Chocolate Cake
210kcal2.6g protein11.1g fat26.4g carbs~$0.47/ serving*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
Contains gluten, dairy, egg · sometimes contains soy — check the label
Restrictions
Containsgluten · dairy · eggIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.
Sometimes contains — check the labelsoy (chocolate chips)Some brands have it, some do not. The recipe cannot tell, so this is the one you check yourself.
Diets
VegetarianPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol · check
Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.
Ingredients
Servings:
| ¾ cup |  flour (all-purpose, spooned and leveled) |
| ⅓ cup |  cocoa powder (sifted) |
| ¾ cup |  sugar |
| ½ tsp |  baking soda |
| ¼ tsp |  baking powder |
| ¼ tsp | salt |
| 1 unit |  egg (room temperature) |
| ⅓ cup |  buttermilk |
| ¼ cup | vegetable oil |
| 1 tsp |  vanilla extract |
| ⅓ cup |  coffee (brewed, boiling hot) |
| ⅔ cup |  chocolate chips (for the ganache) |
| ⅓ cup |  heavy cream |
| 1 tbsp |  butter (softened, for the ganache) |
Optional
Not counted above. The dish works without them.
| 1 pinch | salt (flaky, to finish) |
| ½ cup |  blueberries (to serve) |
| ¼ tsp |  cinnamon (in the dry mix) |
Steps
- Prep6 minoven to 350°F / 175°Cgrease and line a single 6-inch round pan or six cupcake cups — this batter is engineered for one thin layer, and a taller pan is the one change that ruins it
- Whisk2 mindry, siftedflour + sifted cocoa powder + sugar + baking soda + baking powder + salt — cocoa must go through a sieve, because its fat content makes it clump and a dry clump will not dissolve later; it bakes as a bitter grey speck
- Whisk2 minroom temperatureegg + buttermilk + oil + vanilla in a second bowl until uniform — cold buttermilk will seize the oil into beads that never disperse, so let it sit out first
- Fold2 minby hand, barely combinedwet into dry, stopping while streaks of flour still show — this is a liquid batter with no creamed air to protect it, so any gluten you develop with a mixer shows up as rubbery tunnels
- Mix2 minliquid boiling hot+ boiling coffee poured in a thin stream, stirred just to smooth. The heat blooms the cocoa — it melts the cocoa butter and dissolves the solids so the flavour reads as chocolate rather than dust. The batter will now be as thin as cream. That is correct; do not add flour to thicken it
- Bake30 min350°F / 175°C, center rackpour and bake until the top springs back and a skewer comes out with two or three moist crumbs clinging. A clean skewer means you are already past it: carryover heat keeps setting the crumb for several minutes out of the oven, and an oil cake gives you no buttery cover for dryness
- Rest40 min10 minutes in pan, then on a rackturn out and cool to fully room temperature. Frosting a warm cake melts the ganache off the sides and steams the crumb into a gummy skin — this wait is not optional patience, it is the difference between glaze and puddle
- Emulsify6 mincream just steaming, not boiledheat the cream until it shivers at the edges, pour it over the chocolate chips, and leave it undisturbed 2 minutes before whisking from the center outward. Stirring immediately drops the temperature unevenly and the cocoa butter separates out grainy; the still minute lets the chocolate melt through so the whisk only has to bring fat and water together = ganache
- Mix3 minoff heat, cooled to spreadable+ softened butter whisked in for gloss and a softer set, then let the ganache thicken to the body of mayonnaise before it goes anywhere near the cake
- Top2 mincake fully coolspread the ganache over the top and down the sides, swirling with the back of the spoon; finish with flaky salt if using, which sharpens the cocoa's bitterness into something that reads as darker chocolate