Classic Chocolate Cake

This classic Chocolate cake is the same as the White cake but we're adding cocoa powder and using the whole egg instead of just the whites. First when making a cake you always want to sift all your dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl and follow the wet ingredients carefully to avoid any mess ups. When it comes to baking it's definitely a science and requires some level of patience. Luckily I have the patience, but for those that know me, know I'm not by any means good at science. So, as long as you're patient, you don't have to be good at science if you can follow instructions! :) Always start with pre-heating your oven and reading ALL the instructions to a recipe before beginning. In a mixing bowl sift together 1 2/3 Cups of All purpose flour, 1/4 tsp Salt, 1/4 tsp Baking Soda, 1 tsp Baking powder, 1 Cup of Granulated Sugar and 1/4 Cup of Dark Cocoa Powder, and set aside until we're ready to combine with the wet ingredients. In another bowl (I always use my Kitchen Aide standing mixer so my hand doesn't get exhausted, but you can use a hand mixer as well, but it will take more and patience) Combine your 1/2 Cup of Whole Milk, 1/2 Cup of Sour Cream (You can use Yogurt as well), 3 Egg (room temperature), 3/4 Cup melted butter (You don't have to melt the butter first, but I find that it incorporates easier in the mixture) and 1/2 TBSP of Vanilla extract. After you have mixed the wet ingredients together, slowly incorporate your dry ingredients in batches of 1/3 until it's all combined. The reason for adding in 1/3's is do ensure a smooth silky batter with no lumps of the dry ingredients. That's also why it's important to always sift your dry ingredients together as well. Before putting the batter into your baking sheet there's a few tricks you can do the prevent the cake from sticking to the pan. You can spray the pan with cooking spray and sprinkle 1 TBSP of flour and coat the pan, use a cold stick of butter instead of spray, or if you really want, you can even cut a piece of parchment paper (not wax paper) and line the bottom of the pan you're using to bake the cake. Now, so many people ask me how I get even layers of cakes and moist cakes without having to coat the tops with simple syrup. There's two ways you can get flat layers to your cakes. This is where the science comes in to play. You can use a paper towel and get it wet and wrap aluminum foil around it and then wrap the outside of the baking sheet before pouring your batter and baking in the oven. You can also purchase baking strips online to soak in water for about 5-10 minutes and lightly ring them out before putting them on the cake pans and baking in the oven. This creates a barrier between the pan and the heat since the outsides cook faster than the inside, it forces the cake to bake rising evenly instead of crusting on the sides and that what causes the dome effect. This also helps your cakes from being too dry on the outside as well as inside. The other trick I use to get a perfectly moist cake is to take the cake straight from the oven once the toothpick comes out clean and place it into the freezer to stop the baking and lock in the moisture. This is usually only a 5-8 minute process in the freezer, depending on the cake size it could be longer. But, while the cake is cooling in the freezer you can then prep for decorating!