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I made this at the weekend and it went down so so well :). I’ve now been asked to make it for two birthdays in the next couple of weeks. So thank you for posting this recipe!
Louise
I’ve always been a cake person.
Don’t get me wrong – I definitely eat both cake and ice cream. But if given the choice, I will choose cake. Preferably extra rich and chocolatey, with a thick layer of frosting. And if you want to get REALLY extra: rolled in chocolate chips (okay, maybe for another time).
So on my birthday, I decided to treat myself to a little a lot of chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. The problem here is that I am not a very experienced cake maker.
In addition, I admit that I have little to no experience in successfully frosting a double layer cake.
But luckily, my frosting-loving taste buds coincide with my heavy-handed frosting abilities. So it was a Happy Birthday after all.
Completely unrelated to double chocolate cake (or maybe not, considering all those calories), I ran a half marathon this weekend!
That was fun.
Now I’m ready to eat another double chocolate cake. Extra frosting, please.
Three More Favorite Chocolatey Desserts
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Double Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Description
This double chocolate cake with buttercream frosting was what I made myself on my birthday. So chocolatey, so rich, so perfect. Happy Birthday to me!
Ingredients
Double Chocolate Cake, from Foodessa
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot coffee (or 1 cup boiling water)
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from Confessions of a Tart
- 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (more to your tastes)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2–3 cups of powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency)
Instructions
Double Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three round baking pans and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract; beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Stir in hot coffee.
- Pour batter evenly between the three pans and bake on middle rack of oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Whip the room-temperature butter on medium speed. Shift to low and add cocoa powder slowly, spoonfuls at a time, until fully incorporated. Still on low, add in the powdered sugar (also one spoonful at a time), alternating with the milk, to achieve desired consistency and taste. Then, beat on medium speed until very light and fluffy, another 3-5 minutes. Add in more sugar if consistency is too thin.
Notes
I used two of the cakes and frosted the middle/top/sides. And from the same batch, I still have a third cake and enough frosting to make some extra cake pops!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 828
Keywords: double chocolate cake, buttercream frosting, chocolate cake recipe
It feels good to be able to run 13 miles. And it feels really good to eat chocolate cake.
I made am 11 years old, this recipe is top notch, easy to follow, and probably the best cake I have ever tasted. So thanks for making this recipe. I use it every time I make a cake.
Hi, very well prepared, but please suggest replacement for eggs.
Thanks 🙏🏻
Hi Kamal! You could try using a flax egg for this recipe.
Ratio is out on this recipe, need 2 1/2 cups of flour and 2/1/2 teaspoons of baking powder. I would suggest not to use it.
Hi,
I would love to make this cake but on have 2 tins the same sizes, can it be made as a 2 layer cake?
Hi, Tina! We haven’t tried that before to know how it’ll turn out. If you give it a go, we’d love to hear!
A friend made this and it was delicious. She divided the extract 50/50 using both vanilla and almond. It was great!
I love baking this cake and everyone who has tasted it always want me to bake one for them. I always use two pans for this and I use unsalted butter and take them out the pan quickly (no specifications in the recipe).
Your cake sucks it looked like cookie dough 0/10 would never recommend making this
You suck and your cake sucks it was a suckcess
Ps. sad birthday to me
Your recipe looks good! What would change, for example, (temperature/bake time) if I were to change to loaf pans? Anything? I\We like moist chocolate cake not chocolate cake that looks brown but lacks the chocolate flavor. We’ve had too many of those.
Thanks much!
Nicky
Hi Nicolette! It’s hard to say since we haven’t tested this cake to see how it’d do in loaf pans. I’d guess the temp would be the same and bake time might be a little longer.
I’m looking forward to baking my boyfriend a double chocolate cake got his b-day 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Enjoy, Lynda!
Just wondering,Can we refrigerate this and if so how long will it last.
We think it will last up to 4 days in the fridge!
Hi! Can u use heavy whipping cream for the frosting instead of milk?
Thanx
We haven’t tested the frosting with heavy cream, but we think it would work out just fine!
Honestly, this is the best, most moist and delicious chocolate cake I have ever made. I’m so grateful that you’ve shared this for all of us!
How big are your cake tins in this recipe? I want a double layer but could be persuaded into a triple layer!!! Do you think there would be enough frosting for a triple?
We used two 9-inch cake pans! If doing a triple layer, we’d suggest making more frosting just in case.
Hi there,
I’m making this for my sons birthday tomorrow. For the cake it has cocoa listed but on the frosting it says unsweetened cocoa powder. Is one simply sweetened and the other is not?
I was wondering what could’ve caused this cake to sink?
Sorry to hear about the sunken cake. This link might give some information about why that happened. https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/cake-mistakes/
It’s a super hit recipe so moist and yum…big up to u and ur team
how wide is the cake (circuference)
We used 8″ round pans here, so about 8″ across.
Super good! Loved the frosting
So happy to hear you enjoyed this, Elena!
I only have a bundt pan. I assume it should bake a little longer. Can you guess how much longer?
Hi, Denise! We haven’t tested this out in a bundt pan to know the right timing, but we’d recommend starting with 30 minutes and adjusting the time as necessary.
If I use cake flour (for a less dense version), do I use the same quantity as regular flour? Also, do you use salted or unsaled butter?
Hi, Anne! We haven’t tested this out using cake flour yet to know the quantity, but we’d love to hear if you try it out! Either kind of butter should work here, too!
Making this for my mother on Mother’s Day, great recipe!
Enjoy, Owen!