This is a wonderfully dark, ultimate chocolate cake, with a light, moist crumb, and is covered with a rich chocolate ganache.
I absolutely love a great chocolate cake and this one has all the greatness one longs for in an ultimate chocolate cake! The crumb is moist and light, and the ganache is so rich, but compliments the sponge very nicely.
If you want more cake recipes, try my cherry layer cake, white cake with strawberry filling, or my lemon cream cake!
An amazingly flavourful cake!
What gives the sponge a great chocolate flavour, other then the addition of cocoa powder, is coffee. Now, I don't like coffee but I do prefer tea. I am such a huge tea drinker that my husband thinks I solely keep Tetley in business.
But putting coffee in a chocolate cake enhances the chocolate flavour so nicely and you don't even taste coffee at all! If you really don't want to use coffee, hot water in it's place is fine. But I urge you to try it.
Both buttercream and sour cream are in this cake as they give such a lightness and moistness needed for such a rich cake. If you don't have buttercream, you can make your own. Place one tablespoon of white vinegar in a measuring cup and fill the measuring cup with milk up to ¾ cup mark. Stir then let the mixture sit for ten minutes. It will thicken and curdle slightly. That's how you will know that it worked!
How to make this cake
I made this cake in 7-inch cake pans. You could use 8-inch, but the sponge won't be as high. Make sure to cool the cakes and level the tops before assembly. After the ganache has been chilled for one hour, assemble the cake. Leftovers can be refrigerated for 3 days.
Ultimate Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup coffee
Chocolate Ganache
- 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup confectioners sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and line two 7-inch round cake pans.
- In a medium bowl whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powders, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined.
- In a medium bowl combine buttermilk, sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla.
- Slowly add flour mixture into the wet mixture and stir until just combined. Add in the coffee and stir until incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 25-28 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 mins and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Ganache
- Place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl.
- Warm heavy cream, confectioners sugar, and salt in a pot over medium high heat. Bring to just a boil and then pour over chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
- Refrigerate until spreadable, about 1 hour.
To Assemble
- Cut tops off of cakes to make flat.
- Set one cake layer on a plate. Evenly spread about a ⅓ of ganache over the cake. Top with the other layer of cake. Spread the remaining amounts of frosting over the top and the sides of the cake.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️