Chocolate Cake with Chocolate

from thepioneerwoman.com

I N G R E D I E N T S

• 4 sticks butter, plus more for greasing
• 1 scant cup cocoa powder
• 4 cups flour
• 4 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tsp. baking soda 
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 whole eggs, beaten
• --for the frosting--
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 24 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 2 tsp. vanilla

D I R E C T I O N S

--for the cake--

--preheat the oven to 350 F and heavily grease and dust with cocoa four 9-inch cake pans

--in a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt.

--in a saucepan, melt the butter.  add the cocoa, stir together, and then pour in the 2 cups of boiling water.  allow the mixture to bubble up for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat.  Pour over the flour mixture and stir lightly to cool.

--combine the buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla, and beaten eggs.  Stir this mixture into the butter/chocolate mixture.

--divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans and bake for 20 minutes.

--cool completely before icing 

--for the frosting--

--heat the cream in a saucepan until very hot, and then pour over the chocolate pieces. Stir to completely melt, and then pour into the bowl of an electric mixer.  Refrigerate to cool.

--once completely chilled, add the vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until light and airy.  You are now ready to assemble the cake, which is to frost each layer with about a 1/2 cup of frosting between each layer.