One-Bowl Chocolate Cake

Category: Dinner Ideas

This easy-to-make chocolate cake is dark, moist, and rich, and it's made with healthful canola oil and whole-wheat flour. Plus, it only dirties one bowl! It's not quite as easy as boxed cake mix, but our simple 3-step recipe gives you an entirely homemade cake in about an hour.

ingredients

  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole-wheat pastry flour, (see Ingredient Note)

  • ½ cup granulated sugar

  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)

  • ½ cup packed light brown sugar

  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten

  • 2 tablespoons canola oil

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • ½ cup hot strong black coffee

  • Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

demo

Direction

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with a circle of wax paper.

  2. Whisk flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add buttermilk, brown sugar, egg, oil and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add hot coffee and beat to blend. (The batter will be quite thin.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

  3. Bake the cake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from the pan, peel off the wax paper and let cool completely. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar before slicing.