Easiest Chocolate Cake Recipe

 How to make tasty chocolate cake with easily available ingredients at home.

Preparation Time: 10-12 minutes

Cooking Time: 35-40 minutes

Quantity of cake prepared: roughly 1kg (around 2 pounds) 

Ingredients:

1. All-purpose flour (maida): 1.5 cup (225gm)
2. Powdered sugar: 1 cup (150gm)
3. Cocoa powder: 1/4^th cup (20gm)
4. Corn flour: 3 tbsp (24gm)
5. Baking powder: 1.5 tsp (7.5gm)
6. Baking soda: 1/2 tsp (2.5gm)
7. Salt: 1/2 tsp (2.5gm)
8. Butter (unsalted, at room temperature): 1/4^th cup (50gm)
9. Oil (unflavoured): 1/4^th cup (60 ml)
10. Fresh curd: 1/2 cup (120ml)
11. Milk: 1/2 cup (120ml)
12. Vinegar: 1 tbsp (15ml)
13. Chocolate/vanilla essence: 1 tsp (7.5ml)
    

Method:

1. Assemble all the ingredients at one place, make sure every ingredient is at room temperature (especially butter, curd and milk).
2. Take a mixing bowl and put all-purpose flour in it. Remove 3 tbsp of all-purpose flour and add 3 tbsp of corn flour to it. Then add all the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt) except powdered sugar to it and mix them well. This is our dry mixture.
3. In another bowl sift the above dry mixture 3 times using a sieve, keep it aside. Please don't skip sifting, otherwise your cake will not turn out spongy.
4. Take a 8 inch cake tin, grease it with a tsp of oil and place butter paper/baking paper on it and again grease it with oil. If you don't have butter paper, dust it with 1 tbsp of all-purpose flour and remove the extra flour. Keep it aside. 
5. Preheat your oven or heavy bottom kadhai/cooker or gas tandoor.
   If you are using oven, preheat at 180℃ for 10 minutes.
   If you are using kadhai/cooker, place some salt in it and cover it. Keep the flame on low and preheat for 10 minutes.
   If you are using gas tandoor, preheat it at low flame for 10 minutes. Do not forget to put lid over it.
6. In a big mixing bowl, add butter, oil, curd, powdered sugar and chocolate/vanilla essence. Mix all the ingredients well with a ballon whisk. If you don't have one, you can use any spatula. This is our wet mixture.
   It takes about 5 minutes to prepare this. 
7. Now add the dry mixture to it in two batches and mix gently with a spoon/spatula by cut and fold method. Please do not over mix or beat the ingredients at this stage, it will spoil the cake.
8. Now, add milk in two batches and mix it gently. The batter should have pouring consistency, you can add 1-2 tbsp of more milk, if you feel the need.
   At the end, add vinegar and mix it gently by cut and fold method just 4-5 times, not more than that.
   After adding vinegar, baking soda starts reacting and the batter starts rising, so do not keep the batter as such for too long after this stage.
9. Immediately transfer the batter to the cake tin and tap it 6-7 times so that any air bubbles are removed. Put the cake tin in the oven/kadhai/cooker/gas tandoor to bake.
   If you are using oven, bake it at  180℃ for 35 minutes.
   If you are using kadhai/cooker/gas tandoor, bake it at low flame for 35 minutes.
10. After 35 minutes, check the cake by pricking it with a toothpick in the centre, if it comes out clean, your cake is ready, if it doesn't bake for 5 more minutes.
11. Take the cake tin out, place it on a wired rack. If you don't have one, you can also keep it on a cooker stand. Cover it with a cotton cloth, so that it doesn't lose its moisture. Let it cool and then unmold it. Never unmold the cake when it is hot.
    It took 1 hr. to cool down when I baked it.
12. After unmolding the cake, again let it cool (if it is medium hot)and then cover with a food wrap or any big plastic polythene, so that it is completely air tight and refrigerate for 5-6 hours, then only consume it.

Enjoy your super fluffy and tasty homebaked chocolate cake 😊. Will soon post the video for the same. You can also do icing over it, I will soon post the recipe for that too.

Note:

1. This cake tastes best after 1 day, so try to bake it a day before the actual occasion.
2. Every ingredient should be at room temperature.
3. Prepare the cake tin first, then make the batter, as it is not advisable to leave the batter for long.
4. Never unmold the cake when it is hot. 
5. Preheating the oven is a must, overheating should be avoided.
6. Do not use cold knife instead of toothpick to check the cake.