Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee powder, and milk until there are no lumps. 

 

Once the cake is cooled you may begin to frost your cake. Start by skimming of the tops of the cakes with a large serrated knife to ensure the cakes are even and do not puff up in the center. Frost the cake as normal, using the most frosting on the top of the cake. Using a butter knife, create crescent-shaped divots in the cake, moving from the outsides to the center until you’ve gone all the way around the cake. If you wish, make a swirl in the middle so you can’t tell where you started and where you ended your divots. Shave semi-sweet chocolate using a peeler and decorate the outside edges of the frosted cake.