Iron Chef Challenge: A little Black Magic

Oh, yes...chocolate it definitely magic! I knew my entry to the King Arthur flour Iron Chef Challenge at A Latte with Ott, A. HAD to feature chocolate. And since chocolate is magic in its own right, I went with a Black Magic Cake based on a recipe found at Just a Pinch. Here's what you'll need for the cake:

 1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur's unbleached All-Purpose Flour)

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup strong black coffee, cooled

1 cup buttermilk 

(in my case, I didn't have buttermilk, so I used slightly less than 1/2 cup milk and filled it to the 1/s cup mark w/white distilled vinegar and repeated)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

I picked up my King Arthur flour during an online grocery shopping excursion at my local grocery store. Sweet!

First, combine all the dry cake ingredients in your mixer.

Then, add the remaining ingredients and mix for two minutes. The batter will be thin. Then pour it into a greased 9x13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove cake from oven and let it cool completely.

But what's cake without frosting? Chocolate frosting to be precise? Here's what you'll need for a simple and delicious homemade chocolate frosting:

1/2 cup margarine, softened

2 oz. melted chocolate (I used Dove Chef Series dark chocolate and it was heavenly!)

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp milk

2 tsp vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together in your mixer. It will be somewhat thin and easily spreadable when you are done (not to mention delicious!).

Spread the icing on your cake - it spreads to easily! Then enjoy!

You can see how fabulously moist this cake is! The verdict?

Magical!

King Arthur did provide me with flour to use for this recipe contest, however the opinions listed here are my own.