Out Of This World Meteorite Dust Cake

A rich, dark chocolate cake with a tender crumb and a dramatic charcoal-grey finish that looks like it fell from the heavens. The deep cocoa flavor gets a boost from espresso powder, and the cake stays incredibly moist thanks to sour cream and hot coffee in the batter. Dust the top with a blend of black cocoa and powdered sugar for that cosmic, meteorite-dusted look. It's striking on the plate and tastes like the best chocolate cake you've ever made.

Ingredients

  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1¾ cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp espresso powder
  • 2 large eggs large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup hot brewed coffee
  • 2 tbsp black cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp powdered sugar
  • for greasing pans unsalted butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
  2. Grease the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans with butter, then line the bottoms with parchment paper circles. Grease the parchment too.
  3. Brew 1 cup (240 ml) hot coffee and set it aside to cool slightly while you prep the dry ingredients.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1¾ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour, 1¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar, ¾ cup (65 g) Dutch-process cocoa powder, 1½ tsp (7 g) baking soda, 1½ tsp (7 g) baking powder, 1 tsp (5 g) salt, and 2 tsp (4 g) espresso powder until evenly combined and there are no cocoa lumps.
  5. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 large eggs (at room temperature), 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk (at room temperature), ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil, ½ cup (120 g) sour cream (at room temperature), and 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
  6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk gently until just combined. The batter will be thick and a bit lumpy, and that's fine.
  7. Slowly pour in 1 cup (240 ml) hot brewed coffee while whisking continuously. The batter will thin out dramatically and become very liquidy. This is exactly what you want. Whisk until smooth.
  8. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. The batter will be quite thin, so pour carefully.
  9. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The tops will look set and spring back lightly when touched.
  10. Remove the pans from the oven and let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
  11. Run an offset spatula or butter knife around the edges of each pan to loosen the cakes, then turn them out onto the cooling rack. Peel off the parchment paper and let the cakes cool completely, about 30 minutes.
  12. While the cakes cool, make the meteorite dust: in a small bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp (12 g) black cocoa powder and 2 tbsp (15 g) powdered sugar until blended.
  13. Once the cakes are completely cool, place one layer on a serving plate. You can frost and stack the layers if you like, or serve the layers as is for a simpler presentation.
  14. Using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the top of the cake (or both layers if serving them separately) generously with the black cocoa and powdered sugar mixture. Tap the sieve gently to create that cosmic, dusty look.