Very Best Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake is the real deal. Dutch process cocoa and instant espresso amplify the chocolate flavor to an almost fudge-like intensity, while buttermilk keeps the crumb incredibly tender despite the density of a Bundt cake.

Five eggs and a generous amount of butter give this cake its rich, velvety structure. Cream the butter until genuinely light and fluffy, then beat the sugar in for a full five minutes on high speed. That extended creaming dissolves the sugar crystals and traps air, which is what gives the cake its lift since there’s only a small amount of baking powder.

The glaze is a simple ganache. Boiling corn syrup poured over chopped bittersweet chocolate and stirred until glossy. Let it cool until it thickens slightly before pouring over the cake so it drapes down the ridges of the Bundt pan instead of running off.

Chef Tips

• Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each. Dumping them all in at once breaks the emulsion and the batter curdles.
• Alternate the dry ingredients with buttermilk, starting and ending with dry. This method prevents gluten overdevelopment and keeps the cake tender.
• The espresso doesn’t make it taste like coffee. It amplifies the chocolate flavor the way salt amplifies sweetness. Don’t skip it.
• Cool in the pan for exactly 20 minutes. Too short and the cake breaks apart; too long and it sticks.

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients for a Mexican hot chocolate-inspired cake.
• Use dark chocolate instead of bittersweet in the glaze for an even more intense finish.
• Dust with powdered sugar instead of glazing for a simpler presentation.