Ina Garten Uses Coffee 2 Ways For Her Game-Changing Chocolate Cake

As one of the most recognizable chefs and cookbook authors in America, Ina Garten is fondly regarded for her delicious dishes and equally easy-to-digest cooking tips. From her mess-free technique for cutting cauliflower to her method for storing good knives, she's thoughtful about everything that goes on in the kitchen. That includes drawing on complementary flavors to cook the best-tasting food. This approach is the secret to one of the Barefoot Contessa's signature recipes: Beatty's chocolate cake. Moist, sweet, and straightforward to make, the decadent, double-layered dessert is a go-to for many home bakers who have discovered that other recipes simply can't compare. So what sets Garten's chocolate cake apart from all the others? Coffee, in two forms.

In her classic recipe, she uses both instant coffee and freshly brewed coffee to amplify the sweetness and depth of the chocolate's flavors. A hot cup of joe is poured into the batter while the powdered instant coffee is stirred into the frosting. The result? A combination of coffee and chocolate that transforms a relatively ordinary dessert into a luxuriously rich one. Even if you don't have the time or energy to take on a whole cake, Garten's recipe can be modified slightly for cupcakes (via Instagram). But no matter what form you make it in, there won't be a crumb left behind when you indulge in this coffee-infused chocolate cake, whether alone or with friends and family.

While you might brew a fresh pot of coffee to stay caffeinated during a day of baking, when making Ina Garten's irresistible chocolate cake, you'll want to pour a cup just for the dessert itself. Her recipe calls for freshly brewed coffee in the batter and a spoonful of instant coffee for the frosting.

The chocolate cake batter is as simple and straightforward as most others despite the slight twist. After mixing the dry and wet ingredients separately and then finally together, add 1 cup of hot coffee. Garten suggests stirring it just enough to combine before moving on to the oven. Alongside the buttermilk and vegetable oil, the cup of coffee improves the cake's moisture to make each bite decadent.

As the cake cools, turn to the frosting, where the rest of the coffee will go. Instead of a conventionally brewed cup, Garten recommends using 1 tablespoon of instant coffee powder. The concentrated form delivers flavor without watering down the frosting. Espresso powder — which she uses for a pan-version of this cake — can also work here (via YouTube). However, you'll want to use slightly less as it has a stronger flavor than standard instant coffee powder. Instead of adding the powder directly to the melted chocolate (either semisweet or bittersweet chocolate), dissolve the instant coffee in 2 tablespoons of hot water before pouring it in. The end result: Chocolate frosting that's extra rich and flavorful.

Chocolate-covered espresso beans. Tiramisu. Cafe mochas. From desserts to drinks, coffee and cocoa are combined in all kinds of sweets — and for good reason. While each is enjoyable on its own, when paired together, these ingredients help the other's flavors shine. The bitterness of coffee is balanced by the sweetness of chocolate; chocolate's sweetness is enhanced by coffee's bitterness. This type of union is fundamental to good cooking. Complementary flavors create and amplify depth in dishes, resulting in more interesting sensory experiences while eating.

As with Ina Garten's chocolate cake, many other cocoa-based baked goods feature coffee in one of its many forms to play up the richness of chocolate. For instance, box brownies can be easily upgraded by substituting water with brewed coffee. And while it might cause some concern, there's no need to worry that this sort of swap will result in a dessert that tastes like you're drinking an unsweetened cup of joe. Most recipes take the measurements into consideration to ensure that the amount of coffee added makes the chocolate taste more chocolatey rather than overwhelms it. Besides, if you were looking for a reason to bake a cake, putting this phenomenon to the test is as good as any.