Preheat your oven to 350℉
Whisk your 1/2 cup cocoa powder (2 oz, 57 grams), 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar (13 oz, 367 grams), 1 Tbsp baking soda, and 1 tsp salt together to work all the clumps out.
In the bowl of your standing mixer mix 1 egg, 1 cup buttermilk (8 fl oz), and 2/3 cup neutral oil (5.3 fl oz).
Add cocoa powder mixture to your buttermilk mixture until completely homogeneous.
Sift 1/3 of your 2 cups all purpose flour (10 oz, 269 grams) into your batter and mix slowly for just a few seconds.
Add 1/3 of your 1 cup hot water (8 fl oz) and mix it a bit. Then add another 1/3 of your flour and then another 1/3 of your water. Continue going back and forth until no more dry streaks remain and you're left with a smooth cake batter.
Grease an 8" cake pans and line with parchment paper. Fill your pans about 1/2 of the way up.
Bake cake layers for 20-25 minutes or until they spring back when you press the center.
