Old-fashioned Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet Cake

Here's another Harry-Potter-Cookbook recipe which I simply HAVE to recommend.

 http://www.amazon.de/Unofficial-Harry-Potter-Cookbook-Knickerbocker/dp/1440503257/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350235134&sr=8-1

It is sooo fluffy.

All you need is:

2 ounces chopped dark chocolate
1 tbsp instant coffee
1 1/4 cups boiling water
2 3/4 cups flour
2 3/4 cups sugar (although I think that 2 cups is sufficiant)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil)
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Place the chocolate and coffee in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Stir every once in a while until smooth.
Then, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking power and mix thoroughly. Add oil and buttermilk and mix again. Now, add the eggs one by one, mixing after each until well incorporated. Last, add the chocolate-coffee mixture and the vanilla extract. Mix slowly and carefully because the mixture will slosh around the bowl.

According to the original recipe you should use a 9"x13" baking pan, which is about 24 x 36 cm. I used a 30 x 40 cm one and in the end I was happy that the pan was larger :)

Grease and flour the pan, or line it with baking parchment. Fill in the batter and bake on 175°C for about 45 minutes.
Important: A toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs! If there are no crumbs on the toothpick, the cake is over baked, so better check before the 45 minutes have run out. Just in case :)

Actually, I wanted to decorate it with vanilla cheese cream, but the cake itself was simply delicious, so I left it simple :)