This moist cake has a deep chocolate flavor and luscious caramel glaze! It's so good, I couldn't get enough.
2 1/2 cups cake flour or White Lily All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa
2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
1/4 cup boiling water
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
7 cups powdered sugar or 4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
8 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare Old Country Kitchenware square tube pan by brushing with chocolate pan coat (if using two piece pan, fit with a parchment paper square between the two pieces first). Sift together cake flour and cocoa powder. Dissolve instant coffee powder in boiling water and let cool. Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until pale, light and fluffy (about 6 minutes at medium speed). Add extract, salt, and 1/2 cup flour mixture, beat until combined. With the mixer running on low, add one egg at a time, beating each until fully incorporated. With the mixer on low, alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour. Mix each addition of flour just until it disappears before adding more wet ingredients. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and beat for another 10 seconds. Pour batter into prepared tube pan and gently shake to settle the batter. Place on middle rack of oven with a baking sheet on the rack below it to catch any drips. Bake 1 hour 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let cool until the pan is comfortable enough to handle. Transfer the cake to a wire rack in two steps: first, turn the cake up on its side, then invert fully. Let cool completely.
Stovetop Caramel
2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
2 12-oz cans evaporated milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt all ingredients together. Simmer, scraping the edges and bottom frequently, until the mixture reaches 225 to 230°F, about one hour. Let cool until it thickens slightly (about 10 minutes) then pour over cake.
