Ina Garten Just Shared the Dessert Recipe She Recommends for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is just around the corner, which means it's time to frantically make brunch plans, wrinkle your nose at some cheesy cards and, eventually, shower the moms in your life with a little extra affection. To help you do just that, Ina Garten just shared a classic recipe that she thinks will wow everyone at the table: her Beatty's Chocolate Cake.

"Show Mom some love this week by baking her my favorite Beatty's chocolate cake," Garten wrote on Instagram. "But if she's somewhere else or you're too exhausted to bake (aren't we all??!) you can order my chocolate cake to be shipped overnight from Goldbelly. Mom will love you right back!"

Sending your far-off mom a freshly baked cake would be a pretty *sweet* gift, and you can ship a chocolate or coconut cake from Garten's Goldbelly storefront for $90, including shipping. But if you'd rather bake it for yourself, it's a pretty easy recipe. Garten classifies it as intermediate on her website, and you can even turn the recipe into cupcakes if you're not keen on icing a layer cake.

The ingredients are mostly classic pantry staples, including all-purpose flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and coffee. The only ingredient you might not have is buttermilk, which makes this cake moist and delicious. Garten suggests a stand mixer for this recipe, but it's also easy to make with a hand mixer. (I've even been known to mix in Ina's final ingredient—a piping hot cup of coffee—by hand to avoid splattering it on the wall or my apron.)

Ina is known for recipes that call for vague ingredients like "good olive oil" or "good vanilla," and this cake is no exception. Garten calls for "good cocoa powder, such as Valrhona" in this recipe, and it makes all the difference—trust me, I've made it a few times. Of the brands I've tried—Ghirardelli, Hershey's, Toll House—Valrhona yields the deepest chocolate flavor. Since that's where all the flavor comes from in this cake, it's worth the splurge. You can buy the powder online or find it at Whole Foods in the bulk section. (If you can't track it down, Ghirardelli is a great swap.)

Goldbelly

The recipe is simple: combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then combine the wet ingredients (minus the coffee) in a medium bowl. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing at a low speed as you go. If you're using a hand mixer, you can alternate adding the wet ingredients and mixing, or use a large measuring cup with a spout (like this one) to slowly add the wet mixture as you mix with the other hand.

Add the hot coffee at the end and mix in until everything is combined. (Honestly, the chocolatey aroma that blooms when the hot coffee hits your mixture makes this recipe worth your time.) Pour the batter into two prepared 8-inch cake pans or into a lined muffin tin. The cakes will need about 35 to 40 minutes in the oven at 350°F, while cupcakes will need 25 to 30 minutes.

Ina suggests icing this cake in her chocolate buttercream icing, included in the cake recipe. If you wanted to lighten things up a tad, you could try our Tangy Chocolate Frosting, which uses reduced-fat cream cheese and Greek yogurt to cut the sweetness. I'm a fan of using cream cheese frosting—here's our recipe—and sprinkling the top of the cake with chopped toasted pecans for a festive look.

No matter how you choose to decorate your cake, you're in for an unbelievably good treat. Once you make this cake once, it will be your go-to recipe for birthdays, Mother's Day and days when you just deserve a slice of something sweet.