*This Chocolate Cake is one of my favorite desserts of all time. Tangy buttermilk, hot brewed coffee, and lots of cocoa powder create a perfectly sweet, rich, and moist cake.*

I’m so excited to share this post today, because this chocolate cake is seriously one of the most classic, versatile, and delicious recipes in my arsenal. A little spoiler alert: the key players here are cocoa, buttermilk, and hot coffee! Truth be told, many, many variations are floating around out there on the internet. Ina Garten has a version, Hershey’s promotes a similar recipe on their site, and my mom has always made a chocolate buttermilk cake from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, which was originally published in 1896! When a recipe has been around for over one hundred years, you know that it’s gotta be good 🙂

So basically, my point in sharing the recipe here today is simply to alert you that if, somehow, you haven’t tried this cake yet, you gotta make it now! I’ve made this very cake so many times for all sorts of different occasions – friends’ birthdays in college, for simple dinner parties, and even in cupcake form for high school bake sales. Usually I stick to the classic chocolate, but sometimes I’ll add in other extra flavors – like raspberry jam or peppermint extract. For my boyfriend’s birthday last year, I decked out the chocolate layers with peanut butter frosting and chocolate peanut butter cups for a delicious and decadent treat.

In case you’re looking for an occasion to make a chocolate dessert like this one, I might remind you that Valentine’s Day happens to be coming up next week! When we were little, my mom would always make a heart-shaped chocolate cake for the holiday, topped with chocolate frosting and lots of those conversation heart candies. Sometimes a sweet, homemade, festive dessert is better than anything too decadent and over-the-top. I love this cake because the combination of cocoa powder and buttermilk creates a perfectly tangy and sweet chocolate flavor. We add hot brewed coffee to the batter just before baking – the coffee flavor helps to highlight all of the chocolaty goodness, and the extra liquid keeps the layers so moist. Finally, I like to top off the cake with a fudge frosting for one more hit of chocolate! Whether you make this cake for Valentine’s Day next week or an upcoming birthday, I just know that you’ll love it. And keep your eyes peeled, because I’ve got one more delicious and romantic chocolate dessert for two coming your way next Monday!