Basic Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

The Cake

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup warm water

The Ganache

• 8 oz chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup of light cream
• 1 tbsp sugar (only for dark or semi-sweet chocolate)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. With butter, grease an 8 or 9-inch round cake pan. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
3. In your mixer, or a larger bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and water. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
5. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a rack to completely.
6. Place chopped chocolate in a microwavable glass bowl.
7. Melt it in the microwave in 20 second increments.
8. Add the cream and sugar and stir until it is well combined (at first, it may seem like it isn't combining well - it will after about a minute).
9. Set the cake on a rack over a baking sheet and poor the ganache over top.
10. You may need to spread it with a spatula ... or you can just let gravity do the work and have it run down the sides.
11. It may seem a wee bit runny, but will set over the next hour or so.
12. Top with candy or sprinkles if desired.