Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake
The internet's favorite chocolate cake.
I have been meaning to make this particular chocolate cake for so long and I finally seized the opportunity recently when a chocolate-loving friend’s birthday came around. See, the internet has been proclaiming that this is the best chocolate cake ever for years now. First, it was Ina Garten’s favorite, based on a recipe from her friend Michael’s grandmother, Beatty, and then published in Ina’s 2006 cookbook. And then the internet got ahold of it and now, well, now it’s everyone’s favorite. Myself included. I’ve made a lot of chocolate cakes and this just might be the best one I’ve ever had. So good, that I already made it a second time even though there was no special occasion to warrant it. Just an extraordinary cake on an ordinary Sunday.
What Ingredients Do You Need for Beatty’s Chocolate Cake?
It’s a lot of the usual baking things and nothing too out of the ordinary. You’ll need:
- Flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt.
- Cocoa powder. (Ina asks you to use a good one.)
- Buttermilk.
- Vegetable oil.
- Eggs.
- Vanilla extract.
- Freshly brewed hot coffee.
And for the frosting:
- Semisweet chocolate. (Ina asks you to use a good one. I’m sensing a theme here.)
- Butter.
- An egg yolk.
- Vanilla extract.
- Powdered sugar.
- Instant coffee granules.
How Do You Make Beatty’s Chocolate Cake?
For a cake so delicious, it’s not too difficult at all!
For the cake itself, you simply sift together the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl, and then gradually mix in the wet ingredients (buttermilk, oil, and eggs) while you’re mixing on low. Then, you mix in the coffee and the vanilla, divide the batter between two buttered and floured (and parchment papered) cake pans and bake. Easy, right?
The frosting is a little more involved, but not by much. For that, you melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler, basically) and once melted, set the chocolate aside to cool.
You beat the butter until it’s light and fluffy, then add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat it for a good three minutes more. Mix in the powdered sugar, and then stir in the coffee and the chocolate and you’ve got the silkiest frosting you’ve probably ever had.
How Does it Taste?
Mostly I want to say that it completely lived up to the internet hype. The cake is SO moist and the cake itself is not too sweet but it has truly rich chocolate flavor. The frosting is much sweeter, and this means they balance each other perfectly. I don’t think I’ve ever loved the texture of a cake — and a frosting — so much. This is a cake I will be making again and again. And again.
Beatty's Chocolate Cake
For the cake:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cups cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- 6 oz semisweet chocolate
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules, such as Nescafe
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease to 8-inch round cake pans with butter. Line bottom with parchment paper, followed by more butter, then flour the pans, shaking out excess.
- Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt directly into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer speed on low, gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry. Add coffee and mix just to combine, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Pour batter into prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then invert them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- When cakes are nearly cool, make the buttercream:
- Chop the chocolate and place it in a bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water (or double boiler). Stir until just melted, then set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed for 3 minutes until light yellow and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg yolk and beat 3 minutes more.
- Turn mixer to low, then gradually add powdered sugar. Once combined, increase speed to medium and beat until smooth and creamy, scarping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed.
- Dissolve the coffee in 2 teaspoons of very hot tap water. With mixer on low, gradually add the coffee and chocolate. Mix until blended and frost the cooled cake immediately. Enjoy!
Recipe from Ina Garten.