Hey guys! I’m so excited to share this one with you, it’s one of my favorite things to make, and it’s also one of the biggest problem dishes at high-altitude. This Chocolate Layer Cake is filled with a soft chocolate buttercream, and iced with chocolate ganache, which is basically like frosting your cake with the filling from a chocolate truffle.
If that wasn’t enough to sell you, the cake is fluffy, chocolatey, and really the perfect texture. Let’s get to it!
This is a super simple cake recipe, and it can easily be mixed by hand with a whisk. We’re starting by stir together the dry ingredients, in this case that’s flour, sugar, dutch-processed cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, salt, and baking soda. The espresso powder is optional, but it helps bring out the chocolate flavors and I highly recommend it! Alternatively, you can replace about 1/4 cup of the milk with some strongly brewed, cooled, coffee.
Then, stir the wet ingredients together- milk, vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, and a little bit of white vinegar. Whisk it all into the dry ingredients until well combined and smooth, and then it’s off to the oven!
While the cake is baking, whisk up the chocolate ganache. It takes a little time to cool and become spreadable, so you want to make it right when the cakes go into the oven. The buttercream comes together quickly, and I always recommend using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer for buttercream because it can take a good amount of beating.
Now it’s time to layer it all together! I’m using a crumb coat in this case using the buttercream filling, which makes frosting the outside of the cake much easier, so I recommend it. You want to use a sharp knife to level off the tops of your cooled cakes first, and then get stacking!
Here’s what the cake looks like with a thin crumb coating on it:
After a quick trip to the fridge, we’re frosting the outside:
And that’s it! It’s the perfect celebration cake, and it’s so easy to make.
Making a layer cake takes practice, but you can rest easy knowing that it’s always going to taste great! Here are some tips and tricks on this recipe:
Hope you guys enjoy this one, it’s seriously so dang good!
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and generously grease two 8-inch cake pans. Optionally, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, instant espresso powder, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, and white vinegar. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry, and whisk until the batter is smooth. Pour evenly into your prepared cake pans, and bake for 32-36 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cakes completely before frosting.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sour cream, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt for several minutes. It should be very thick at this point, and you really can't over-beat it. In fact, you want to beat it longer than you might think! Then, beat in the heavy cream for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the filling is very fluffy!
In a medium heat safe bowl, melt together the dark chocolate and butter in the microwave in 30 second increments until just melted, stirring each 30 seconds. Then, stir in your cold heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt until combined. Cover, and let it sit at room temp until it has thickened and become spreadable, about 30 minutes-1 hour.
Level off your cakes, and fill with the filling, and use the remaining filling to give the cake a thin crumb coating. Chill the crumb-coated cake for about 30 minutes, and then frost the outside with your prepared, cooled frosting. Add sprinkes and enjoy!!
Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!
Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!
2020, Dough-Eyed
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Nancy
January 24, 2021 at 10:48 amThere are no eggs or baking powder. How does this cake rise?
Dough-Eyed
January 24, 2021 at 11:41 amHi Nancy! This cake uses baking soda to rise, which reacts with a small amount of white vinegar in the batter.
Carol Powers
January 25, 2021 at 3:01 pmHi Nicole! Would regular or dark cocoa powder be okay to use? I have both in my pantry but no dutch process. I'm making the biscuits from your cookbook tonight (I halve the recipe, there are only 3 of us) and I used a bunch of the cookie recipes for Christmas!! We moved here to WY from NC and your cookbook has been a lifesaver, I'm an avid baker! Thank you so much for all you do!! <3 My birthday is coming up early next month and I would love to make this cake to celebrate!!
Dough-Eyed
January 30, 2021 at 9:49 amHi there!! So glad to hear you're enjoying my recipes!! So most cocoa powder that is labeled as "dark" is actually dutch processed, or a combination of dutch and natural. I would suggest using either dark or dutch processed, and you should be able to use them interchangeably with no problem!
Cindy Austin
February 12, 2021 at 1:19 pmHi Nicole,
Loving your book and all of the things I have tried since COVID hit. I am wondering on the butter that you use. Most of recipes that I have seen do not specify salted or unsalted. Thanks!
Dough-Eyed
February 12, 2021 at 2:53 pmHi there! Glad to hear that you're enjoying the recipes!! I always use unsalted butter without exception so that I can better control the amount of salt going into a recipe. Thank you!!
Pamela Grob
February 16, 2021 at 3:11 pmCan yogurt be used instead of sour cream in this recipe?
Dough-Eyed
February 28, 2021 at 6:41 pmYes, yogurt will work perfectly!
Amy Kamber
March 18, 2021 at 10:02 pmOMG this cake is sooooo good! It came out amazing and even my husband (who is usually the baker in the house) said it was good! The only thing I would do differently next time is put more of the frosting in the middle layer – I thought I wasn't going to have enough for the crumb layer (it's all good – I just ate the little bit of leftover buttercream!). Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Dough-Eyed
March 19, 2021 at 4:55 pmYay so glad to hear it!!
Maggie
May 16, 2021 at 6:49 amCan this cake be made in a 9 x 13 glass pan? I am baking a birthday cake and theeere will be 14 at the party. What would the temperature and the baking time be?
Dough-Eyed
May 20, 2021 at 8:29 amHi there- you can bake the cake in a 9×13 yes. The temp will be the same, and I would start checking for doneness around 25 minutes and go from there. Note though that you'll likely have too much frosting this way since the recipe is for a layer cake!
Kim Leibbrand
May 24, 2021 at 9:22 pmThis cake is delicious. My cake pans are from my Mom. I couldn't find but one, and then I remembered I used one to make concrete lawn decorations. So I bought a new pair, and the cakes came out beautifully.
All of your recipes work for our elevation, 5030'. <insert heart emoji>
Wendy
May 28, 2021 at 4:48 pmAll your recipes look delicious — this one especially! What alterations would you make for 800 ft elevation?
Nancy
February 2, 2022 at 11:11 pmThis looks wonderful. Can you make in a bundt pan?
Dough-Eyed
February 4, 2022 at 1:26 pmHi there- Yes, it can be made in a 10-12 cup bundt pan and you'll need to bake it for a bit longer- I would start checking it at 1 hour and see if you may need more baking time. Hope that helps!