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½ cup packed dark brown sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Whisk together the boiling water, cocoa powder, and instant coffee in a small bowl until smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after each until incorporated and scraping down the sides as needed. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the hot cocoa mixture and beat until combined, scraping down the sides as needed.

Add the flour mixture and stir on the slowest speed until combined. Finish by scraping the bottom of the bowl with a spatula and folding all the batter together. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the cakes feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached. Be careful, as this cakes overbakes easily. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Serves 16

The easiest way to split the cake is to place it on a cake turner if you have one. Mark the cake into thirds either by eyeballing it or by placing toothpicks where you wish to cut. Begin slicing at the mark, using a large non-serrated knife such as a chef 's knife and turning the cake as you slice it. Carefully lift off each cake layer and place it on a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper.

Custard Tart

Professor Snape would dearly love to see Harry expelled after crashing Mr. Weasley's flying car into the Whomping Willow. But that punishment, Dumbledore reminds him, is for Professor McGonagall to decide. How to distract Snape, then? Dumb-ledore takes him by the arm and mentions a custard tart being served at the feast before sweeping him away (see Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 5).

The most important use for custard pies and tarts in the early 1900s was for throwing into people's faces in silent movies. This was considered for some reason extremely funny. Custard is very, very, very delicious, and the medievals liked it so much that they mixed anything and everything into it, from fruit and bread crumbs to ground meat and sage. For our purposes, however, a plain custard will suffice, thank you very much.

Tart Crust

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Custard

1 cup whole milk

½ cup heavy cream

3 large egg yolks

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the crust, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the flour mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal without any white powdery bits remaining, about 15 pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Beat the egg yolk with the cream and vanilla and pour it into the flour-butter mixture. Toss with a spatula until the dough clumps together. If the dough is dry add 1 more tablespoon heavy cream (better too wet than too dry). Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured surface to an 11-inch circle. (If it is too stiff for rolling out, let it first rest on the counter for 10 minutes.) Fold it into quarters, brushing off excess flour with a pastry brush after each fold, and then unfold it into a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Ease the sides gently into the pan and press the dough gently against the sides. Use the rolling pin to roll the overhang off of the pan.

Freeze the tart shell