Chocolate Cake, Cream Cheese Icing

A moist little 6″ layer cake — coffee-bloomed cocoa under a tangy cream cheese frosting

1 cake · 15 min

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The cake — one 6″ round
½ cup all-purpose flour
6 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
⅜ tsp baking soda · ⅛ tsp baking powder · ⅛ tsp salt
½ egg (beat 1 egg, use 2 Tbsp — save the rest)
¼ cup buttermilk (or milk + ¼ tsp vinegar, soured 5 min)
2½ Tbsp neutral oil · ½ tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp hot coffee (or hot water)
Cream cheese icing
2 oz cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp butter, softened
¾–1 cup powdered sugar · ¼ tsp vanilla · pinch salt

Heat & prep. Oven to 350°F; grease one 6″ round pan and line the bottom with parchment.
Whisk dry, then wet. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, then stir into the dry just until combined.
Bloom the cocoa with hot coffee. Stir in the hot coffee last — the batter will go thin and loose, which is exactly right. Hot liquid blooms the cocoa for a deeper chocolate, and a thin batter bakes into a moist crumb.
Bake. Pour into the pan; bake 25–30 min until the top springs back and a tester comes out clean.
Cool completely — no cheating. Turn out and cool all the way before icing. Warm cake melts cream cheese frosting into a slick.
Make the icing & frost. Beat the cream cheese and butter smooth, then beat in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Swirl it over the top and sides of the cooled cake (or split the round into two thin layers and fill it, if you want a layer look).

Steps — tap one to keep your place

1. Heat & prep. Oven to 350°F; grease one 6″ round pan and line the bottom with parchment.

2. Whisk dry, then wet. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, then stir into the dry just until combined.

3. Bloom the cocoa with hot coffee. Stir in the hot coffee last — the batter will go thin and loose, which is exactly right. Hot liquid blooms the cocoa for a deeper chocolate, and a thin batter bakes into a moist crumb.

4. Bake. Pour into the pan; bake 25–30 min until the top springs back and a tester comes out clean.

5. Cool completely — no cheating. Turn out and cool all the way before icing. Warm cake melts cream cheese frosting into a slick.

6. Make the icing & frost. Beat the cream cheese and butter smooth, then beat in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Swirl it over the top and sides of the cooled cake (or split the round into two thin layers and fill it, if you want a layer look).

Low salt — salt at the end and taste as you go; broth, cheese, and canned goods already bring salt.