Cocoa Cake — The Cake That Meets You Where You Are

Valentine's Day is Thursday, which means the school is in the particular state of semi-chaos that teenagers enter when romance is officially on the calendar and also required to be present during algebra. I have been a teacher long enough to know that Valentine's Day in a high school is both unbearable and secretly wonderful — the fervor, the heartbreak, the declarations, the catastrophes, all happening simultaneously across five hundred young people who feel everything too much and not yet quite right. I find it touching. My colleagues find it exhausting. We are probably both correct.

Thirty-seven Valentine's Days with Marvin. The first one, in 1982, he gave me a card that said "Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm an accountant, and I love you too" — which is an extremely stupid poem and also, somehow, perfect, the exact right note for who Marvin is. I have kept that card. It is in the box in the closet with the other irreplaceables. I have been looking at that box differently lately — not with grief, not yet, but with the attention of a woman who is beginning to understand that the things in the box are documents, evidence, a record of a life she does not want to misplace.

I made a cake this week. Not for Valentine's Day specifically — although Marvin appreciated the timing — a dark chocolate cake with a ganache frosting, the kind of cake that takes an entire day if you make the ganache yourself (which you should), the kind that is more brownie than cake in texture, dense and serious and not trying to be cheerful. I needed a serious cake. I have been cheerful about this for five months — appropriately cheerful, productively cheerful, the kind of cheerful that involves researching day programs and memory exercises and the best brand of pill organizer — and this week I wanted a cake that met me where I was.

Marvin remembered Valentine's Day. He remembered it without prompting, remembered to get a card (he walked to the drugstore alone, which David does not know and which I will not tell David), and the card he chose said something perfectly Marvin: a pun involving the word "heart" that only an accountant would find funny and that I found, inexplicably, exactly right. Thirty-seven years. The same man. I will take every version of this man I can get.

The cake I made was this one — a cocoa cake, dark and dense and not asking anything of you — and I finished it with a ganache I made myself, because some weeks you need the extra hour of work, the stirring, the waiting, the small rituals that remind you your hands still know what to do. If you are in a tender place and you want something that will hold up to it, this is the cake I would give you.

Cocoa Cake

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• For the ganache frosting:
• 8 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions

1. Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Lightly flour the sides.
2. Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
3. Mix wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, cooled coffee, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.
4. Make the batter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined — the batter will be thin. Do not overmix.
5. Bake. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake 32–35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Make the ganache. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit undisturbed for 2 minutes. Add the butter, then stir slowly from the center outward until the ganache is glossy and smooth. Let cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until thickened to a spreadable consistency, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
7. Frost and finish. Place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread a generous layer of ganache over the top. Set the second layer on top and pour the remaining ganache over the cake, spreading it down the sides. Allow to set for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 68g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 310mg