Dark Chocolate Cake

This cake is prepared in a traditional way where you start with butter and sugar that you beat together and then you alternate the wet and dry ingredients. 

The chocolate is then added at the end. It is simple to make and can be made with any frosting of your choice. Start by sifting all-purpose flour in a mixing bowl together with cocoa powder, fine salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Add white and dark brown sugar to the dry ingredients and give them a little mix just to blend them. Add unsalted butter to the dry mix and with a mixer slowly beat the butter in just until it’s combined. For the wet ingredients, add buttermilk to a jar and break in two eggs and add vanilla extract then give it a whisk.

Add the wet ingredients slowly to the dry ingredients while beating the mixture at low speed. Once the wet ingredients are added in, beat the batter on high speed for about three minutes then add melted bittersweet chocolate and mix it in just until incorporated. Prepare your baking pan by greasing and lining the bottom with parchment paper then pour in the cake batter and bake in a preheated 350F oven for 40 to 50 minutes.

Once baked, let the cake rest in the pan for about 20 minutes before running a knife on the edge and removing the cake from the pan. If you are to frost the cake, make sure the cake is completely cooled down before glazing it.

When it comes to chocolate, it’s hard to pick a favorite. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate i love it all. Today’s cake recipe is all about the elegant decadence of dark chocolate!

This cake recipe uses dark chocolate cocoa powder for a bittersweet chocolate flavor.

The dark chocolate taste is balanced with a sweet, creamy vanilla frosting that’s so delicious you’ll want to eat it with a spoon.

It makes a beautiful and tasty birthday cake for all the dark chocolate lovers in your life!

You’ll love indulging in a slice of this rich and decadent dark chocolate cake. You can also pair this with our favorite chocolate cream cheese frosting instead!

This incredible dark chocolate cake starts with the cake layers. These rich, moist and chocolatey cake layers will be your favorite! The combination of buttermilk and melted chocolate make the layers extra moist. Here’s how to make them.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two, 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper. You can also use two, 9-inch cake pans but your cake layers will be slightly shorter.

Into a large mixing bowl, add the buttermilk, cooking oil (I use canola oil), sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate, small ramekin, combine the instant coffee and hot water. Stir to dissolve the coffee, then add it into the mixture. Using a mixer, beat everything together for a few minutes, until the eggs are well beaten.

Next, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave until it’s smooth. Wait a few minutes for the chocolate to cool slightly, then pour it into the batter and mix for about a minute.

In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients into the batter first, then beat on low-medium speed for about 2 minutes, until a smooth cake batter forms.

Once you have the dark chocolate cake batter ready, it needs to be baked as soon as possible. Don’t wait to bake the batter.

I like to use a kitchen scale to split the cake batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Use an off-set spatula to smooth the batter, creating even cake layers.

Bake the cake layers at 350F for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the layers from the oven and wait about 5 minutes before removing the cake layers from the pans. Allow the cake layers to cool completely on a wire rack. You can place the layers on the wire rack into the refrigerator to cool faster.

The coffee in this cake just deepens the chocolate flavor. It does not make this cake taste like coffee in any way! If you absolutely must remove the coffee, just replace the ½ cup coffee with water.

To keep frosting off cake plate, lay strips of parchment paper under the first layer of cake, all the way around. Once frosting is applied, carefully remove strips of paper!

The presentation of this cake might look difficult, but the dark chocolate infused buttercream icing spreads super easy. Yes, I said chocolate infused buttercream icing. You have to use some high quality dark chocolate (60% cacao) if you want it to taste extra-chocolaty. Also, you don’t have to worry about getting the edges perfectly straight when decorating this cake. because we have this handy-dandy edge designer that gives us a great edge.

Preheat oven to 350F (175 C). Grease and line the baking tin with parchment paper.

Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and baking powder into a large bowl (or into the bowl of a standup mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Add sugars and butter and blend until a crumbly texture.

In a small bowl, whisk buttermilk, eggs and vanilla together and add to the larger bowl while mixing at low speed. Once incorporated, increase speed to medium-high and blend until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Slowly pour in melted chocolate until evenly blended, then scrape batter into the prepared baking tin and tap it a few times on the counter to remove any trapped air in the batter.

Bake cake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre of the cake, comes out clean. Cool cakes for 30 minutes in the pan, then carefully turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.