The Pink Kitchen: P.M.S. Cake

As promised, here's Ina Garten's FABULOUS chocolate cake recipe. To me, it's the perfect solution to a wicked P.M.S. chocolate craving! That's why I have renamed it "P.M.S. Cake". Believe me, it will make you happy!

Chocolate "P.M.S." Cake

Ingredients:

Butter for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Chocolate frosting (recipe below)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low until combined. In another bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, slowly add wet ingredients to the dry. Add hot coffee and mix until combined.

3. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

6 ounces good semisweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 Tbsp instant coffee powder

Directions:

1. Chop the chocolate and place in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes.
3. Turn mixer on low and gradually add confectioners' sugar, scraping down bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy.
4. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake. (For less intense coffee/mocha flavor in the icing, decrease coffee powder to 1 tsp.)

To frost the cake:

1. Place four small rectangular pieces of wax paper along the outsides of the cake stand to keep it from getting messy. Place one layer, flat side up, on cake stand.