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Ben Johnson

3 Springform pans, 9-inch (23 cm)

Parchment paper

Nonstick cooking spray

Whisk

Fine-mesh sieve

Breville Bakery Chef™ Stand Mixer

3/4 Sheet pan

Silicone spatula

Cake spatula

Round cardboard cutout

Disposable piping bag

Round piping tip

Offset spatula

Icing comb

Breville Joule® Oven Air Fryer Pro

Cake flour

Sugar

Dutch-process cocoa powder

Salt

Baking soda

Baking powder

Glycerol monostearate

Buttermilk

Canola oil

Egg(s)

Vanilla extract

Water

Vodka

Powdered sugar

Butter

Milk

Chocolate shavings

Place racks toward center of oven and heat to [f 300].

Preheat oven

Grease three 9-inch springform or round cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment. Dust the sides with flour, and tap out excess.

Prepare three springform pans

Whisk all of the above ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, then sift them into another bowl.

Prepare the dry mix

Glycerol monostearate (GMS) is an emulsifier that helps hold water and fat molecules together. It’s often used in commercial cake mixes to keep the fat suspended in the mixture. When a batter is not properly emulsified, the finished product has a slightly greasy mouthfeel. Using GMS in this batter ensures the finished cake will be a perfectly moist, light, springy sponge. It’s foolproof!

FUN FACT: Amazon lists <a href="http://www.amazon.com/LiveLong-Nutrition-Glycerol-Monostearate-Supplement/dp/B004FRD7LS">Glycerol monostearate</a> as a nutrition supplement. What does it do? It helps your body stay hydrated—just like your cake!

Why glycerol monostearate makes mouths happy

Combine all of the above ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on low speed until you get a homogenous, off-white liquid.

Prepare wet mix

With the stand mixer on low, add the dry ingredients to the wet, one large spoonful at a time. Mix only until ingredients are just combined. (Overmixing results in a tougher cake that doesn’t rise properly.)

Combine the wet and dry mixes

Bring the water to a boil. To prevent evaporation, take it off the heat as soon as it starts to boil. (An electric kettle works nicely here.)

With the mixer running on low, add water in a slow stream. Pouring slowly will increase the temperature of the batter gradually so the eggs won’t cook. The final texture will be like thin brownie batter.

Boil water; slowly add to batter

Adding boiling water is a pretty common technique for chocolate cake, and there are a wide variety of explanations out there for why it matters. We heard it helps to “bloom” and disperse the cocoa, so we tested this step with cold water and boiling water, just to see what would happen. We found that the cocoa dispersion was similar at any water temperature, but boiling water did do a better job overall of emulsifying the batter. And why does it help to have well-emulsified batter? Because you end up with a smoother, more velvety cake. Boom—food science, amiright?

Boiling water? But why?

Use a scale to pour 600g of batter into each of the three springform pans. (You’ll have a bit of extra batter—perfect for cupcakes!)

Fill cake pans

Set a sheet pan on a lower rack in the oven to catch any batter that drips during baking.

Bake the cakes on the center rack of the preheated oven until they reach a core temperature of [f 205], about 40 minutes. Don’t move the cakes around while they’re baking, or they’ll collapse.

Bake those cakes!

While your cakes are baking, bring the sugar and water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from the heat, and allow it to cool to room temperature. (We use an ice bath to chill the whole pot very quickly, but you can let it sit on the counter or run a closed pot under cold water. Just don’t add the vodka when the syrup is too hot, or you’ll cook off some of the alcohol.)

With a spoon, stir in the vodka.

Make syrup

Remove springform pans from the oven. Slam each cake firmly on your countertop to pop any air bubbles.

Allow cakes to cool completely on the counter or a wire rack before removing from pans.

Remove cakes from the oven; slam on the counter

Flip the cake layers over onto sheets of parchment paper. Remove the parchment circles stuck to the tops of the layers. If there’s a large dome or “crater rim” on a layer, you can shave it off with a long, serrated knife (or fill it out with extra frosting later).

Brush each layer of cake with [g 75]–[g 100] of syrup. (The more you add, the moister your cake.)

Remove cakes from pans; soak with syrup

In the bowl of a stand mixer set to low, mix all of the above ingredients. Gradually work up to high speed. Once the frosting reaches a consistent color, stop the mixer and use a sturdy spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom. Mix again on high speed, scrape down one more time, and give one final high-speed mix. The finished frosting will be quite stiff, with no lumps.

Make frosting

If you have a cake turner, tape a round cardboard cutout to it, then apply a couple dabs of frosting and add a clean piece of parchment on top of that. This will be your work surface. 

If you don’t have a cake turner, use a cake stand or just a large, flat plate.

Gently place the bottom cake layer on your work surface.

Set up your frosting station

Scoop frosting into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Starting from the middle, pipe frosting in a spiral on top of the bottom cake layer, then stack another cake layer on top. Pipe another spiral of frosting, top with the final cake layer, and pipe the last spiral of frosting. We like how ours looks with no frosting on the sides, but if you like side frosting, add it!

Leave as is, or smooth with a palette knife or offset spatula. If you frosted the sides, finish them with an icing comb. While frosting is still wet, sprinkle with chocolate shavings, if desired.

HOME-COOK HACK: Don’t have piping bags and tips? No sweat. You can buy them real cheap on <a href="http://amzn.to/2oF9RQv">Amazon</a> or at <a href="http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-571281/Ateco+Disposable+Pastry+Bags">Sur La Table</a>, or you can use a hefty ziplock-style bag and cut a small hole in the corner.

Frost that thing

Grab a fork and a big glass of milk. It’s time for dessert!

CHEF’S TIP: We like to make this cake—and almost all our baked goods—a day in advance to give all the ingredients a chance to set. If you do that, cover your confection with a tall cake dome or some plastic wrap and leave it on the counter.

Dang.

Serious chocolate lover? Well, get ready, sweet stuff. You’re gonna love this one. Our signature take on the classic chocolate cake is light and spongy yet devilishly decadent, and—thanks to <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/08/difference-dutch-process-natural-cocoa-powder-substitute.html">dutch-process cocoa</a>—dark as a moonless midnight.After months of trials, we found that our favorite cake used mostly old-school approaches—brushing the cake layers with simple syrup to retain moisture, for instance, just like professional bakers have been doing for decades. But this is a ChefSteps recipe, you know. There’s bound to be a twist. And that twist comes in the form of a magical little ingredient called glycerol monostearate, or GMS. Found in some of those fail-proof boxed cakes you loved as a kid, this easy-to-find powder keeps the fats suspended in the batter, leading to an impossibly moist crumb that’s never greasy. The result: a confection worthy of a <a href="http://www.creativityfuse.com/2010/12/wayne-thiebaud-cake-paintings/wayne-thiebaud-cakes-1963-oil-on-canvas/">Wayne Thiebaud painting</a> and delicious enough to please the toughest of confectionery critics. If you want to stick to the basics, however, skip the GMS. You’ll still wind up with a seriously tasty dessert with which to wow your dinner guests, spoil your children, and shame the other parents at the bake sale. We like ours with frosting—recipe’s below—but you can swap in your favorite icing or ganache if you like. Just don’t forget to reserve a thick slice for yourself—we designed this one for serious chocolate lovers, after all. And if you’re ready to embark on this particular baking journey, we’re guessing your love of chocolate is serious indeed.

Ultimate Chocolate Cake