Grandma’s Chocolate Cake

Name: Grandma’s Chocolate Cake
Yield: Makes one 8-in [20-cm] two-layer cake
Ingredients: ⅓ cup plus 2 Tbsp [55 g] Guittard Cocoa Rouge (Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder); ½ cup plus 2 Tbsp [130 g] sugar; ¾ cup [115 g] Guittard Choc-Au-Lait Baking Chips (white chocolate); ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp [210 ml] water; ¼ tsp vanilla extract; ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp [210 ml] full-fat buttermilk; ½ cup plus 2 Tbsp [150 ml] vegetable oil; 1¼ tsp salt; 2 Tbsp light corn syrup; 2⅔ cups [400 g] Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Baking Wafers; 1¼ cups [300 ml] heavy whipping cream; 2 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 6 Tbsp [85 g] unsalted butter, at room temperature; 1½ cups [340 g] unsalted butter, cut into ½-in [12-mm] cubes, at room temperature; Pinch of salt; 1 Tbsp baking soda; 3 egg whites, at room temperature; 1¾ cups [350 g] sugar; 1¾ cups plus 1 Tbsp [220 g] all-purpose flour

Preparation info

Makes
one
8 in [ 20 cm ] two-layer cake

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Guittard Chocolate Cookbook

By Amy Guittard

Published 2015

About

This cake is rich, moist, and delicious—the kind of chocolate cake you dream about when you’re pouring yourself a glass of milk. Donald developed this cake recipe two decades ago when he was the pastry chef for the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.

As he tells it, “Every hotel pastry chef gets beat up over three things: muffins for the morning breakfast, American-style cookies, and a classic chocolate cake. Sean Loeffel, the food and beverage director at the hotel, had a clear idea of