CHOCOLATE CAKE... for a birthday

    This chocolate cake was the finalé to the birthday party I recently hosted on my backyard patio.  I've had Beatty's Chocolate Cake bookmarked for many months and finally got around to making it late one night.  The cake was a bit cobbled together.  The buttermilk in my refrigerator had long expired, so I substituted low-fat milk with a good squeeze of lemon juice added to it.  My espresso machine is in the shop for repairs, so instant espresso powder was mixed with water for the cup of "freshly-brewed, hot coffee".  The result -- a killer cake --  down to the last refrigerated slice 2 days later!  I also had containers of vanilla butter cream and chocolate butter cream in my freezer that I alternated between the layers of this cake. 
     Moist, chocolatey, and delicious!

                                                     Beatty's

                    adapted recipe by Ina Garten | Barefoot Contessa at Home

• Butter, for greasing pans
• 1 3/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly-brewed hot coffee
• Chocolate and Vanilla Butter Cream

1.  Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Butter 2 8-inch-by-2-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper; butter and flour the pans.
2.  Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Stir to combine.  In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add the liquid ingredients to the dry, just to combine; then slowly add the hot coffee.  Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl, making sure that all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the liquid.  Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.  Place the pans on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.  Cool cakes on a rack for 30 minutes, then remove from the pans and cool completely before frosting. 
3.  Either work with the cake in 2 layers, or cut each layer into 2, as I did, giving you 4 separate layers.  After spreading the frosting between each layer, thinly frost the top and sides of the cake (crumb coat) and refrigerate.  When cold, frost with a final coating of butter cream.  Chill cake and remove 30 minutes before serving.

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