Family Life

Perfect Chocolate Cake

1 cup unsifted unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups boiling water
2 ¾ cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1.    Combine cocoa with boiling water, mixing with wire whisk until smooth. Cool completely. Sift flour with baking soda, baking powder and salt. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease well and lightly flour three 9”x1 ½ layer cake pans.

2.    At high speed, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light, scraping the bowl occasionally. At low speed, beat in flour mixture alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Do not overbeat.     

3.    Divide batter evenly into prepared cake pans; smooth top. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool on wire racks.
I thicken frozen raspberry pieces with corn starch and spread on the cooled chocolate cake and cover with gnache.

Gnache is made by heating heavy cream to almost boiling and adding semi-sweet or bittersweet chips to  cream while hot and whisking till chocolate is melted.  1 cup cream to 2 cups chips.