"Best Ever" Chocolate Cake from Dimples and Delights

Chocolate Cake - made June 27, 2024, modified from Dimples and Delights

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder until evenly mixed.
3. Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla, mixing to combine. Pour in hot water and mix to combine. Beat for 1 minute.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Speaking of chocolate cakes and feeling like I could make something similar to what the Crumbl tester was this week, ironically, I had made one before I tried Crumbl's. This recipe reminds me of the chocolate cake recipe that used to be (still is?) on the label of Hershey's cocoa powder. Not just because it uses cocoa powder but it has a lot of liquid and makes for a thin batter. Such a liquidy batter makes for a soft crumb when the cake is baked. Which is what happened here.

I didn't use the buttercream frosting recipe that the original blog did as I was too lazy and it was too hot to make it when I needed to bring it to an event. So I just covered the whole thing with Nutella. Since I was serving it for a crowd on a hot night, I also made it in a 9 x 13 pan instead of as round layers that would need to be stacked and frosted. A 9 x 13 cake is much easier to cut and share.

Flavor and texture-wise, this was good. Not sure I would consider it the best ever chocolate cake I've made but it was good. I think I prefer my chocolate cakes to be either a flourless chocolate cake or a dense pound cake rather than as a more traditional cakey cake. Or as a Texas sheet cake as those typically have the texture I prefer in my chocolate cakes. Be careful not to move or jiggle the pan during baking, not even to turn it. The batter is so liquidy that the cake will sink in the middle if you try to move it before it's baked.