Sue B's Chocolate Cake

"I adopted this recipe. I had prepared it for a holiday function prior to the adoption. The comments from my original review stated, "This dense, rich chocolate cake is intensely moist. It baked perfectly and made a lovely layer cake. I will be using this recipe again for chocolate cake needs." The cake in my photo has Recipe #44126, between the layers, and is frosted with Recipe #31809 before being covered with my Recipe #105466. It was a huge hit, and I have made this cake many, many times since."
 
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photo by limeandspoontt photo by limeandspoontt
photo by limeandspoontt
photo by Ms B. photo by Ms B.
photo by Lorac photo by Lorac
photo by limeandspoontt photo by limeandspoontt
photo by limeandspoontt photo by limeandspoontt
Ready In:
45mins
Ingredients:
10
Yields:
2 9 inch rounds
Serves:
9
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ingredients

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directions

  • Mix cocoa and boiling water.
  • Mix buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla together.
  • Mix dry ingredients together.
  • Mix dry ingredients into buttermilk/oil mixture.
  • Mix in cocoa.
  • Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit in two greased and floured and parchment lined 9-inch round pans.
  • Bake until tester comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes.

Questions & Replies

  1. Can I make this in a 9x13 inch pan?
     
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Reviews

  1. Oh my goodness, it's my cake recipe! I'm so happy to see all these reviews, and so happy so many people are enjoying it. I developed this recipe years ago for a woman (Sue B.) on the old Fine Cooking discussion boards. She had a recipe she kind of liked, but it had problems. I took it and reworked it for her, thus, Sue B.'s Chocolate Cake.
     
  2. Not quite as chocolatey as I expected, but a fantastic chocolate cake! Next time I'll throw in some mini choco chips (just me though) My Fiance requested a 1 layer square chocolate cake for his friend's "leaving for a new job" lunch. So I made this in a 13x9, and baked about 40 minutes -perfecto! Frosted with chocolate whipped cream frosting (tastes like ice cream with your cake) He came home and actually used the word "phenomenal"!! His boss tried to steal the left overs and sneak home lol But I managed to get a piece. Used strong coffee for the water - that was my only alteration. For those who said the batter is thin - it's normal. I make several cupcake recipes this consistency. I had no troubles with rising and falling. All went great!
     
  3. When I asked DH what he would like for desert for Thanksgiving, he told me that if he could have anything he wanted it would be a sour-milk chocolate cake like his mother used to make. After 36 years of marriage, this is the first time he has ever mentioned his mother's cake. This recipe was in answer to a request I posted. The cake was so very easy to make that I was surprised by the result. A lovely dark chocolate color with a very tender, very light and very moist texture. DH's Review: "I feel like a kid again and I feel 10 pounds heavier", this coming after eating 1/2 the cake in 24 hours. Thanks Mean Chef for giving DH a very special holiday gift.
     
  4. My nephew said this was the best chocolate cake he every had. This chocolate cake is moist and full of flavor without being overly sugary like a lot of box cake mixes. I have made it several times and it works great as 2 rounds and also as a 13"x9" or 12" round cake. I found that I didn't need to use the parchment paper. It slides out with just cooking spray/flour applied to the pan(s). Thanks for a great recipe!
     
  5. I have made this cake several time now, and it is quite good. However, unlike the description, I would not consider it a "dense" cake. It is more dense than a box mix by a little, but not as dense as several other home made cake recipes I have tried over the years. It is very moist, and makes a HUGE cake. In fact, I now cut the recipe back to 2/3 of the original volume most of the time. I have also found it takes longer than 30 min to bake. Thanks for a good base recipe.
     
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Tweaks

  1. This is a wonderful chocolate cake recipe. I made it into a three-layer cake, used Recipe #44126 as the filling between layers (it took 1-1/2 recipes to be enough) and iced it with a double portion of Recipe #68358. Instead of the chocolate curls, I grated a dark chocolate bar on top, but I definitely want to try it with the chocolate curls because it looks so elegant. Everyone loved it and I even had an offer to pay me to bake it for someone else!
     
  2. This is the first cake I have ever baked from scratch, and it was marvelous! I cut the recipe in half to have a smaller, 3-person 2-layer cake that was more manageable. I also substituted 2% milk with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar for the buttermilk. The end result was a dense, moist cake that wasn't too sweet and also wasn't too chocolate-y for me (but I'm not a huge chocolate fan). With chocolate icing, raspberry jam between the two layers, and raspberries on top, it was literally the perfect cake. I will make this again.
     
  3. This cake was great! I used almond milk and vinegar instead of buttermilk, and whole wheat flour, plus I added some chocolate chips. Easy to make and really moist, I will be making this again.
     
  4. My son made this cake for a youth fair and won first prize! It's such a moist, delicious cake, and the directions are easy to follow, even for a beginner. He greased the pans and then coated with cocoa powder instead of flour, and skipped the parchment paper. Thanks ms bold for adopting!
     
  5. This is a fantastic chocolate cake. It's very moist, dense but tender, and deeply chocolate. As some other reviewers noted, it gets more moist as it sits so is best made a day ahead of serving. I spread a thick layer of white chocolate ganache betwen the layers, and covered the ganache with a raspberry filling. The tart raspberries paired well with the sweet ganache. I covered the top of the cake with a thick layer of bittersweet chocolate ganache, and frosted the sides with a rich chocolate buttercream. Because this cake isn't as sweet as some, you can lather on the frostings and fillings. My layers were done in 29 minutes. I dusted the pans with cocoa instead of flour. To enhance the chocolate flavour, I added 1 tbsp. of instant espresso to the boiling water.
     

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