I have yet to find a chocolate cake recipe I like. I'd love one that calls for real chocolate and not cocoa powder as I think the latter makes most cakes too dry and not chocolatey enough. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!

I think I can help! I found a recipe for the best chocolate cake ever, (In my opinion). It is from Ina Garten. I never liked chocolate cake until I made this one. It calls for hersheys syrup in lieu of cocoa powder. It is really chocolatey and dense!
(I usually double the recipe to make a nice layer cake. It doesn't rise much so the batter in the pan before baking is almost the same size as it will be afterwards).

Makes one 8-inch cake

1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 extra large eggs at room temperature
1 16-ounce can Hershey's chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces good semisweet choclate chips
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Candied violets or edible gold leaf, for decoration (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat, or the cake will be tough.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let cool thoroughly in the pan.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Place the cake upside down on a wire rack and pour the glaze evenly ove the top, making sure to cover the entire cake and sides. You can tilt the rack to smooth the glaze. Decorate with candied violets, if desired, or gently crumble the gold leaf and place it on the centre of the cake. Do not refrigerate.

Here is the cake I made with this recipe!

Oh by the way, I added my little touches by filling in the layers with chocolate buttercream then seedless raspberry preserves on top of that. It was goooooooooooooooooooood! I submitted the picture in groom's cakes b/c I thought it looked like one.

That looks fantastic! Thanks!

No problem! I hope you try it and love it!

Oh Parismom!!!! Thank you so very much for posting this recipe! For office birthdays, we used to go to Barefoot Contessa to buy this amazing chocolate cake that they sold. It was really expensive - $40 for a 10" cake - a single sinful chocolate layer, covered in ganache with a sugared violet on top. MMMMMMMMM!! Barefoot Contessa lost their lease two years ago and we've been jonesing for this cake ever since! This has got to be the recipe they used, since the cake didn't change even after Ina Garten sold the store to her employees. Thank you so much for posting this!! My coworkers are going to be so excited!

Toba Garrett's Chocolate fudge cake is the best chocolate cake made with flour I have ever tasted. the only thing I would change is to beat it for only 2 minutes instead of 3. It is in her wedding cake book. You can try searching the web for it.

this looks good!!!