Sometimes you just need chocolate cake. This recipe is for 3 layered chocolate cake that is so soft and moist in every bite. It’s covered in a regular chocolate buttercream so it’s very much chocolatey. I added a thick layer of cranberry sauce in between the layers but it is totally up to you.
Tips for an ultra-moist chocolate cake
- Use warm water or coffee in the batter
- Vegetable oil makes the cake super soft
- Buttermilk is one of the best options for any kind of cake really, so it works its magic in this too
- Lots of eggs
Materials you’ll need
- Cake spatula to spread the buttercream on the cake
- Cake turntable stand to frost the cake easily at all angles
- Cake scraper to flatten the sides and top of the cake
I used three 9-inch cake pans: I places two on the middle rack, and the last one on the rack below those two. The crumb coat is super important because it locks in all the crumbs. So basically it creates a smooth base for the remaining buttercream layers. Don’t skip this step if you want a nice looking holiday cake. I served this up with dulce de leche sauce but feel free to add ice cream, chocolate sauce or caramel.
Other decadent chocolate desserts:
- Almond chocolate truffles
- No-bake Oreo chocolate tart with Bailey’s Irish cream
- No-bake chocolate cheesecake
- Chocolate-covered peanut brittle
- Pumpkin butterscotch chocolate brownies
Happy holidays everyone!
Ingredients
Chocolate cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
1&1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature (or full fat milk)
1/2 cup canola oil or other vegetable oil (you can also use melted unsalted butter)
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup warm water or warm coffee
Chocolate buttercream
1&1/2 cups butter, softened
1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 cups confectioners' (icing) sugar
1 cup whipping/heavy cream
Instructions
Chocolate cake:
- Grease three 9-inch cake pans and line the bottoms of each pan with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cocoa powder, salt and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
- Using a hand mixer, add in the eggs one at a time into this same bowl, along with the buttermilk, ,oil/melted butter, warm water/coffee, vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Fill the three 9-inch cake pans with the cake batter and shake slightly to let the batter even out.
- Bake the cakes for 30 minutes. I places two cake pans on the middle rack and one below them.
- Remove the parchment paper and let the cakes cool to room temperature.
- Slice the top of the cakes if they are not perfectly flat, which most of the time they aren't.
Chocolate buttercream:
- Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
- Sift in the cocoa powder and whisk with the vanilla extract and half of the whipping/heavy cream.
- Gradually add the confectioners' icing sugar a few cups at a time, along with the remaining cream.
- Spread a thick layer of buttercream on the top of each cake, stacking the cakes directly on top of each other. If you want cranberry sauce between the layers this is where you spread them.
- Coat the sides of the stacked cakes and spread a light layer of buttercream on the top of the cake. This first layer of buttercream is your crumb coat.
- Refrigerate the cake for 2 hours to let the crumb coat set. Then take it our of the fridge and cover the cake with the remaining buttercream. Do any fancy designs you like at this stage.
- Refrigerate the cake again for a few hours before serving.