The feast served during Katniss’s first night away from her family ends with a decadent chocolate cake. Amidst the depression of facing almost-certain death (not to mention Haymitch’s dispiriting drunkenness!), this sweet ending perhaps makes Katniss realize that things aren’t as bad as they may seem.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup fine-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup coffee, cold-brewed
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
For the icing
- 2 cups butter, softened
- 9 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 1/2 cups fine-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the eggs, coffee, buttermilk and oil. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth; batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 45 minutes.
- While cake cools, prepare the icing. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed or using a wooden spoon and lots of muscle, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Reduce speed to low and add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa, and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add milk as needed until frosting reaches preferred spreading consistency. (For thicker frosting, add less than a cup of milk. To thin out your frosting, add more milk. The choice is yours!)
- Once cake has thoroughly cooled, spread icing over the top
