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A slice of chocolate buttermilk layer cake sits on a cake server from a cake stand on a light gray surface.
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Chocolate Layer Cake recipe

The full of flavor in this Chocolate Layer Cake recipe with a chocolate ganache frosting is the kind of fuss free layer cake that proves they don’t need a lot of time or bunch of whipping to create for a standout chocolate cake.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake, chocolate, layer cake
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling time 1 hour
Servings 12
Calories 496kcal

Ingredients

Chocolate Layer Cake

  • 110 grams / 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 100 grams / ½ cup superfine/caster sugar
  • 175 grams / ¾ cup light brown sugar
  • 160 grams / ⅔ cup buttermilk
  • 111 grams / ½ cup brewed coffee
  • 59 grams / ¼ cup boiling water
  • 114 grams / ½ cup sunflower oil
  • 83 grams / ¾ cup cocoa powder
  • 214 grams / 1 ⅓ cups plain flour sifted
  • 6 grams / 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 grams / ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon sea or kosher salt

Chocolate Ganache

  • 345 grams / 1 ½ cups - 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 100 grams / ½ cup superfine/caster sugar
  • 220 grams / 7.76 ounces dark chocolate finely chopped

Instructions

Chocolate layer cake

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line the base of a baking tin with greaseproof paper.
  • Place the eggs, sugars, buttermilk and sunflower oil into a bowl and combine with a whisk until the eggs are broken up and smooth.
  • In a small separate bowl, place the coffee, boiling water and cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.
  • Pour into the buttermilk mixture and whisk to combine.
  • In a separate bowl, place the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir to combine with a fork (this will help remove large lumps).
  • Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and combine until your batter is smooth.
  • Pour into your cake tin and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
  • Remove and allow to cool before removing from the tin.
  • Turn onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Chocolate ganache

  • For the ganache frosting, place the heavy cream into a heatproof bowl alongside the sugar on medium heat until simmering at the edges.
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until the mixture is smooth (if the chocolate doesn’t melt, simply return the bowl to the hot water in the saucepan to warm it up.
  • Trim the tops of your cakes to ensure they are level and spoon 2 tablespoons of the loose ganache on top of each cake and spread across the entire top, to coat your cakes.
  • Set the ganache aside or chill for 1 hour until it is thick (like Nutella).
  • Remove the ganache and spread a ¼-inch layer of ganache onto the bottom layer evenly.
  • Place the next cake layer on top and spoon approximately ½ cup of ganache on top and spread out evenly in a thin layer over the entire cake, scraping the spatula clean on a different bowl so any crumbs do not get mixed into your remaining ganache.
  • Smooth out and ensure you do not mix the crumb coating portion into the remaining buttercream.
  • Place the cake into the fridge to set for 30 minutes or set at a cool room temperature for 1 hour.
  • Serve up and slice.
  • Dig in!

Notes

  • Cocoa Powder: A nice high quality cocoa powder for a truly chocolate packed flavor. Whilst replacing with melted chocolate is not recommended, chocolate chips or chunks would work well as an addition.
  • Chocolate: Finely chopped chocolate with 50% cocoa solids helps to avoid making our ganache too sweet. If you use a chocolate that has cocoa solids above 70%, it is best to increase the sugar in your ganache to help balance the bitterness.
  • Coffee and Hot Water: The coffee gives depth to the overall flavors within the cake and the hot water creates a nice light texture alongside the sunflower oil.
  • Sugar: The best sugar here is a mix of light brown sugar which results in a depth of flavor alongside the coffee and the superfine or caster sugar which adds the sweetness resulting in our cake having a balanced flavor.
  • Best not to use homemade buttermilk here: Homemade buttermilk is usually more curdled thanks to the acidity from vinegar or lemon juice as opposed to smooth and tangy so it will likely result in a different texture or flavor in your cake. Homemade buttermilk is best in non baked goods (pancakes, for example) because it will also affect the leavening ingredients (baking soda, etc) in baked goods.
  • Cake tin: Two 18 centimeter or 7 inch cake tins were used here for a higher cake due to the batter not being a large recipe, the smaller your tins the higher the cakes will be. If your cake tin is any larger than 23 centimeters or 9 inches, your cakes will be much flatter than they appear here.
  • Single layer cake: If you prefer to make this into a single layer cake simply pour into a 18-20 cm or 7-8 inches cake tin and bake for 45 minutes.
Recipe by Roamingtaste

Nutrition

Calories: 496kcal