Directions

• Position the oven rack in the center of the oven; preheat the oven to 350°; grease bottom and sides of two 9″ round cake pans; line the pans with parchment paper and set aside.
• Combine together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the sugar, and using the paddle attachment, mix at low speed until blended.
• Add the vegetable oil and mix a few seconds, until the dry ingredients are crumbly.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs until blended. Add the milk, glycerin and vanilla extract until blended.
• With the mixer at low speed, add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until blended, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.
• Gradually add the boiling water and mix well until smooth.
• Pour the batter into cake pans, dividing equally. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a pick comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack. You can bake the cakes a couple of days earlier and refrigerate them while still in their pans, wrapped in plastic wrap.
• For the Mocha Buttercream
• In a small heavy saucepan combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil over medium heat, until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat to high
• In the bowl of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until the sugar syrup is ready.
• Cook the sugar syrup until it reaches 238 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. It will seem as if it takes forever to pass the 230 degree temperature, but once it does, it climbs quickly, so don’t leave it unattended.
• Remove the pan from the heat and with the mixer running, pour the hot syrup over the eggs, steadily and paying attention not to hit the whisk, or it will splatter.
• Continue to beat at medium-high speed until the egg mixture is completely cool.
• At medium speed add the softened butter 1 Tablespoon at a time. Add the vanilla extract, the melted chocolate and the espresso mixture until well blended.
• To assemble the cake
• I recommend using a turning table to best decorate your cake. Place one of the layers of the chocolate cake in the center of your plate. If you use a doily, add a tablespoon of buttercream in the center of the plate and another in the center of the doily, so that the cake is stable. Also, I suggest you cut stripes out of your parchment paper to place around your cake, so that the edges remain neat.
• Spread a generous amount of mocha buttercream on top of the layer and to the side of the cake. Place a second layer of top and refrigerate for 15/20 minutes before adding more buttercream and finishing decorating your cake.
• As I said in my introduction, I am not very skilled in cake decorating, but if you are, you should have enough buttercream to enjoy decorating your cake. If you have any leftover buttercream, you can freeze it for up to three months.

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