No birthday would be worth celebrating without Chocolate Cake. So I bake it myself – for myself, on my own birthday – because I want the best Chocolate Cake and this is it.
The chocolate cake recipe I originally posted on Saturdays with Frank last year was adapted from Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. It was the cake I made for years and always loved for its super-moist, almost molten texture, its devilish dark color and deep chocolate flavor. The only issue I had with it was that it always sank in the middle. I tried all the hacks: baking longer, making sure not to disturb the cake in the oven, even cutting down on the amount of liquid. The cake layers would rise promisingly in the oven, but as soon as they started to cool the centers would fall and form a deep crater. I would fill the hole with frosting and tell myself it was no big deal, the fallen centers must be a necessary tradeoff for that moist texture, and who cares when it tasted so “fabulous”?
But I couldn’t let it go, and when I made this cake again for my birthday this year I was determined to figure out what was causing it to fall. The final answer? Too much leavening. The Barefoot Contessa recipe called for 2 teaspoons of baking soda, a powerful leavening agent that I believe was causing the cake layers to overrise in the oven, and then crash.
In addition to tweaking the leavening I’ve made several other changes, swapping out the buttermilk for sour cream, adding another egg and a little more flour. With all of those changes, and my own Chocolate Buttercream Frosting on top, this cake is no longer an adaptation of Ina’s, it’s completely my own. My ideal, Chocolate Cake perfection, with a moist, dark and luxurious crumb, beautiful even layers, and a thick layer of fluffy, intensely-chocolatey frosting.
As you may know from reading other recipes on the blog, I often make downsized versions of desserts for my two-person household. When I first posted this recipe last year, I led with the downsized version, baked in 6-inch pans. This time I’m going full-on with the full-sized recipe, which – yes – I did make this year, just for the two of us, because it was my birthday and I wanted all the cake. Scroll down to find the ingredient amounts for the smaller version.
Making this chocolate cake ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- Like many cakes, this Chocolate Cake gets even better with age (up to a point). Make it a day ahead for your own convenience as well as to optimize its flavor and texture. Store it on a covered cake stand or in a cake storage container, so as not to disturb the frosting.
- To keep leftovers, press a sheet of plastic wrap directly against the cut edges, leaving all the frosting uncovered. Then put the whole cake under a cover such as the dome of a cake stand. It will keep at room temperature for at least 5 days.
Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- Softened butter for the pans
- 2 cups (240 grams or 8½ ounces) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cups (64 grams or 2¼ ounces) Dutch process cocoa powder, plus additional for the pans
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or ½ teaspoon Morton’s)
- ½ cup full fat sour cream, at room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk, at room temperature
- ½ cup expeller-pressed canola oil
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot coffee or hot water
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows)
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 350. Generously butter three 8-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a circle of parchment paper, then butter the paper. Sprinkle the pans with a little bit of cocoa powder, tipping and tapping the pans to coat the entire inside surface with the powder. Set the pans aside.
- Step 2 Sift the flour, the ¾ cup of cocoa powder, the baking powder and baking soda together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the sugar and salt and give the machine a stir on low speed to combine the ingredients.
- Step 3 Combine the sour cream, milk, oil, eggs and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry, and beat just until everything is combined. Slowly add the hot coffee or water and beat on low speed just until combined. Finish by giving the batter a few turns with a rubber spatula, making sure to scrape up any thicker batter that might be clinging to the bottom of the bowl.
- Step 4 Pour the batter into the pans, dividing it evenly. Bake the cakes for 30 to 35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
- Step 5 Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and cool them for 10 minutes in the pans. Gently turn the cakes out of the pans, remove the parchment papers from the bottoms, turn the cake layers right side up again onto the rack, and cool them completely before frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 3 cups (340 grams or 12 ounces) confectioner’s sugar
- ¾ cup (64 grams or 2¼ ounces) Dutch process cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1/8 teaspoon Morton’s)
- ¾ cup (12 tablespoons or 6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ tablespoons (1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons) Lyle’s Golden Syrup, or light corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3/8 cup (6 tablespoons) heavy cream, plus additional if needed
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the chocolate, either in a small bowl in the microwave or over very low heat on the stove, just until melted, stirring frequently during melting. Set the chocolate aside to cool slightly.
- Step 2 Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder together into a medium bowl. Add the salt and toss to combine.
- Step 3 Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat it on high speed for 2 minutes, until the butter is very soft and fluffy. Add the cooled chocolate (scraping the bowl or pan completely clean with a rubber spatula to make sure you get all the chocolate), the golden or corn syrup, and the vanilla. Beat on high until blended.
- Step 4 Add ½ the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until they’re incorporated. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and beat on low until incorporated. The mixture will be very dry and crumbly.
- Step 5 With the mixer running on low, gradually pour in the cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat the frosting until it’s light and fluffy, about 1 minute. If the frosting looks dry or too thick, add a little more cream and beat until you reach your desired consistency.
Ingredient amounts for a 6-inch cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup (160 grams or 5 ½ ounces) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (45 grams or 1½ ounces) Dutch process cocoa powder, plus extra for the pans
- 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or a heaping ¼ teaspoon Morton’s)
- 1/3 cup full fat sour cream
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/3 cup expeller-pressed canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup hot coffee or hot water
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, downsized as per the recipe (see separate post)
Directions
- Step 1 Follow the instructions in the main recipe. Bake the 6-inch cakes for 20 to 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Frosting ingredient amounts for a 6-inch cake
Ingredients
- 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 cups (227 grams or 8 ounces) confectioner’s sugar
- ½ cup (45 grams or 1½ ounces) Dutch process cocoa powder
- Heaping 1/8 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or a large pinch of Morton’s)
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon Lyle’s Golden Syrup, or light corn syrup
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup heavy cream
