How to make a cake chocolate cake

How to make a classic chocolate cake recipe with buttercream icing

There’s nothing better than tucking into a good old slice of classic chocolate cake for a special occasion.

Growing up, chocolate cakes were saved for birthdays and treats, and I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I still get excited if there is a slice on offer.

However, the world of chocolate cake recipes is a vast and often confusing place – damp nutty chocolate cakes, slightly gooey fudgy ones, flourless cakes that are rich and moist but dip a little in the middle… So many types and so much choice, when often I just want a classic sponge recipe, to pimp up with chocolate buttercream and anything else I fancy.

I’ve teamed this chocolate cake up with a classic chocolate buttercream, but it is equally perfect with a lightly sweetened whipped cream and fruit centre (think Victoria sandwich chocolate-style). Not too rich, not too moist, this is a light but still flavoursome perfect afternoon tea sponge, reminiscent of party cakes gone by. Enjoy!

CLASSIC CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE WITH CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM

250g plain flour
125g cocoa powder
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
425g unsalted butter, at room temperature
350g golden caster sugar
2 large free-range eggs
1 tablespoon good quality vanilla extract
250ml freshly brewed coffee
225ml milk
75g dark chocolate
400g icing sugar
4 tablespoons of milk
100g fresh berries

Tip: As with most chocolate sponge recipes, it’s best not to make the sponge too far in advance – a day before, or even on the day, is ideal. If you haven’t got much time, you can try freezing your sponges. Simply individually wrap the cooled sponges thoroughly in a couple of layers of clingfilm, then wrap them well in foil. Pop them in the freezer for up to a few weeks and defrost completely before decorating.

How to Make a Cake

We break down all the cake occasions, your must-have tools, and decorating tips

Nothing marks a special occasion quite like a cake. And while you can’t have a birthday or a wedding without one, the baked good doesn’t have to be relegated to once or twice a year. In fact, we’re here to tell you that you can have cake anytime you please.

From celebration cakes to snacking cakes, layers to Bundts, there is a wide world of cakes out there. Dip your toes in with our comprehensive guide covering bake times, pans, storage, decorating, recipes, and everything in between. It’s time to have your cake and eat it, too.

Equipment Checklist

While you don’t necessarily need all of the fancy tools that pastry chefs use at bakeries, there is some essential hardware for making cakes:

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The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

The Basics

If you’re new to baking cakes, the process can seem a bit daunting. Since there’s chemistry involved, baking is less forgiving than cooking, and a single misstep can lead to a flat cake or off flavors. To ensure your end result is a top-notch cake, start by familiarizing yourself with the science behind cake ingredients.

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

We’ve rounded up cake resources that will answer all of your burning questions and give you a solid foundation of knowledge. You’ll be stacking layers and rolling fondant in no time.

7 Baking Substitutions You Need to Know

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The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Fancy Cakes

If you’re celebrating a special day, like a birthday, wedding, shower, and the like, it’s time to pull out all of the stops and make a show-stopping cake. Layer cakes are always a good choice for feeding a crowd and wowing them at the same time, and visually stunning creations like Swiss roll cakes are sure to make everyone ooh and ahh.

The BEST Chocolate Cake

A recipe and tutorial on how to make my favorite chocolate cake with a simple homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. This recipe is easy to make and turns out perfect every single time!

If you’ve ever felt intimidated when it comes to making cakes from scratch I promise that it’s not too hard. Sure it takes a little extra time, but the feeling of baking something completely from scratch is completely worth it.

So today I wanted to share my updated homemade chocolate cake recipe with you. You’ll love this simple recipe because it’s:

I’ve also included step-by-step instructions showing you how to make the cake and frost it. And if you don’t want to bake a three-layer cake, I’ve included directions for how to bake this cake in different-sized pans too.

Ingredients For This Recipe

While this may seem like quite a few ingredients, I promise this cake isn’t difficult! Let’s break down each ingredient you will need for this easy chocolate cake:

And for the chocolate buttercream frosting we’ll be using:

How To Make A Chocolate Cake From Scratch

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, it’s time to prepare your cake batter! Here’s a simple break down on how to make the chocolate cake layers:

While the cake layers are cooling you’ll prepare your frosting. For this cake, I used my chocolate buttercream frosting. If you’ve never made it before I have a full tutorial for how to make chocolate frosting here. Here’s what you’ll need to do to prepare the frosting:

How To Frost The Cake

Once the frosting is ready and the cake layers have cooled, you can assemble your cake. Want to make the frosting process a bit easier? Freeze your cake layers for 30 minutes to 1 hour before frosting your cake. This will make the layers firmer and it will be easier to spread the frosting on them. Here’s how I prefer to frost this cake:

Simple, right? You don’t have to have anything fancy to frost this cake either, I find that just an angled spatula is all you really need!

How To Bake In Different Size Pans

To make a three-layer chocolate cake, I used three 8-inch round cake pans. If you don’t have this size pan or want to use a different size pan, here’s how you’ll need to adjust the recipe and baking time.

Different Frosting Options

Since this is a chocolate cake, I went with a chocolate buttercream frosting. If you want to try something else, here are a few other options:

How To Store And Freeze This Cake

You can store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If you want to keep this cake fresh longer, then I recommend storing it in the refrigerator. Just keep in mind that if you store it in the refrigerator, you may want to set it out ahead of time so that it can come to room temperature before serving.

The cake layers and frosting will freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw the cake layers and frosting overnight in the refrigerator, bring the frosting to room temperature, and mix well before frosting the cake layers. You can also freeze the frosted cake for up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.

How to Make a Chocolate Drip Cake

Learn to make a Chocolate Drip Cake with this easy method! All you need is chocolate ganache, a frosted cake and a few simple tools. You’ll be on your way to an impressive yet easily decorated cake in no time!

Table of Contents

How to Make a Chocolate Drip Cake

Chocolate drip cakes create such a fun and impressive look, it’s no wonder they’ve become so popular. With a little time and not too much effort, you can turn any cake into a statement piece. I’ve made quite a number of chocolate drip cakes including, but not limited to, my Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake, Red Wine Chocolate Cake, Nutella Chocolate Cake and my Best Chocolate Cake. All are some of my favorites.

Tools Needed to Decorate a Drip Cake

So to get started, you’ll need a few simple things.

DRIP CAKE DECORATING METHODS

There are two methods you could use for making a chocolate drip cake. I prefer the look and ease of the squeeze bottle method, but if you don’t have one the spoon method will work as well.

No matter which method you use, you’ll need to start by making the chocolate ganache. Feel free to check out my blog post on how to make it and learn more about adjustments you can make. Once your ganache is made, let it sit for about 10 minutes to cool a bit.

SQUEEZE BOTTLE METHOD

To use the squeeze bottle method, add the chocolate ganache to your bottle. Place the tip of the bottle just a couple centimeters above the top edge of the cake and gently squeeze the bottle to release the ganache. Release the pressure on the bottle when you’ve added enough of a drip, leaving just a little pressure to fill in the gap as you move to the next drip, turning the turntable as you go. Keep in mind that the more chocolate you add, the longer the drip will be. Test out a drip or two to get a feel for the amount of chocolate to use per drip, if needed.

After adding drips around the top edge of the cake, fill in the center. You want to work quickly so that the ganache doesn’t firm up too much. I usually just use my squeeze bottle, but you could also just pour the chocolate into the center of the cake. You can heat it up for 10-15 seconds before adding it, if needed. Use your offset spatula to spread the chocolate ganache evenly.

THE SPOON METHOD

If you decide you’d rather not work with a squeeze bottle, you can use a spoon. Use your spoon to add the chocolate to the edges of the cake and gently push it over the edge so that it falls, creating a drip. Continue adding drips around the outer edge until you’ll gone all the way around.

To fill in the center, pour the remaining chocolate ganache onto the top of the cake and use your offset spatula to spread it evenly.

TIPS FOR THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE DRIP CAKE

As with anything, perfecting the chocolate drip look takes a little practice and few good tips. To make the perfect chocolate drip cake, there are a few things you want to keep in mind:

1. Chocolate temperature matters. The temperature of your chocolate ganache determines how thick or thin it is. After I make my chocolate ganache, I let it sit for about 10-15 minutes to thicken up just a bit before I use it for a drip cake. I don’t want the chocolate to drip too far down the sides of the cake, but I also don’t want it to sit in a blob at the top of the cake.

To test the temperature and thickness of my ganache, I often use a spoon to drip some down the side of a bowl to get an idea of just how quickly it drips. If it drips too quickly, I’ll let it sit a little longer. If it’s too slow, you could heat it back up. When it seems just about right, go for it.

2. Cake temperature matters. When thinking about the temperature of your chocolate, you also want to keep in mind the temperature of your cake. I usually work with a room temperature cake, so testing the chocolate on the side of a room temperature bowl works. But if your cake has been in the fridge, the chocolate is going to start cooling even more quickly as soon as it touches the cold cake. In that case, you’ll want your chocolate a little warmer when you use it so that it will still drip nicely.

3. Amount of heavy cream. I tend to use a little less cream in my chocolate ganache. I prefer to work with it a little thicker, but you could add an extra tablespoon or two of cream if you wanted. With the thicker ganache, you have slightly thicker drips and with thinner ganache, they’ll naturally be thinner drips.

WHITE CHOCOLATE DRIP CAKE

You can also use white chocolate to make a drip cake, like on my Hot Chocolate Cake. The amount of heavy cream in your white chocolate ganache can be reduced significantly, since the white chocolate is naturally thinner when melted. Rather than half a cup of heavy whipping cream for 6 ounces of chocolate chips, you’ll use 3 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream for the same amount of white chocolate.

How to make a cake chocolate cake

If you want to make a homemade chocolate cake from scratch, this is a simple, yet easy recipe to make. It’s one you are certain to enjoy.

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

3/4 cups butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon vanilla

How to make Chocolate Cake:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour three 6″ X 1 1/2″ round cake pans.

Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, eggs and vanilla.

Gradually add sugar.

Beat on medium to high speed for about 3-4 minutes until well mixed

Alternately combine in flour mixture and milk to batter while beating.

Continue to beat until batter is smooth.

Pour equal amounts of batter into greased and floured round cake pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes.

Check with a toothpick to se if it is done. Bake a few minutes more, if needed.

Remove from oven and allow cakes to cool in pans for a few minutes.

Place cakes on a wire rack, to them allow to completely cool.

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