Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

A slice of chocolate cake being lifted out with a silver server.

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5 from 18 votes

Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Moist chocolate birthday cake with a light chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Prep Time20

Cook Time35

Total Time55

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: slices

Calories: 548kcal

Author: Ella Gilbert

Equipment

2 8" round cake pans

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

¾ cup cocoa powder dutch processed
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cups very hot water

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

¾ cup white sugar
1 cup heavy cream cold
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon kosher salt
12 oz cream cheese cold
¾ cup cocoa powder

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Make Cake

Before starting, place your mixing bowl in the fridge overnight (or at least one hour) for your frosting.
Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Butter or grease two 8 inch baking pans and line it with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment. Set aside
¾ cup cocoa powder, 2 cups granulated sugar, 2 cups all purpose flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp kosher salt
In a large jug, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
2 large eggs, 1 cup buttermilk, ½ cup vegetable oil, ¾ tsp vanilla extract
While the mixer is on low speed, slowly pour in the ingredients from the large jug
While the mixer is still running, slowly add the hot water and mix. Your batter will be very thin. Make sure the mixer is on your lowest speed so it doesn't splash everywhere
1 cups very hot water
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted
Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans. Let them cool completely on a cooling rack.

Make Frosting

In your chilled mixing bowl in the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat your heavy cream, salt, sugar and vanilla extract on low speed for 2 minutes. The sugar should dissolve by then.
¾ cup white sugar, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Turn the speed to high for 2-3 minutes until thick and resembles Greek yogurt.
With the mixer on your lowest speed, add the cream cheese a tablespoon at a time. Once it is all added, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Start the mixer again and beat on high speed for 3 minutes until thick. Add in the cocoa powder and beat again for 1 minute.
12 oz cream cheese, ¾ cup cocoa powder

Assembly

Place one cooled cake layer down and top with half of the frosting. Place the other cake layer on top, and top that with the remaining frosting. Use an offset spatula to cover the sides of the cake with frosting, then use a large spoon to create swoops and swirl. Add sprinkles or chocolate shavings to the top.

Notes

My recipes have been developed and tested in cups and metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way.

I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients before you start baking.

Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt.

Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, replace it with an equal amount of sour cream or full fat yoghurt. You can also make your own buttermilk, for every cup of buttermilk add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let sit for 5 minutes.

Vegetable Oil: Use an unflavoured oil like rapeseed or canola oil if you don’t have vegetable oil.

Storage: Keep tightly wrapped in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.

Making Ahead: You can make the cake layers ahead of time. Bake them and then once completely cooled, wrap in plastic wrap tightly. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. If frozen, allow to defrost and come to room temperature before frosting the cake.

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