Chocolate Buttermilk Cake
Submitted by PaddyL on June 13, 2009 at 10:30 am

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (8-1/2 oz., 240 g)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1-1/2 tsps. baking soda
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp (230g)
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar (12-1/4 oz., 350 g)
4 large eggs
1-1/3 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla

Grease and flour 2 x 9" round layer cake pans. Preheat oven to 325F.

Sift together the flour, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler set over hot, not boiling, water. Remove chocolate from heat, stir to make sure it is completely melted and smooth, then set aside to cool until comfortable to touch.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters several times. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to batter, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in the vanilla and cooled chocolate, blending until the colour is even.

Turn the mixture into the prepared pans. Smooth it level, then spread it slightly from the centre toward the edges of the pan so it will rise evenly. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the top is lightly springy to the touch and a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake in its pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out and cool completely on wire rack.

About the 'lower third of the oven': I just left the oven racks where they were, as I bake most things on the middle rack of the oven.