Chocolate Coffee Cake

Easy Chocolate Coffee Cake combines rich chocolate and coffee flavors with moist cake layers and a creamy chocolate buttercream frosting. Easy to make and perfect for any occasion, this cake will quickly become a favorite.

Prep Time25

Cook Time35

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocolate Coffee Cake Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 900kcal

Ingredients

For the Cake Layers

2 ⅓ cups cake flour
2 cups granulated sugar
⅔ cup dark dutch processed cocoa powder, Hershey’s Special Dark brand was used for this recipe
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup canola oil
¼ cup full fat buttermilk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup brewed dark roast coffee, hot (Eight O’Clock brand Dark Italian Espresso blend was used)

For the Chocolate Coffee Buttercream Frosting

1 ½ cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup dark dutch processed cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 ½ to 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted (start with 4 ½ cups powdered sugar and only add the additional ½ cup if needed to stiffen up the frosting texture)
5 to 6 tablespoons heavy cream, start with 5 tablespoons and add the extra tablespoon only if needed to lighten up the consistency of the frosting

Instructions

To Make the Cake Layers

Preheat oven to 350* F. Lightly spray 2 (8 inch) round cake pans with baker’s spray and line them with a parchment round. This will ensure the cakes come out of the pan easily. Set aside.
To a large mixing bowl whisk together the cake flour, granulated sugar, dark dutch processed cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt until evenly incorporated.
To a medium mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, canola oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract until evenly combined. Scraping the sides, and bottom, of the bowl to ensure that all the ingredients get evenly incorporated.
Add the bowl of wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients and stir together until fully combined. The mixture will be thick.
While whisking constantly, pour in the hot coffee and whisk until the batter is smooth and the coffee is fully incorporated. You may need to use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that the cake batter is evenly mixed.
Transfer the cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
Bake in the center rack of the oven for 35-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool in the cake pans for 10-15 minutes before turning them out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Be sure to remove the parchment paper from the bottoms of each of the cake layers to ensure proper cooling of the cakes.
Once the cake layers have cooled completely, flip them over and using a large sharp serrated knife, level off any domed cake from the cake layers. This will ensure that your cake is level, and even when time to assemble and frost.
While your cake layers are baking and cooling you can make the frosting.

To Make the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

To the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, add the unsalted butter and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until the butter is smooth and fluffy.
To the beaten butter add the dark dutch processed cocoa powder, vanilla extract, instant espresso powder and salt. Beat on low speed just until all the ingredients are evenly combined. Scrape the bowl and paddle attachment as needed to ensure that the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and mix on low speed until all the powdered sugar has been added. Start with 4 ½ cups and only add the additional ½ cup if needed to thicken up the frosting consistency if needed. Scrape the bowl and paddle attachment as needed to ensure all the ingredients are evenly combined.
To the mixer add the heavy cream (starting with 5 tablespoons and only adding the last tablespoon if needed to lighten up the frosting to a fluffy, and easily spreadable, consistency) and beat on medium - medium high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy. You will need to stop and scrape down the bowl and paddle attachment while mixing to ensure that all the frosting ingredients are being evenly incorporated.
Place one cooled, and leveled, cake layer onto a serving plate.
Add 1 - 1 ½ cups of the chocolate buttercream frosting to the first cake layer and spread to an even layer. A small offset spatula works great for this.
Top with the second cake layer.
Frost the sides and top of the cake with the remaining chocolate buttercream frosting.
Scrape right down to the bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no patches of dry ingredients left.

Notes

Sift your cocoa powder and powdered sugar to remove any lumps. If these ingredients get mixed with liquids while they're lumpy, it's really difficult to remove them, so sifting them helps make sure you have smooth cake batter and frosting.
Spray the pans really well with bakers spray, and use parchment if you can. There's nothing more disappointing than having one of your layer cakes stuck in the pan. We like using nonstick spray that has flour in it (not just oil), such as Baker's Joy.
Adding the hot coffee to your cake batter is a critical step. Make sure the wet and dry ingredients are already mixed really thoroughly before adding the coffee, or your batter might end up too thick and dense.
When you cut your cakes with a serrated knife, use a very gentle, sawing motion so you don't tear the cake.
Make sure your cakes are fully cooled to the touch before adding your frosting. Otherwise, your frosting will melt!
We highly recommend using good quality ingredients for this cake, especially your cocoa powder and coffee. Lower-quality versions can make the cake taste bitter.

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