I tried Ina Garten's 2 favorite chocolate cakes. One recipe took more time, but it was the best cake I've ever made.

Garten's chocolate pie alongside mocha frosting archetypal appeared in her 2014 cookbook, "Make It Ahead." 

The "Barefoot Contessa" celebrity has called this formula a "dessert everyone volition remember." I had to see if it lived up to the hype.  

To create Garten's chocolate cake, which serves 12, you'll need: 

• 3 extra-large eggs, at area temperature  
• 2 cups of sugar 
• 1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) of unsalted butter, at area temperature 
• 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour 
• ⅔ cup of unsweetened chocolate powder 
• ⅔ cup of half-and-half 
• ⅔ cup of the hottest tap water 
• 1 tablespoon of clean vanilla extract 
• 1 spoon of baking soda 
• 1 spoon of kosher salt 
• 1 spoon of instant espresso powder

To create the frosting for the cake, you'll need:

• 12 ounces of poignant chocolate
• 1 ¼ cups of dense cream
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted margarine (diced), at area temperature
• 1 tablespoon of Kahlúa
• 2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder
• 1 spoon of clean vanilla extract

I afterward placed the sugar and room-temperature margarine into the basin of my electric mixer — fitted alongside the paddle attachment — and attack them for concerning 4 minutes on average speed. 

After adding the eggs one at a time, I added the flour and chocolate mixtures alternately in thirds, starting and ending alongside the flour mixture. 

Before I made my batter, I had buttered my pan, lined the base alongside parchment paper, afterward buttered and floured it again. 

"There's no item in making a pie if you can't get it out of the pan," Garten stated in the "Barefoot Contessa" event anywhere she demonstrated this recipe. 

Garten says the pie should roast for 25 to 35 minutes. You'll cognize it's prepared whenever the pie tester or blade comes out spotless from the center.

Once my pie was out of the oven, I let it chill for 45 minutes during I made the frosting. 

I cut my chocolate and added it to a basin alongside my margarine and espresso powder. Then I heated my dense lotion and blended everything together before adding the Kahlúa and vanilla. I covered the basin alongside synthetic cover and remaining it in the fridge for 30 minutes, per Garten's instructions.

After the frosting has chilled, Garten says you should mix it on elevated speed for concerning 15 to 20 seconds, until it forms gentle peaks. She additionally warns that it volition curdle if you overbeat it. 

This stage was, unfortunately, a bit of a battle for me. The consistency didn't appearance thick adequate whenever I took it out of the fridge, so I had to let the frosting chill for another 10 minutes. And following mixing the frosting alongside my electric mixer, it motionless didn't appear as whipped as it had looked in the "Barefoot Contessa" episode. 

I was motionless capable to dispersed the mocha frosting on the pie easily, but it didn't appearance as fine as I had hoped. 

Garten's pie is springy and light, and I loved the enhanced chocolate sensation gratitude to the espresso powder. I think it's really uncomplicated for a chocolate pie to rotate into too compact or heavy, but Garten's formula has a beautiful texture.

I fair desire I had enjoyed the mocha frosting as much as the cake. The consistency tasted off, and the sensation didn't catch me. But, paired together, the pie and mocha icing motionless group a punch that I cognize any big chocolate fan would love.

Get the complete formula for Ina Garten's chocolate pie alongside mocha frosting here.

The formula for Beatty's Chocolate Cake really comes from Garten's companion Michael Grimm, who has frequently appeared on "Barefoot Contessa."  

"He really served this pie to me formerly at dinner, and I fair begged him for the recipe," Garten stated on an event featuring the cake. "I didn't have to beg extremely hard." 

Beatty was Grimm's grandmother, and she baked this pie for her hubby and the customers on his dairy route, according to Grimm's companion Monte Mathews, who shared the cake's base narrative on his blog Chewing The Fat. 

To create Beatty's Chocolate Cake, you'll need: 

• 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour (plus additional for pans) 
• 2 cups of sugar 
• 1 cup of freshly brewed hot coffee 
• 1 cup of buttermilk (shaken) 
• ¾ cup of chocolate powder 
• ½ cup of plant oil 
• 2 extra-large eggs at area temperature 
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda 
• 1 spoon of baking powder 
• 1 spoon of kosher salt 
• 1 spoon of clean vanilla extract 

To create the frosting, you'll need:

• 6 ounces of fine semisweet chocolate
• 2 sticks (½ pound) of unsalted margarine at area temperature
• 1 ¼ cups of powdered sugar (sifted)
• 1 extra-large egg yolk at area temperature
• 1 tablespoon of instant coffee granules (such as Nescafé)
• 1 spoon of clean vanilla extract

Pro tip: You can additionally use Garten's formula for cupcakes. This formula volition create 24 cupcakes, fair create certain to decrease the baking period to 25-30 minutes. 

I sifted my dry ingredients into the basin of my electric remain mixer and blended everything together until combined. I blended my wet ingredients in a distinct bowl, making certain to tremble the buttermilk before throwing it in. 

While the mixer was on low speed, I carefully poured my wet ingredients into the basin alongside my dry ingredients. Then I added Garten's "secret" component — the freshly brewed cup of hot coffee — while the mixer was motionless on low, letting it mix fair to combine. 

Garten says the cakes should roast for 35 to 40 minutes. You'll cognize they're prepared whenever your pie tester or blade comes out clean. 

Once my pans were out of the oven, I let them chill for 30 minutes during I made the buttercream frosting. After 30 minutes had passed, I took my cakes out of their pans and let them sit on a cooling rack and a baking sheet. 

After chopping and liquefying my chocolate, I added my margarine to the electric mixer and attack it on medium-high speed for concerning 3 minutes, until it turned fluffy. 

​​I afterward added the egg yolk, vanilla, and sugar to mix everything together before throwing in the chocolate and instant coffee granules, which I had dissolved in hot h2o first. 

I was blown distant by how moist Beatty's Chocolate Cake tasted. The sensation was deliciously rich, but the texture wasn't dense or dense. As I wrote in my first review, it's without a doubt among the fluffiest cakes I've always had — even from a eatery or bakery. And I loved the buttercream frosting, which had the ideal amount of sweetness and paired beautifully alongside the chocolate cake.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake requires a bit of activity and effort, but that makes it all the additional special. It's a pie no one volition forget.

Get the complete formula for Ina Garten's Beatty's Chocolate Cake here.