“Let them eat cake!”
-Marie Antoinette

Pinterest has gotten its talons in me pretty deeply… I could spend hours and hours browsing online, only to discover that I’m still sitting in my fuzzy bathrobe, sallow-skinned and red-eyed at 3pm. On a week day. My self-imposed pintervention took place when my sister tried to show me her favorite DIY craft projects and I had to casually pretend that I hadn’t already seen every. single. one. of. them.

What can I say, I enjoy finding cheap ideas for home decor, and quick-fix meals; but I also found myself becoming increasingly aggravated with humanity while I was on the site– I would have to fight the urge to comment on other peoples’ use of adjectives (for example: a lampshade made of popsicle sticks, whimsical yes, but sophisticated? No. I simply will not accept that). And then there are the sadsacks that write things like “mashed potatoes in the crock pot? THIS IS LIFE CHANGING!!” It hurts my heart that not having to boil potatoes could change someone’s life.

With that said, far too many pins claim to have the best recipe “ever.” As a general rule I dismissed these without a second thought. Until I made this cake for Nick’s birthday.

Dark, dense and chocolatey without being too sweet, this may forever be my go-to dessert recipe! So thank you, Pinterest, for sending me this gem while simultaneously erasing my self-respect.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake Recipe

This recipe was originally found here from the PaperSeed blog

*Note: this makes a ton of batter and it will seem thin, but don’t stress! That’s how it’s supposed to be.

Ingredients:

3 cups All Purpose flour

2 1/2 cups caster (white) sugar

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s dark cocoa)

1 1/3 cups canola oil

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups freshly brewed strong coffee (hot)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray and line the bottoms with a circle of parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder and whisk to combine.

3. With a mixer on low speed, add the oil (or if you’re using a hand mixer without a slow enough speed to not spray you with a flour cloud, stir in the oil by hand, then begin using the mixer). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined. With the mixer still running, add the coffee in a thin stream down the side of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix until the batter is smooth… again, don’t worry that it’s too thin!

4. Divide the batter into the 2 pans and bake about 30-35 minutes (I think mine took closer to 40 to be done) and remove when a toothpick comes out mostly clean but with some moist crumbs. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans AT LEAST 20 minutes before turning them out.

*Frost with anything you like– because this cake is not incredibly sweet, a very sweet frosting actually pairs really well with it.