Chocolate Cake
A really chocolatey chocolate cake with a delicious cream cheese frosting, this cake is light yet moist and utterly delicious.
You could call it an Oreo Cake, or Cookies and Cream Cake.
Infusing the cocoa powder and coffee
Known as blooming the cocoa powder, the process of mixing cocoa powder into hot liquid before adding it to cake batter brings out the chocolate flavour in the cocoa and intensifies it. It also stops the cake from being dry.
Sour cream for softness
Sour cream is a must for a chocolate cake with a soft texture. It also adds a slight tang to the cake, which contributes to the complexity of flavours.
Add coffee for a deeper chocolate flavour
No need to buy expensive espresso powder, just a couple of tablespoons of instant coffee, dissolved in boiling water, is all that is required. Coffee enhances the flavour of the cocoa powder.
Vegetable oil and butter for moistness
Using melted butter gives the chocolate cake a more fudgy texture, and using oil keeps it moist. This cake uses both to tick both boxes.
Use good-quality cream cheese
Philadelphia makes the best cream cheese frosting. Other soft cheeses are great, but Phili gives the best results.
Instructions
To make the chocolate cake
1. Dissolve your instant coffee in your boiling water and then mix in your cocoa powder, leave to cool.
2: Melt your butter and leave it to cool.
3: Sift together your flour, leavening agents and salt into your large bowl and then stir in your sugar.
4: Mix your melted butter, oil and vanilla extract into your coffee and cocoa powder mixture, until totally combined.
5: Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.
6: Mix in your sour cream and then your beaten eggs.
7: Pour into your lined sandwich tins and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean
To make the cream cheese frosting
8: Beat your butter briefly to ensure smooth.
9: Add your cream cheese and beat in, then beat in your vanilla extract.
10: Sift your icing (confectioner's) sugar and gradually add spoonfuls to your butter and cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth.
11: Spread over one of your cooled sandwich layers, place the other layer on top and cover with the remaining cream cheese frosting.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Here's what you'll need...
- Small saucepan
- Small palette knife or butter knife
- Stand or hand mixer for the frosting only
- Round nozzle size 1A and piping bag optional
- Fine grater optiona
Ingredients you'll need...
Chocolate Cake
- 2 tablespoon Instant coffee
- 150 ml Boiling water (10 tablespoons)
- 100 g Unsalted butter (7 tablespoons - or 1 stick but reduce vegetable oil by 15ml)
- 65 g Cocoa powder 100% pure cocoa, I used Dr Oetker (9½ tablespoons)
- 205 g Plain flour all-purpose flour (1 Cup + 7 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder level
- 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda baking soda - level
- ¼ teaspoon Fine salt level
- 250 g Caster sugar superfine sugar (1 Cup + 2 tablespoons)
- 60 ml Vegetable oil (¼ Cup)
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 120 g Sour cream (½ Cup)
- 2 Large eggs lightly beaten (US = extra large)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 90 g Unsalted butter (6½ tablespoons)
- 180 g Cream cheese (¾ Cup)
- 300 g Icing sugar confectioners' sugar - sifted (2½ Cups)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- A little dark chocolat optional
Here's what we do...
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/350°F/Gas mar
- Line and grease your baking tins. This cake can stick a little so I recommend lining both sides and base and then greasing the baking (parchment) paper as well.
- Mix your instant coffee with your boiling water.
- Mix in your cocoa powder until fully incorporated and no cocoa powder remains. I recommend using a fork or small whisk for this. Leave to cool until at room temperature.
- Using your small saucepan, melt your butter over a low heat and also leave to cool.
- Sift your flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and salt together into your large bowl.
- Using your balloon whisk (or a wooden spoon will be fine) stir in your sugar, until fully mixed in. Then make a well (a bit of a dent) in the centre.
- Mix your melted butter, oil and vanilla essence into your coffee and cocoa mixture, again use a fork or small whisk to ensure it is really beaten in. Then pour into the well in the centre of your flour mixture.
- Using your balloon whisk (or wooden spoon) mix it all together until no flour remains and it is all fully incorporated.
- Next, mix in your sour cream, using a balloon whisk preferably or a wooden spoon. Once all mixed in stir in your lightly beaten egg, again ensure, fully mixed in with your balloon whisk.
- Once the batter is fully mixed it will be quite runny and silky in texture.
- Pour into your sandwich tins, ensuring equal amounts are in each (place your tins of weighing scales if you want to be totally accurate, for me this came to about 510 grams in each tin).
- Bake in the centre of your oven for 30-35 minutes. The cake is done when it is pulling away slightly from the sides, it springs back when touched and when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Remove and leave to cool in the tins for 5-10 minutes, run a knife around the edges, to ensure it has not stuck and then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely before adding the frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Using the beater attachment (not the whisk), beat your softened butter just a little to spread it around your mixing bowl. You can do this by hand or with a mixer.
- Beat in your cream cheese, until just incorporated. It will easily overbeat so stop as soon as mixed in.
- Beat in your vanilla extract, a few beats will do it.
- Leaving your mixer running on a low setting, gradually add spoonfuls of your sifted icing sugar, letting each one beat in a little, but not entirely, each time.
- Once all of your icing sugar has been added, keep beating on medium-high until all of the lumps have dissipated and your cream cheese frosting is smooth and forms soft peaks.
- Using a butter knife or a small palette knife, or a piping bag with a 1A nozzle fitted, spread half of your cream cheese frosting over the base tier of your cake (turn one of the sandwich bases over so that you are spreading your icing over the flat side which was on the bottom of the tin.). Then spread the rest over the top.
- Grate over some dark chocolate for deoration.
Love this recipe! Easy to follow and makes a lovely, moist cake. Will be making again.
That’s great to hear Kath! I adore this recipe too!