure all the butter is fully combined. Add the cool cream and beat on medium-high until fluffy and creamy.
2. When the cakes are completely cooled, slice off the dome from one of the layers with a serrated knife so that you can stack the layers easily. Lay the trimmed cake layer on a cake stand or serving platter, trimmed-side up. Tear four sheets of parchment/baking paper or wax/greaseproof paper into long strips and tuck under the edges of the cake around all the sides {this will help to keep your serving platter clean as you frost}. Scoop about one-third of the frosting onto the top of the cake. Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread the frosting evenly over the top of the cake and around the sides. Cover with the second cake layer, domed-side up, and press down slightly to flatten. Look down at the cake and slide the top cake layer until it lines up perfectly with the bottom layer. Add another one-third of the frosting to the top and spread evenly over the top. Spread the remaining one-third of the icing around the sides of the cake to create a smooth, even layer.
3. Make careless swirls of icing all over the top of the cake using the back of a large spoon. Serve immediately or store in a cool place until ready to serve.
4. If you plan to make ahead and refrigerate, note that the icing will set up in the fridge and will sweat slightly when it comes out. Remove from the fridge about 1 hour before serving to restore the frosting to its luscious, creamy state.

Notes

If you want a deep, dark chocolate flavor, use Dutch-process cocoa. For an old-fashioned-quality cake, use natural cocoa.