Poppa's Chocolate Layer Cake

Holiday time is here and nothing says it like frosted chocolate layers may be the reason this cake has reappeared in Good Housekeeping countless times since 1927 (including a 1984 version made with mayo!)

Prep / Total time : 1 hour 15 minutes .... Serves 16
CAKE LAYERS:
2 ........................cups all-purpose flour
1 ........................cup unsweetened cocoa
1-1/2 ..................teaspoons baking soda
1/4 ......................teaspoon salt
3/4 ......................cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine , softened
1 ..........................cup granulated sugar
1 .........................cup packed brown sugar
3 ..........................large eggs
2 ..........................teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 ....................cups low-fat buttermilk
FROSTING:
1/3 ........................cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 ........................cup boiling water
1 ...........................cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine softened
2 ...........................tablespoons confectioners' sugar
12 .........................ounces semi-sweet chocolate , melted and cooled
DIRECTIONS:
1 .                Prepare cake layers : Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans . Line bottoms with wax paper ; grease paper . Dust pans with flour.
2.                On another sheet of wax paper , combine flour , cocoa , baking soda and salt . In Large bowl with mixer at low speed , beat butter and browm and granulated sugar until blended . Increase speed to high ; beat 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy , ocasionally scraping bowl ith rubber spatula . Reduce speed to medium-low ; add eggs , 1 at a time , beating well after each addition . Beat in vanilla until blended . Add flour mixture alteernately with buttermilk , beginning and ending with flour mixture ; beat just until batter is smooth , occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
3.               Spoon batter evenly among prepared pans . If necessary , stagger pans on 2 oven racks , placing 2 on upper rack and 1 on lower rack , so the top pans are not directly above bottom one . Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean . Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes .With a small knife , loosen layers from sides of pans ; invert onto wire rachs . Carefully remove and discard waxed paper ; cool completely , about 45 minutes . If you like , wrap layers well and store at room temperature up to 1 day or freeze up to 1 month . Bring to room temperature before frosting cake .
4.              Meanwhile , prepare frosting : In a small bowl , combine cocoa and boiling water , stirring until smooth . In a large bowl , with a mixer at medium high speed , beat butter and confectioners' sugar 5 minutes until fluffy . Reduce speed to medium low ; add melted clocolate , then cocoa mixture , beating until smooth and ocassionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula . If frosting is too runny , refrigerate until just stiff enough to spread .
5 .               Assemble cake: Place 1 layer bottom side up on cake plate ; spread with 1/3 cup frosting . Top with second layer , bottom side up ; spread with 1/3 cup frosting . Place remaining layer bottom side up on top . Spread remaing frosting over sides and top of cake .

One of my family favorite cakes .
Heart healthy