Go Back Email Link
+ servings
featured image

Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The perfect chocolate cake, this chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting is light yet moist, intensely chocolatey but not dense, layered and topped with a sweet, tangy cream cheese frosting.
4.69 from 16 votes
Course: Dessert
Keyword: chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting, rich chocolate cake
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Calories:
Alter quantities (metric only) 12 slices

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.
Share on Facebook
Pin Recipe
Share on Twitter

Supporting Notes

Ensure your cocoa is thoroughly mixed into your coffee and boiling water so that no pockets of cocoa remain.
When you add your butter, oil and vanilla extract to the same mixture, also ensure it is really mixed in well.
Finally, once your sour cream and eggs have been added, ensure that you give the final batter a good mix, preferably with a balloon whisk, to add more air.
Chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting should ideally be kept refrigerated due to the dairy content.
If your cream cheese frosting is a little runny add extra icing (confectioners' sugar).

Make Your own Notes on this Recipe here...