0.3 scant teaspoon salt — omit if using butter salted
0.5 teaspoon salt
4 oz butter unsalted
0.5 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water
Equipment
bowl
frying pan
sauce pan
oven
whisk
mixing bowl
toothpicks
wooden spoon
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 15×10 inch jelly roll pan.
Mix the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon (if using) in a large mixing bowl and set aside.Melt butter in a medium size saucepan. Stir in the cocoa powder and water and bring to a boil.
Pour the boiling cocoa mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and mix with a spoon until blended.In a second bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, buttermilk and baking soda.
Add the egg mixture to the cocoa mixture and stir until blended – do no overbeat. Just do your best to blend the ingredients.
Pour batter into the pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. As soon as you pull the cake from the oven, start the icing. To get a head start, you might want to sift the sugar while the cake bakes.Icing: Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a mixing bowl and set aside. You can skip the sifting step if you must, but sifting helps it to blend easier and the icing will be smoother.Melt the butter in a saucepan set over medium heat. When butter is almost melted, add the 4 tablespoons cocoa and 7 tablespoons milk and bring just to a boil. As soon as the mixture reaches a good boil, remove from heat.
Pour the hot boiling cocoa mixture into the bowl of sifted confectioners’ sugar.
Add the vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Work quickly so that icing won’t start to set in the bowl.
