Easy-peasy One-bowl moistest CHOCOLATE CAKE!!

If I tell you that I am an ardent chocolate lover, you won't believe me...I know!! My fault, I know...coz you won't find many chocolate recipes on here. But the truth is I test a recipe numerous times before posting it here, and chocolate being my love, requires n number of tests to be passed, before I am really, really satisfied with it....

So my quest for the perfect chocolate cake went on and on...some recipes were finicky with mediocre results, some dry, some not so chocolatey...some were really weird....some resulting in such hard outputs, that you can use it as foundation for constructing your house😑😑....until I stumbled upon this one. I tested it multiple times and was totally satisfied every time. This is one recipe that ticks off all the points on my list:

Easy, simple (heck! you don't even need to take out your hand mixer, a whisk does the job!!!), fluffy, moistest, almost melts in your mouth, aaaaand as CHOCOLATEY as a chocolate can be!!

The most important ingredient in any chocolate recipe is, ofcourse, the COCOA. The better the quality, the richer and more intense its taste is. I prefer using dutch-process Cocoa in my chocolate recipes, mainly due to two reasons :
1. It imparts a deeper and darker color to the baked goods; and
2. It lends a more intense flavor than the unsweetened cocoa powder. 

However, it is not readily available in many places. Not to worry! Because this recipe works perfectly with either of them ...the only difference you will notice is in the color shade of the cake. The one with unsweetened cocoa will be brown, as opposed to the deep dark brown you get when you use dutch-process cocoa. There is no difference in fluffyness, rise or the texture of the cake. So, we will jump on to the recipe now....but don't forget to read the TIPS section I have given at the end, to ensure your cake turns out a success.

Pan size: 2 - 8" sandwich tins; OR, 3 - 6" Sandwich tins. If you wish to use a pan deeper than 2 inches, please see the TIPS section. I have used a 4" deep 8" round pan here.

Pre-preparation: 1. Pre-heat your oven to 170°C/340°F;

2. Lightly grease your cake tins and line with parchment paper. Don't grease the parchment paper. 

Ingredients:
1 Large Egg, room temperature
135g All-purpose flour
30g Dutch-process Cocoa powder  (unsweetened cocoa also works, you can use whatever you have)
210g Caster sugar
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
125ml whole milk, room temperature
55ml any neutral flavor cooking oil
1tsp instant coffee granules (omit, if making for kids)
125ml boiling water

Method:
1. Seive together flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda, and salt in a bowl. Add sugar to it and lightly whisk it.
2. Add vanilla extract to the milk.
3. Now add this milk, then egg, then oil into the flour mix and whisk it till it all comes together uniformly, no lumps.
4. Dissolve instant coffee granules in the boiling water. Add this boiling water to the batter and stir with light hands till you get a uniform batter. Don't worry you won't activate the gluten by whisking at this point, as the batter is very very runny. The batter will be extremely runny...don't panic, it is supposed to be that way only. And believe me....it WILL turn into a cake, though it might look otherwise to you at this stage. Just trust me, ok!!
5. Pour the batter into your cake pan till 2/3rd capacity, and pop them in the oven. Bake at 170°C/340°F. The baking time will depend on the pan size you are using (see TIPS below).
6. When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and let it remain in the pan for 10-15 mins, before demoulding on to a cooling rack. Slice it only when the cake has completed cooled down. As the cake is super-soft, moist and delicate, it might crumble instead of slicing, if you attempt to slice it while hot.

This cake keeps well, refrigerated, for upto 4 days. However, being super-moist, it doesn't freeze well (you will notice watery-doughy crumbs if you thaw it after freezing). It is super-soft and light with rich chocolatey flavor and tight crumbs. Good for layering as birthday cakes, provided you bake it in layers instead of as one whole cake...being delicate, it doesn't cut in layers neatly. It can take on buttercream, cream and ganache frostings very nicely. However, as it is a tender-crumbed cake, it isn't fit for working under fondant.
TIPS:
1. Being a runny batter, to ensure it is cooked thoroughly, it is better to bake it in layers. However, if you wish to bake it in a deep cake tin like I do, then I will advice you to use a flower-nail in the centre to ensure it is baked fully. You cover your flower nail (large size; nail-height being almost equal to the pan-depth) with aluminium foil and place it head-down-needle-side-up, in the centre of the tin. Pour the batter over it till the nail is covered upto 2/3rd of its height with batter.
2. If you are using loose-bottom tins, please cover the outside of your tins with foil, to prevent leakage.
3. If you are baking in layers, it will take 30-40 mins to bake, start testing with a skewer at 30 mins. If you are baking in a deep tin, it will take 60-70 mins, start testing with a skewer at 50 mins.

Go on...bake it!! Thank me later, when your guests polish off their plates and come requesting for a second helping....😉😉😍😍
Happy baking guys👍👍