Ingredients

• 2/3 cup dark cocoa (we used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa to get that deep dark color)
• 1 cup hot brewed coffee
• 1 pinch cayenne
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• butter (for greasing the pans)
• parchment paper (Two parchment circles, cut the size of the bottom of your cake pans)
• cocoa (for dusting the pans)
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup dark cocoa (we used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa to get that deep dark color)
• 4 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, dissolve cocoa powder and cayenne with hot brewed coffee and set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream shortening, oil and sugar until well combined.

4. Add eggs and beat until light and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. This process beats air into the mixture. Scrape paddle and bowl and beat once.

5. Slowly add in coffee/cocoa mixture, buttermilk and vanilla and beat until batter is smooth. Scrape paddle and bowl and beat once.

6. In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet and beat on low speed to incorporate. Scrape down bowl and beat until all ingredients are well combined.

7. Butter the bottom and sides of two cake pans and place a round parchment circle in each. Butter the top of the parchment then sprinkle the whole inside of the parchment and pan with cocoa powder, shaking out excess. Pour batter evenly between two pans and place in center of oven.

8. Bake 30-40 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Depending on your oven, you may need to rotate cake pans half way through. The use of olive oil in this recipe requires it to cook a few minutes longer than most cakes.

9. Cool pans on wire racks for ten minutes then carefully invert out of pan onto rack to cool further.

10. To Prepare the Frosting;

11. Sift cocoa powder with confectioner’s sugar in a large bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and cocoa powder mixture along with buttermilk and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Add additional buttermilk or whole milk if frosting is too thick.

12. Place a small dollop of frosting on a cake dish to hold the cake from sliding and place one cake on the frosting. Frost the top of that layer. Place the second cake on the first and frost the entire cake, top and sides.