Secret Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cups boiling water
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Directions
- Adjust oven rack to upper- and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease three 8-inch pans, line bottom of each pan with parchment paper round, grease agin and flour.
- Combine chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl; pour boiling water over and whisk until smooth.
- Sift together flours, baking soda, and salt onto large bowl and set aside.
- Place butter in bowl of standing mixer and beat at medium-high speed until creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add brown sugar and beat on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Stop mixer and scrape down bowl.
- Increase speed to medium-high and add eggs one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
- Reduce speed to medium; add sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined, about 10 seconds.
- Stop mixer and scrape down bowl.
- With mixer on low, add about one third of flour mixture, followed by about one half of chocolate mixture.
- Repeat, ending with flour mixture; beat until just combined, about 15 seconds.
- Do not overbeat.
- Remove bowl from mixer; scrape bottom and sides of bowl and mix gently to be certain all ingredients are combined.
- Divide batter evenly among cake pans, smooth batter to edges of pan with angled spatula.
- If baking three 8-inch cakes, place two pans on lower-middle rack and one on upper-middle rack.
- Bake until skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes for 8-inch cakes.
- Cool on wire rack 15 to 20 minutes.
- Run knife around pan perimeter to loosen.
- Invert cakes onto large plate; peel off parchment, and reinvert onto lightly greased rack.
- Cool completely before frosting.
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