Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

I woke up early in the morning to bake a birthday cake for my Fiance. However, this time round my cake turned out with big cracks. I think my oven was too hot. I got to say, the looks of the cake doesn't do the cake justice because even thought the cake looks ugly, it was still indeed a very yummy cake.

This is by far the best chocolate cake recipe I ever tried. The cake was very moist and the taste of chocolate is very rich. And because chopped chocolates was added to the batter, you can taste the melted chocolate from every bite. Yummylicious~

Recipe

Got this recipe from The Little Teochew. Here & here.

1 cup (4oz/114g) cake flour (plain flour is fine too)
1/2 cup (1.6oz/46g) Dutch-processed (alkalized) cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks/6oz/170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (8.8oz/250g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk*
2 tablespoons (30ml) Kahlua or substitute with 1 tbsp on rum (optional)**
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 ounces (113g) finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
or 3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate morsels bittersweet

* If you do not have buttermilk, pour 180ml of whole milk in a cup, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, stir and let it sit for 5mins. You can alternatively use about 1 tbsp of white vinegar in place of lemon juice.

** I didn't use any Kahlua or rum and it still taste fine.

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Generously grease the interior of a 6-cake Bundt-lette pan (it's best to use shortening here). Dust the molds with flour and tap out the excess.

*Because I do not have a 6-cake Bundt-lette pan, I used a 7 inch cake pan instead.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed for 2 minutes, until very creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 3 minutes, until the mixture is well blended and light. At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

4. In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk, Kahlua (or rum), and vanilla extract. If your mixer has a splatter shield attachment, attach it now. At low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating it with the buttermilk cream mixture in two additions, and mixing just until blended. Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and stir in the finely chopped chocolate or miniature semisweet morsels. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake molds, dividing it evenly and smoothing the tops.

5. Bake the cakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pan set on a wire rack for 10 minutes. 

If you also using a 7-inch cake pan like me, you can try following Miss Teochew instruction. 
Baked at 175°C for the first 30 minutes. After that, lower the temperature to 160°C for the next 40 minutes. Test with a skewer at round the 1 hour-mark. You should also tent your cake throughout the entire baking time to prevent having a burnt top. 

This is the the second time I baked this cake and the cake crack more seriously than my first attempt. I didn''t tent my cake this time round, so this is also maybe why my cake have bigger cracks though the top are not burnt. 

* During my first attempt, I did tent my cake, but end up the foil got sticked to the cake. Not nice. So if you want to tent your cake, you may want to ensure that your batter is not too full.

6. Invert the cakes onto the rack and cool completely.

* If you intend to chill the cake(s), make sure they are stored in a tightly-lidded container to prevent drying out.

Look at the cracks.. Its like earthquake!