Moist Chocolate Snack Cake

Spring in New Orleans is a different spring from Baton Rouge — louder, more colorful, the Mardi Gras aftermath still visible in the gutters and the attitude. I made king cake for my med school study group — the tradition that travels with me. Simone from Atlanta had never had king cake. She found the baby. She said, "What do I do?" I said, "You bring the next one." She said, "I will buy one." I said, "You will make one." The argument is eternal. The bakers always win.

I drove to Baker Sunday. MawMaw Shirley and I made biscuits. The conversation of flour and butter that we have been having for eleven years. The biscuits are not just food. They are vocabulary. Each one is a sentence. Each batch is a paragraph. The recipe is the grammar. The eating is the reading. We have been writing this book together since I was twelve, and the book is not finished, and the not-finishing is the point.

Simone is going to buy a king cake, and I am going to let her think that’s a real option right up until I hand her a mixing bowl. In the meantime — because every study session needs something to keep everyone at the table — I started making this chocolate snack cake on rotation. It has none of the ceremony of king cake and all of the result: something warm, shared, and made by hand. MawMaw Shirley would approve of anything that keeps people in the kitchen a little longer.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3–4 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with butter or nonstick spray and dust lightly with cocoa powder to prevent sticking.
Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined with no lumps.
Mix wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, coffee, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and sour cream until smooth and fully incorporated.
Bring the batter together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula or wooden spoon until just combined — do not overmix. A few small streaks are fine; they will bake out.
Bake. Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 32–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter. Do not overbake.
Cool. Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before glazing.
Make the glaze. Whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of milk. Add the remaining tablespoon of milk a little at a time until the glaze is pourable but not watery.
Glaze and serve. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the warm cake directly in the pan. Let it set for 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Moist Chocolate Snack Cake — The One You Make When You’re Told To