Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter paper. Dust the pans with cocoa; tap out extra.

Step 2

Sift cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar into bowl. Beat in oil, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, and hot water one at a time, using a mixer set at low. Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Step 3

Pour batter into pans. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean; rotate the pans halfway through and remove cakes from the oven.

Step 4

Let cakes cool in pans on wire racks, 20 minutes, before inverting to remove. Discard paper. Cool completely on racks, top side up. Cut off top of one layer.

Step 5

With a butter knife, frost top of trimmed layer.

Step 6

Place the other layer on top. Frost top and sides of cake.

Step 7

Tiny and Tasty: Cupcakes are great for parties at school -- they require no cutting, and liners come in all different sizes and designs. After you make the chocolate-cake batter, fill each liner so it's three-quarters full. Our recipe will yield about 30 standard-size cupcakes; bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes (25 to 35 minutes for mini sizes). Once cool, cover them with your favorite frosting.

Step 8

Bars with Crunch: Instead of using frosting, sprinkle topping over chocolate squares. Pour cake batter into a 9-by-13-inch prepared baking pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Mix 1 cup each flaked sweetened coconut, walnuts, and semisweet chocolate chips; stir in 1 tablespoon melted butter. Remove cake from oven; sprinkle mix on top. Loosely cover with foil; continue baking, about 45 minutes.