The other day, I was short on butter, had leftover coffee from breakfast, and a box of cocoa that I wanted to use up, so I used what I had and made this simple one-bowl cake in a 9-inch square “brownie” pan.  Little did I know that it was going to be my new favorite chocolate cake!  using vegetable oil in the cake instead of butter makes it so moist that you don’t need icing, but I did up the ante with a Bourbon glaze because…Bourbon!

Makes: one 9-inch-square cake.

10        Tablespoons vegetable oil—I used Crisco vegetable oil bc it is very neutral in flavor

1-2/3    cups granulated sugar

2          large eggs

1          teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2       teaspoon fine-grain sea salt 

1-1/2    cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2       cup plus 1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder such as Hershey’s (not Dutch-processed)

1          teaspoon baking soda

1          teaspoon baking powder

1-1/2    cups good-quality dark-roast espresso coffee, cooled or leftover from breakfast

Bourbon Glaze—optional, see the end of the recipe

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. 

Position a rack in the center of the oven and prepare a 9-inch-square baking pan with Baker’s Joy. 

Put the oil and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using a blending fork, mix them until smooth. Blend in the eggs one at a time. Stir for another 10-30 seconds, until the batter is smooth and the sugar begins to dissolve. Mix in the vanilla and salt. 

Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and baking powder together. Add to the sugar mixture. Pour in the coffee. Gently combine the ingredients with a fork until the mixture is smooth and [mostly] free of lumps.  This will take a little while as the cocoa powder is a little stubborn and takes a while to absorb the moisture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  It will be very thin but don’t worry, this is correct. 

Bake until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out with only moist crumbs clinging to it, 60-65 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool for 20 minutes. If necessary, carefully run a knife around the edges of the pan, invert the cake onto the rack, and remove the pan. Invert again onto another rack and let cool right side up until just warm—about another 20 minutes.

You can eat it just like this but I made a Bourbon glaze with 1 cup of confectioners sugar, a pinch of fleur de sel and a generous tablespoon of Bourbon.  You want the glaze to be a nice spreading consistency. If it is too thick, add a little more Bourbon, if it is too thin, add a little more sugar. I spread the top of the cake with the glaze while it was still warm and let it sit.  The glaze gets a little moist the next day but that is ok bc it adds a nice Bourbon flavor to the cake.  For best results, refrigerate to keep it fresh but let it come to room temp before eating.

Enjoy!

ALL RECIPES ©ELIZABETH KARMEL 2020