Chocolate Cake with Caramel Frosting

It's my dad's birthday finally, so here's the cake I've been talking about! :) I actually did end up baking something between the Strawberry Muffins and now, but they disappeared before I had a chance to blog about them! But I'll definitely be making them again and blog about them then...because they're chocolate chip cookies, they're delicious, and they're LIGHT! Yup, a delicious, better for you cookie. But for now, back to the cake.

This is possibly my favorite cake, and it's my dad's favorite too! The cake recipe is my go-to chocolate cake. It's incredibly moist, one of the moistest I've ever had, delicious, and best of all, it's a one bowl cake! All you have to do is put all the ingredient in a bowl and mix for about 30 seconds and bam, it's ready to go! It's actually so moist that I accidentally overbaked it slightly and it was still good and moist! And the frosting is just to die for! The only drawback to the frosting is that it's kind of gooey, and so it ends up running a little bit down the sides of the cake. Both of these recipes are from allrecipes, and some of the reviewers for the frosting said that they added some powdered sugar to make it more spreadable, but the flavor is so perfect by itself that I would hate to add sugar and make it too sweet! So instead just pop it into the refrigerator until the frosting sets and it's completely fine (just make sure to take it back out of the fridge after it sets, because if you leave it in too long, the frosting will get grainy). Anyways, on to the recipes!

Go-To Chocolate Cake (Adapted from allrecipes)
Makes one 9x13 inch cake (or a 2-layered 9 inch cake)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup cold brewed coffee
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. (I put a parchment paper round into 2 9-inch cake pans and then buttered the paper rounds as well as the side. Unless you have cake pans that have at least 2 inch sides, I wouldn't suggest using 8-inch cake pans because the cakes really rose to the top of my 9-inch ones).
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, and oil. Mix just until smooth. (Cake batter will be really thin, so don't freak out!) Pour into prepared pan/pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes (only about 25-30 for 9-inch pans), or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans and then remove and cool the rest of the way on cooling racks.

Caramel Frosting (Adapted from allrecipes)
I upped the frosting just a little bit and it made a nice thick layer of frosting. I'll put the original measurements in red.

Ingredients

• 3 cups plus two tablespoons packed light brown sugar (2 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream (1 cup)
• 1/2 plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda (1/2 teaspoon)
• 10 tablespoons butter (1/2 cup [8 tablespoons]) (I used salted butter and I think that's really important for this recipe. If you don't have it, I'd put about a teaspoon of salt in)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, optional (I don't like nuts in my frosting, so I omitted)

Directions

1. In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar and heavy cream and bring to a rolling boil. Boil one minute. Add the baking soda and boil one more minute. Remove from heat and add butter but DO NOT STIR!! Let the mixture cool (I store in the refrigerator).
2. Beat the mixture well with an electric mixer. Stir in pecans, if desired. (If your frosting is still really runny, store in the refrigerator until it thickens up some. It will still ooze slightly. If it starts running on your cake, as I said, store the cake in the fridge just until set and then take it out so that the frosting doesn't get grainy).

Then frost the cake and enjoy! =)