Heat oven to 350ºF (176ºC). Arrange two racks in center of oven. Butter three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment. Dust bottoms and sides of pans with cocoa powder; tap out any excess.
Attach Sifter Attachment to KA Stand Mixer (with Beater Attachment), and press “Tare” to zero scale.
Add cocoa powder into the ingredient hopper and weigh. Turn Stand Mixer to speed 4 and sift cocoa into a medium bowl, and whisk in boiling water. Set aside to cool.
Cream butter on speed 2 until light and fluffy.
Add sugar to ingredient hopper and weigh. Turn Stand Mixer to “stir” and gradually sift in sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides twice. Beat in vanilla. Drizzle in eggs, a little at a time, beating between each addition until the batter is no longer slick, scraping down the sides twice.
Whisk milk into reserved cocoa mixture.
Add and weigh flour, baking soda, and salt to ingredient hopper, pressing “Tare” between the addition of each ingredient. Give hopper ingredients a stir to combine. With mixer on “stir”, sift dry ingredients in. Add cocoa mixture to the batter a little of each at a time.
Divide batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of each layer comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pans for even baking. Transfer layers to wire racks; let cool, 15 minutes. Turn out cakes, and return to racks, tops up, until completely cool.
Frosting – In bowl of stand mixer with beater attachment, beat butter until smooth on speed 4 for 1 minute. Add sugar and cocoa powder. Turn to speed 2 and slowly add in milk, vanilla and salt and mix for 4 minutes until smooth.
Remove parchment from bottoms of cakes. Reserve the prettiest layer for the top. Place one cake layer on a serving platter; spread 1 1/2 cups chocolate frosting over the top. Add the second cake layer, and spread with another 1 1/2 cups frosting. Top with third cake layer. Cover outside of cake with the remaining 3 cups frosting. Serve.
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