No buttermilk? No problem. Put 2 tsp of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice in your 1/2 cup measure. Fill the rest with milk. Allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to thicken and turn into "homemade buttermilk"
Preheat oven to 350.
Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, allow the sides of the parchment to overhang so that the cake could be easily lifted out after it's baked. I'm using 13x18 half sheet, which is ideal for this cake. But regular jelly roll rimmed baking sheet will work.
Melt butter over low heat in a medium pot. Once melted, remove from heat.
Add chopped chocolate and allow to sit for a minute. Then stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate has melted. Add cocoa powder and stir more until smooth.
Mix in coffee, sugar, salt and vanilla with a whisk.
You do not need to let this mixture cool completely, however, allowing it to cool down a little bit is a good idea.
Add buttermilk and eggs, making sure to whisk well immediately after adding, to gradually warm the eggs and ensure they do not scramble in your still warm chocolate mixture.
Sift flour combined with baking powder and baking soda directly into your batter. Mix it with a whisk until completely combined. Then mix with a few more vigorous strokes of a whisk to aerate the batter a bit.
Pour into prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the cake is firm and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few crumbs but not wet/liquid batter. If you press down on the cake, your finger should still be able to leave an indentation, a sure sign your cake is plenty gooey and not overbaked.
The internal temperature measure that I love to use with baking will not work as well here, since the cake is so thin and the reading may not be accurate – toothpick will work just fine!
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cook completely before icing.
In a bowl of a stand mixer, mix all of the icing ingredients on low at first (to avoid all of the sugar and cocoa from splashing everywhere.) When everything is incorporated, increase the speed to high and beat for a few minutes until fluffy and lightened in colour. Remember to adjust consistency of the buttercream with more heavy cream, if needed. Stop the mixer, scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for another minute or two.
Lift the cooled cake out of the pan by the sides of the parchment paper. Spread 2/3 of the buttercream evenly over cake. Pipe the remainder of the icing in a decorative manner, if desired.
Slice the cake into desired number of squares, I sliced into 32.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, allow the sides of the parchment to overhang so that the cake could be easily lifted out after it's baked. I'm using 13x18 half sheet, which is ideal for this cake. But regular jelly roll rimmed baking sheet will work.
Melt butter over low heat in a medium pot. Once melted, remove from heat.
Add chopped chocolate and allow to sit for a minute. Then stir with a rubber spatula until chocolate has melted. Add cocoa powder and stir more until smooth.
Mix in coffee, sugar, salt and vanilla with a whisk.
You do not need to let this mixture cool completely, however, allowing it to cool down a little bit is a good idea.
Add buttermilk and eggs, making sure to whisk well immediately after adding, to gradually warm the eggs and ensure they do not scramble in your still warm chocolate mixture.
Sift flour combined with baking powder and baking soda directly into your batter. Mix it with a whisk until completely combined. Then mix with a few more vigorous strokes of a whisk to aerate the batter a bit.
Pour into prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the cake is firm and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few crumbs but not wet/liquid batter. If you press down on the cake, your finger should still be able to leave an indentation, a sure sign your cake is plenty gooey and not overbaked.
The internal temperature measure that I love to use with baking will not work as well here, since the cake is so thin and the reading may not be accurate – toothpick will work just fine!
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cook completely before icing.
In a bowl of a stand mixer, mix all of the icing ingredients on low at first (to avoid all of the sugar and cocoa from splashing everywhere.) When everything is incorporated, increase the speed to high and beat for a few minutes until fluffy and lightened in colour. Remember to adjust consistency of the buttercream with more heavy cream, if needed. Stop the mixer, scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for another minute or two.
Lift the cooled cake out of the pan by the sides of the parchment paper. Spread 2/3 of the buttercream evenly over cake. Pipe the remainder of the icing in a decorative manner, if desired.
Slice the cake into desired number of squares, I sliced into 32.
