My friend needs some chocolate cake recipes, so i am posting my favorite here. This recipe is from the Confetti Cakes Cookbook by Elisa Strauss. You can get this book at Amazon: The Confetti Cakes Cookbook: Spectacular Cookies, Cakes, and Cupcakes from New York City's Famed Bakery
This is one of the only recipes I have ever used without having to change it! Its really that good! All the recipes in her book are great, so I highly recommend it. I don' t have time today to actually make the cake today because my life is full of crazy right now, but I've used it many many times- its the one I use for both my black forest cupcakes and my butterfinger cupcakes. Believe me, this cake is incredible. Its moist while also having a rich, deep chocolate flavor: its very often hard to find a moist deep chocolate cake. This recipe makes a 13X18 sheet cake, 24 cupcakes or (3) 9 inch round cakes. Ingredients:
2 and 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 and 1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup unsalted butter- room temp
2 cups sugar ( i really like the dixie crystal super fine sugar for this)
2 eggs
1 and 1/4 cup STRONG coffee. (in a pinch you can use Starbucks VIA for this)
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare cake pans or line cupcake pan with liners.
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder and salt in a large bowl. Set it aside.
In another bowl combine sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract. Stir together and set aside.
Mix butter, and sugar on medium speed until smooth. Set mixer to medium and add eggs one at a time,scraping thoroughly between each addition.
Alternately add the flour and sour cream mixture to the butter mixture in 2 batches. Start and end with flour mixture. Scrape bowl after each addition.
Gradually stir in coffee. Scrape bowl and beat until thoroughly combined.
Divide batter into pans.
Cooking times:
(3) round pans: bake 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.
Sheet pan: 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cupcakes: 20-25 minutes or until cupcakes "spring back" when touched.
Allow cakes to cool 20 minutes, then remove from pan.
