The 60 Minute Chocolate Cake

You may remember that recently the husband and kiddo challenged me to bake a chocolate cake 100% from scratch in just one hour.  I'm not joking when I tell you all that this cake, start to finish, will take you just one hour.  Cooking time is included!

SWEET!

Now, if you are a regular over on the Facebook page, you've probably seen this cake several times over.  It is my favorite chocolate cake not just because it takes 60 minutes to make but because it tastes SO damn good.  It's easy to dress up with raspberries and filling, works well as cupcakes or to throw together in under an hour in a bundt pan.  Now that is simply perfection!

Please know that the actual cake recipe is NOT my original recipe.  I found it somewhere on Pinterest and I've been making it for years.  Sadly, I have no clue where I found the original recipe from (I used to know but I've since forgotten the original website)....all I knew was that this one was a keeper and so I quickly wrote it down for future use in my recipe book.  On the other hand, the chocolate frosting/ganache is indeed all mine.  But it's such a basic recipe that it's probably been duplicated from somewhere.

Here goes!

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups flour

2 cups sugar
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup boiling water


Combine dry ingredients in a big bowl- no need to bring out your big stand mixer.  Add in wet ingredients.  Pour into pans and bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes.  Allow to cool before removing from pan.  If you are trying to do this in under 60 minutes you can pop the pan in your freezer to help it cool down.

The best thing about this cake recipe is how versatile it is!  You can make it in a bundt pan, as a regular double layer cake in cake pans, cupcakes etc.  Simply adjust the cooking time depending on what pans you're using.

Meanwhile, as your cake is cooking, prep your chocolate ganache frosting.  Ganache sounds fancy but the reality is that it is probably the easiest frosting recipe you'll ever make.  Seriously!

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream *you can also substitute milk if you're lame like me and don't always keep heavy cream in your fridge
1-2 tablespoons Disaronno liquor or similar *optional but totally kicks it up a notch!


Melt your chocolate chips on the stove and add in your heavy cream.  DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THIS and keep on stirring your pot on low.  When your chocolate chips have melted, remove from the burner and add in your liquor.  Yes, this is optional but trust me when I say that it really makes your ganache something special!

At this point, put the whole pot of chocolate ganache in the fridge to cool down.  The longer it sits there, the more it will thicken up.  I like to leave it in for about 10 minutes but you may prefer it more runny (like a true ganache is) or more solid to resemble a frosting.  And if you've found that you let it cool too long, simply put it back on your stove to heat and thin out a bit.  SUPER easy!

Now frost it baby and you're in business!

Enjoy!