Super Fudgy Chocolate Oat Layer Cake with Chocolate Oat Milk

Ingredients

Softened butter or baking spray, for the cake pans

1½ cups (280 g) granulated sugar

¾ cup (90 g) oat flour

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (105 g) whole wheat flour

½ cup (45 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

14 teaspoons baking powder

1% teaspoons baking soda

I teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup (180 ml) unsweetened oat milk

½ cup (80 ml) olive oil or vegetable oil

1 large egg, at room temperature

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

⅓ cup (80 ml) boiling water

Chocolate Oat Milk Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease the sides and bottoms of two 9-inch (23 cm) cake pans with butter or baking spray. Line the bottoms with rounds of parchment and grease the parchment.

Sift into a medium bowl the sugar, oat flour, whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk to combine.

Whisk together the oat milk, oil, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk the sugar-flour mixture into the wet mixture and stir or whisk vigorously for about 1 minute. Stir in the boiling water and mix until combined. The batter will be thinner than you might expect!

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (it may seem like there's not quite enough batter, but it will rise, and the layers are meant to be thin). Bake until the cakes start to feel firm and just start to pull away from the sides of the pans, 25 to 30 minutes. (Note that the traditional "toothpick" test doesn't work well for this cake because it is so fudgy; the crumbs will always look wet on the toothpick.) Cool completely in the pans.

The cake layers will be fragile because they're so moist, so handle with care. Run a knife around the edge and flip a layer of cake out onto a serving dish. Remove and discard the parchment. Spread about one- third of the frosting over the layer, stopping about ¼ inch (6 mm) from the edge. Flip the other layer of cake onto the first layer. Remove and discard the parchment. Top the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting.

Store leftovers loosely wrapped in the refrigerator, but allow the cake to warm up at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving; the texture gets firm and crumbly when cold

Notes

The cake layers are very moist and will be quite fragile, especially if you accidentally underbake them. But the fudgy frosting is there to cover any mishaps, so if your layers rip, just piece them back together as you assemble the cake and know that they will taste perfect. If you make the cake ahead, you can keep it in the refrigerator, but be sure to give it at least 1 hour to

come to room temperature before serving, or the texture will

be too crumbly. The cake is gorgeous as is, but you can finish it

with a sprinkle of toasted rolled oats. —Makes one 9-inch (23 cm)

two-layer cake