Capital-Grade Chocolate Cake

Day 4 of our week long Hunger Games series :) T minus 2 days & counting until the release of the first Hunger Games DVD!

Click here to see Day 1.
Click here & here to see Day 2.
Click here to see Day 3.
Click here to see Day 5.

This recipe was taken and adapted from the Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook. :) It really is probably the easiest "from scratch" cake you could ever make... Maybe that is because the people at the Capital are always pressed for time. Either way, it's definitely capital-worthy!

For those of you who are big-time fans, you will know that chocolate cake is what Katniss had her first night away from her family after the reaping. I hope you enjoy it's decadence as much as she did!

Ingredients:

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup cold brewed coffee
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Icing:
1 stick of butter (softened)
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar (confectioner's)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup milk

Preheat your oven to 350° and spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix together your flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until incorporated. Make a well in the middle of your dry ingredients (basically just make a hole in the middle) and pour your eggs, coffee, buttermilk, and oil into it. Mix your ingredients together with a spoon until smooth and then pour into your pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Here is a picture of what mine looked like when finished:

Don't worry if the middle sinks down a little, you can cover that up with frosting. :) Wait until your cake has cooled completely to frost it or your cake will crumble AND your icing will melt!

To make the icing, place your butter in a medium sized mixing bowl. If you need to soften your butter in a hurry, you can heat it in the microwave for 15 seconds. With a hand mixer, beat your butter on medium speed until creamy. If you are not sure what creamy butter looks like, take a look at my picture:

Next, reduce your mixing speed to low and add in the powdered sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Your frosting should be somewhat crumbly at this point. Finally, add in your milk slowly until your frosting is at the consistency and thickness that you want. Using 1/4 cup of milk will make your frosting thick like paste and 1/2 cup will make it fairly thin. I used 1/2 cup but you can make your frosting however you would like. Here is a picture of the finished product:

See? I told you that was easy!

Tip: If you want, you can make your cake in two 8 inch round pans and then stack them. If you do this, you will need to double or triple your frosting mixture.

Happy cooking & may the odds be ever in your favor!