Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting

5 from 1 vote

Dig into a slice of this chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting, and you will be rewarded with a moist texture and fluffy Cool Whip frosting.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 389kcal

Make your whipped cream frosting by adding the packet of instant vanilla pudding powder and powdered sugar to a large mixing bowl.
Add the cold whole milk to the bowl and beat with a handheld mixer for 3-4 minutes, starting on low and increasing to high as the pudding mixture thickens.
Starting on low speed helps avoid the milk splattering too much until the pudding starts to thicken.
Gently fold the thawed whipped topping into the vanilla pudding until fully combined and no streaks of white or yellow remain.
Cover the bowl of whipped cream frosting with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour while your chocolate cake is baking and cooling.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with baker’s spray. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure you do not have any lumps of cocoa powder in your dry ingredient mixture. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together, using a handheld mixer on medium speed, the granulated sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract for 1 to 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Add half the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix on low just until incorporated.
Next, add the whole milk and mix until fully incorporated.
Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
Lastly, you will add the hot water and mix for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute to get a smooth batter.
Divide the batter equally between the two prepared 9-inch round cake pans.
Bake for 28 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cake layers to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once your cake layers have cooled completely, you can frost and serve your chocolate cake.
Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes before slicing/serving.

We recommend making the frosting first, then refrigerating it until the cake has been baked and completely cooled. This would give the frosting about two hours in the fridge to firm up a little more to make it easier to spread on the cake.
The Hershey’s Special Dark 100% Cocoa powder is also known as “Dutch Processed” cocoa, NOT hot cocoa mix. You can find this in any grocery store, in the baking aisle, where you will also find chocolate chips and chocolate baking bars.
You can add a 9-inch round piece of parchment paper to the bottom of each sprayed baking pan to really make sure that your cake layers come out clean. This is most helpful if you have older cake pans that tend to cause sticking.
When dividing your cake batter between the two 9-inch round baking pans, you want to make sure that you have an even amount of batter in each pan. This will ensure that your cake layers bake at the same time and are equally sized. If you have a digital kitchen scale, you can just weigh each pan and adjust the amounts of batter in each pan accordingly.
Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to check your cake at the lower end of the recommended baking time.