Chocolate Cake (with Creme Fraiche)

Notes

Fluffy, moist, and rises well.

Yield

Three 8” cake rounds.

Ingredients

• Room-temperature butter, for greasing the pans
• 2 cups (260 g) cake flour
• 2¼ cups (450 g) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup (80 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
• ¾ cup (177 g) strong freshly brewed coffee, steaming hot
• 1 cup (240 g) crème fraîche, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs plus 2 large yolks, at room temperature
• ¾ cup (180 g) neutral oil, such as avocado or vegetable

Steps

1. Arrange an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and another in the lower third. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of 3 (8-inch) cake pans with butter, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment paper and smooth the parchment to eliminate air bubbles.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cake flour, granulated sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder; mix on low speed just until combined.
3. Bloom the cocoa: In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the cocoa powder and hot coffee. Add the crème fraîche and vanilla, then whisk until completely smooth. Set aside.
4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the 5 whole eggs and 2 yolks until smooth; set aside.
5. Mix the batter: To the stand mixer bowl, add the oil and half of the cocoa mixture; mix on low speed just until the flour is completely coated in the liquid ingredients. Pause the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then mix on medium until smooth and pasty, about 30 seconds. Pause and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl again, then add the whisked eggs and remaining cocoa mixture. Beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice, until the batter is very silky and has the consistency of thin pancake batter, about 1 minute.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly. (For uniform layers, use a scale – you’ll get about 550 grams of batter per pan.) Transfer the pans to the oven, positioning two on the upper rack and one on the lower, staggering them so the pans above don’t block the one below. Bake, rotating the top two pans side to side and rack to rack after 20 minutes, until the tops of the cakes are domed, springy to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
7. Remove the pans from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Source

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024760-chocolate-layer-cake