chocolate cake with instant fudge frosting.

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I made this chocolate cake recipe before in my chocolate cherry cupcakes. I remembered that it tasted so darn good that I wanted to eat a huge slab of it. So this time, I baked it into one layer and smothered it with a healthy dose of instant fudge frosting, just to make sure that this was really the ultimate chocolate cake. Well, it is, at least for now.


I underbaked it on purpose, maybe a tad much on hindsight, and the texture of the cake was chewy, fudgy and dense. It's not brownie-like, not even cakey-brownie-like. It's a whole different texture. You have to try it for yourself to know. I don't regret cutting back a few minutes on the baking time one bit, but if you prefer a lighter crumb but with enough chocolaty oomph, try this one by Ina Garten.


No cake is complete without frosting, and I needed a new reliable chocolate one ever since I outgrown the mild cocoa frosting I used to love. I turned to this instant chocolate frosting recipe which uses unsweetened chocolate in hopes that the bitterness would provide the intense chocolaty-ness I was looking for.


I thought it was just okay. It's definitely more chocolaty than the cocoa frosting recipe but it's still not as intense as I would like. It was also a little grainy from the icing sugar, which is a problem I've always had with all previous batches of chocolate frostings. Perhaps more time in the mixer would solve that problem? More milk? (Although I fear that extra liquid would result in a watery frosting.)

If you have a chocolate frosting recipe that is bittersweet and intense, I would love to check it out so please leave a link!


Chocolate Cake
follow the recipe here

For a 6 inch 1 layer cake, use 1.5 times the quantity in the link or visit the source (Smitten Kitchen) and divide it by 4 for easier calculation.

Instant Fudge Frosting
makes 5 cups
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
4 1/2 cups icing sugar (no need to sift)
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp half-and-half or whole milk (I used low-fat)
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to incorporate, then process until the frosting is smooth.

I used just one cup to top the 6 inch cake. It is enough to cover the top generously.