Jessica's chocolate cake

"Absolutely, positively, without a doubt -- the best." --Jessica's modest assessment

This is Jessica's chocolate cake recipe, refined painstakingly over the years. It's surprisingly healthy and very tasty.

Recipe

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 cup + heaping spoonful cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 cup strong coffee
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place rack in center of oven.

Grease bundt cake pan with margarine and sprinkle evenly with cocoa.

Boil 1 cup (plus a little more to account for evaporation) of water.

Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients together in extra-large Pyrex bowl.

When water has boiled, add 3 teaspoons of instant espresso to it. Let cool.

In a medium Pyrex bowl, beat 3 eggs.

Add oil, *cooled* espresso, vanilla, and finally, buttermilk. Mix well.

Pour wet mixture into dry mixture. Mix well, then blend using hand-held electric beater at medium speed for 2 minutes. Occasionally, draw a spoon around the edges of the bowl to distribute ingredients. Batter should be the consistency of a thick milkshake.

Pour batter into greased/powdered cake pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes (in our oven). The cake will pull away from the edges of the pan, springing back to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in its center will come out slightly covered -- this is good.

Let cake cool for 10 minutes. Turn out onto plate.

Serves 14.

Notes

Even though this is allegedly the perfect recipe, I have tried over the years to improve it. I've added chili powder and cinnamon, and it hasn't hurt the recipe, but it didn't markedly improve it either. I tried adding nuts and dried fruits, but they always sink to the top of the cake. I was told recently that I should flour the nuts before adding them to the batter. I will try that next time.