Recipe: Tasty No-Fail Chocolate Cake

This is my go-to recipe for cake. It is tender, moist, delicious, and very easy to make. No breaking eggs or sifting anything. I have been making it for seven years; I even used this recipe and made cupcakes for my brother’s wedding. It’s a great choice for uncertain ovens because it has no eggs. If it comes out a little undercooked, no harm done. It’s very sweet – a kid friendly cake. For grown-ups you can reduce the sugar by half a cup.

I had meaning to post this recipe anyway, but I am putting it up in response to Rachel's call for help on How to Cook Like Your Grandmother. I didn't have an icing recipe to offer. If you have one, click over and suggest it.

Tools:
Oven. That's all.


Ingredients:

· 3 cups flour
· 2 cups sugar
· 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· 1.5 teaspoon salt
· 2 cups very cold decaf coffee (don’t worry, you can’t taste it. It just adds color and a subtle depth of flavor.)
· 1 cup corn or other vegetable oil
· 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Butter and flour three 9-inch cake pans or butter and line bottoms with parchment paper. This is important – the cake will stick if you don’t prep the pan right.
3. In a medium bowl mix first 5 (dry) ingredients
4. In a large bowl mix the coffee, oil and vanilla, then whisk in dry ingredients until well blended. Do not overmix – it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth. This is more like a muffin batter; a few lumps are okay.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the pans.
6. Bake cakes about 25-30 minutes or until they test done.
7. Cool completely. And I mean COMPLETELY. If the cake is at all warm, it will break coming out of the pan.

Notes: You can use orange extract instead of vanilla for a chocolate-orange cake.