Famous Brick Street Chocolate Cake (Almost) Recipes

I have never been to Brick Street Cafe in Greenville, SC. Which is the restaurant that apparently makes this most amazing of cakes. So I really have no frame of reference for how true-to-taste this copycat version is. But I can tell you that it’s really good.
All of the at-home recipes I found online for this cake insist that you must use a convection oven ONLY to get correct results. I used a traditional oven, because that’s all I have to work with, and I thought it turned out really well. Just something to keep in mind, I guess.
Another thing I didn’t do– you are supposed to use a tube pan (like, the flat kind). But I only had a fluted pan. However I think this just affects the look. Best I can tell, Brick Street Cafe’s cake has a distinct look to their cake, and this isn’t quite it. Just another FYI.
Be sure to buy cake flour and buttermilk for this recipe. I know it can be tempting to make DIY subs for those ingredients if you don’t have them ready on hand, but I would strongly encourage you to NOT use substitutes when making this cake.
When I was making the frosting, it started out super lumpy and I was worried that I had done something wrong. But after the first addition or two of powdered sugar, it smoothed right out!

INGREDIENTS:
For the cake:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 2-1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3.4 oz chocolate pudding mix
• 2-1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the chocolate icing:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:
Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar, butter, and vanilla.
3. ………………………………………

for full instruction please see : www.somethingswanky.com