Cocoa

This chocolate birthday cake recipe calls for dark chocolate in the ganache to balance out the sweetness of the Nutella. For a more kid-friendly cake, use milk chocolate. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.

Icing on top and in the middle, sides left bare: This modern-looking style shows off the cake’s decadent (and perfectly even) chocolate layers.

The genius part of this rich and moist sheet cake recipe is the “reverse creaming” method. Instead of creaming butter and sugar before adding the liquid ingredients and flour, you’ll gradually add the liquid ingredients into the flour. As a result, the cake bakes almost perfectly flat—no domed tops, no layers to trim.

For the neatest, cleanest edges, freeze the brownies for 15 minutes so they’re nice and firm before cutting, and dip your knife in hot water between each slice.

The best—and easiest—brownies you'll ever make. This recipe belongs in your repertoire. This is part of BA's Best, a collection of our essential recipes.