Super Stoked Choco-Cake

Two reasons for excitement:
1. The up arrow on my keyboard has started working again!! I pried off the key and cleaned that mother out and now it works again. Who knew?
2. MINI TRIP!!!
Mister came up with a brilliant idea to take a mini holiday to D.C. I'm so excited*. It was the perfect time for this plan because we're both ready to reenact War of the Roses. "That depends on what the pate is made from". (Check out the trailer on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ebv3i_9Ltc . ) Work has been a bit stressful and of course it's March so it's allllllmost good weather but not quite yet. Thankfully we're both early tax filers so we have a tiny bit of play monies after paying off the ever present tarjeta de creditos. Meh. I hate credit cards. I wish they would institute the whole no cards issued to anyone under 21. You need plastic? Use a bank card. If this law was in place when I was 18 I wouldn't have been in as much debt as I was... of course I probably wouldn't have been able to afford the ramen either but I was in art school... isn't that the point? Starving artist and all?
By the way, this is not a myth or an exaggeration, artists and art students generally have no money because decent art supplies and all the tools you need to start (not to mention the price of really good paper) are unbelievably expensive. I don't know that I could estimate the amount of money I spent during 4 years on art supplies and tools. $6000 maybe? Some of the tools I still have... you only have to buy some items once and if you take care of them, they'll last indefinitely. So I guess you could call it an investment? P-shaw. Pretty sure this is why I'm a tool addict now. When I say addict I mean yes, I would steal $20 bucks out of your mom's purse to purchase a ball peen with a sweet grip. One of my dreams is to buy a nice sawsall and systematically demolish a house. Well, maybe not a house that smacks of performance art, let's say a sofa...
I imagine this addiction will lead to the time when I finally buy a fancy pants chef's knife. And by fancy pants I mean a carbon steel biznatch that I sharpen myself and no one is allowed to touch.

No.
One.

If I had the room (and money) I would eventually set up a super sweet kitchen, metal shop, pottery shop and wood shop and it would be wicked**. Of course, I might stretch myself a little thin when it comes to focus... but I could use ALL shops to create my Masterpiece***.

This cake recipe wasn't originally mine but I can't remember where I got it. It's a VERY rich cake and one year I think I make 8 of them as holiday gifts.
I use 2, 9" round baking tins for this recipe.

Ingredients
3 oz grated chocolate or choco chips (I like the fancy Swiss baking chocolate but you can use whatever you can afford)
1 1/2 cups hot coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup unsweet cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 tsp vanilla

Oven
1. Preheat to 300F
2. line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and grease sides and paper

Combinations du jour (uh... du cake)
1. dump hot coffee into a small bowl, add chocolate pieces stir occasionally until smooth, set aside
2. sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt set aside
3. in a large bowl mix eggs until slightly thick and lemon colored, slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla and chocolate/coffee mix and beat until well combined
4. slowly add in sifted ingredients and beat until just combined (batter will be a little lumpy)

Bakings and Quakings
1. Dump batter into pans in equal-ish amounts
2. Smack pans on the counter to release any giant bubbles
3. Bake until cake springs back when you touch the top about one hour to 1 1/2 hours
4. cool completely in the pans
5. frost and eat or just eat and shiver with chocolate fulfillment


*and no, I just can't hide it. And now you may smack me.

**pronounced "wick-it" and is generally paired with pisser (pronounced piss-ah)

***Not to be confused with Monsterpiece as in Monsterpiece Theater with Alistair Cookie