The Best Double Chocolate Cake with Black Velvet Icing
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This double chocolate cake is everything a chocolate cake should be: fudgy, moist, intensely chocolaty. When assembled into layers with chocolate ganache slathered in between, as the original recipe instructs, this cake becomes the perfect birthday finale for any chocolate lover; when topped with black velvet icing, as pictured here, this cake becomes an elegant dessert, a perfect treat to enjoy with morning coffee or afternoon espresso.
Why Is This Cake So Good?
A few things:
- Unsweetened cocoa powder, which imparts a deep, intense chocolate flavor and a rich, fudgy texture.
- Buttermilk, the magic ingredient in many a cake, namely this buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake.
- Oil (as opposed to butter), which keeps cakes incredibly moist (read: The Case For Making Cakes with Oil as Opposed to Butter).
The difference between Dutch-process and natural cocoa powder:
This info comes from Regan Daley’s In the Sweet Kitchen:
- Natural cocoa powder is produced if virtually all of the cocoa butter is removed from the cocoa liquor, leaving a dry cake that is then ground to a fine powder. Natural cocoa powder is quite acidic, so can be used as the necessary acid to activate baking soda in leavened baked goods, if present in sufficient quantity. Because of its high acidity and unpalatable bitterness, natural cocoa powder is best used only in baked or cooked desserts.
- Dutch-process cocoa (also called alkalized cocoa powder) has been treated with a small quantity of an alkaline solution to reduce the natural acidity. The process darkens the cocoa’s color, making it rich, often redder brown, and gives it a smoother, more mellow flavor.
- Both natural and Dutch-process cocoa have had about 75% of the cocoa fat removed.
- Although some recipes can be made with wither form of cocoa powder, many rely on the properties of one or the other. For this reason, be careful when substituting Dutch-process for natural and vice versa. In recipes for baked goods using baking soda as the leavener in which no other acid is present, Dutch-process cocoa is not appropriate as it does not contain sufficient acid to activate the baking soda. (You could use Dutch process for natural cocoa but an additional acid such as cream of tartar would need to be added.) Similarly, using natural cocoa powder in a recipe originally calling for Dutch process cocoa may cause the mixture to become overly acidic. Adding a small amount of baking soda, or increasing the amount already called for, will compensate for this.
- Natural cocoa is better for brownies, old-fashioned chocolate cakes and simple chocolate cookies. Dutch-process cocoa, more palatable than natural cocoa when raw, is good for icings, custards, creams and sauces that will not undergo further cooking. It has a more subtle, delicate flavor, one well suited to many to many elegant European-style cakes, biscuits, pastries and creams, and in any recipe where an overt, sharp chocolate flavor would overpower more delicate flavors. It is very good in nut cakes and ice creams, where a refined, un-bitter chocolate taste can complement the soft flavors of the other ingredients.
- If the cocoa will be tasted raw, as it is when dusted on cakes, cookies or truffles, opt for Dutch-processed. If the recipe is for a traditionally rich and fudgy baked good, use the stronger flavor of natural cocoa powder.
Double Chocolate Cake with Black Velvet Icing
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Description
Adapted from: Gourmet via Epicurious
Notes:
- The original recipe calls for making a chocolate ganache, which sounds heavenly, but I have always adored my grandmother’s chocolate glaze recipe — it’s called black velvet icing and it contains eggs, which is odd, but it’s so good — so that is the one I use. If you want to use Gourmet’s chocolate ganache, find it here.
- Some commenters have found the amount not to be enough for a full cake, so I’ve updated the quantities below to be a double batch, which should leave you with more than enough icing.
- If you want to make a half recipe, see this post: Gourmet’s Double Chocolate Cake, Revisited. I love these 6-inch cake pans for making half recipes of all sorts of cakes, namely this one. You need two.
Ingredients
for the cake:
- 3 ounces (85 g) fine-quality semisweet chocolate
- 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
- 3 cups (648 g) sugar
- 2 1/2 cups (320 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (144 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
for the black velvet icing (*updated to a double recipe April 2020, see notes above):
- 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
- a heaping 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar
- 6 eggs, well beaten
- 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Instructions
- Make the cake: Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease two 9- or 10-inch by 2-inch round cake pans with unsalted butter or nonstick spray. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
- Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined. Divide batter between pans (being sure not to fill pans higher than 2/3 full—they will overflow if you do; it’s not worth it) and bake in the middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the icing: Because several commenters have had trouble, with the icing, I am suggesting you use a double boiler. If you know how to set up a double boiler, do so; otherwise, fill a pot with an inch of water. Place a medium bowl over top. Turn the heat to medium. Place the chocolate in the bowl. Once it has melted, stir in the confectioners’ sugar, whisking until smooth. Stir in the eggs a little at a time, whisking vigorously after each addition — a flat-bottomed whisk is good for this. (I use a whisk until the ingredients are blended and then switch to a heat-proof spatula.) Cook over low to medium-low until thick. Stir in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Set aside to cool. Transfer to a glass measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring or store in whatever vessel you wish.
- Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Remove parchment paper. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.
- If you are making a layer cake, halve each cake round crosswise to create 4 layers. Spread icing over one cake layer. Top layer with other cake layer. Repeat until all layers are stacked. Pour icing on top of top layer and with an off-set spatula (if you have one) spread it all over the sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving. (I keep mine at room temperature always…there’s never space in the fridge.)
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
436 Comments on “The Best Double Chocolate Cake with Black Velvet Icing”
Oh my….. this dark, dark, dark cake looks so delish, i need a peice of this right now, please!
Your cake looks divine! Food with Pictures referred your blog and I can see why!
I am so sorry; I meant Little Bits of Nice referred me. Loving the cake!!
Sincerely,
judy
Judy — thank you for telling me…I’ll have to check out Little Bits of Nice. So glad you are loving the cake!
I will be trying this! This looks like the MOST amazing cake I have ever seen! SOOOO dark!
Does the cake taste like coffee at all? This recipe looks to die for buy I really dislike coffee.
Danielle — the coffee taste is undetectable. I have heard that the presence of coffee tends to heighten the flavor of chocolate. I wouldn’t worry about using it. Happy baking!
I made this cake a couple of years ago with the ganache… heavenly. I called it “the best chocolate cake in the entire world”. I knew after just one lick of the spatula that I’d found a gem of a recipe. I am SO excited to see that you too have discovered it!
I’m happy that you decided to go with a glaze after choosing not to use the ganache. the third time I baked this cake I used a lighter, chocolate buttercream and it did no justice to the recipe.
yay!
AShley — glad to hear you approve of a ganache or glaze — I haven’t had too much luck with buttercreams…they’re too rich for me.
Ali – this one is a winner! I made it for a NYE party last night (along with cheese straws) and it was AWESOME! pretty sure that’s the first cake from scratch I’ve ever baked (carrot cake doesn’t really count). 🙂 Happy new year!
Linds — so happy to hear this! Isn’t it a good one? Also Happy New Year! Also, I need to email you…have been meaning to do so for months it seems. Hope you are staying warm!
I just made this cake and it tastes delicious, but I wasn’t sure how thick to get the icing and I don’t think it was thick enough because it soaked into the cake a bit and was more drizzle-able than spreadable. I also didn’t think there was enough icing to cover the whole cake, though that might have been because it was too thin and soaked in. What consistancy should I look for when cooking the icing? It seemed thicker to me and I thought it would thicken more as it cooled, but it didn’t much. It also was no where near as “black” as the photograph. But that could have been the chocolate I used, which was Baker’s chocolate brand semi-sweet. Or maybe because I didn’t cook it long enough. The flavor is fantastic, it just wasn’t a very pretty cake and there didn’t seem to be enough icing.
Tina — So sorry to hear about the trouble with the icing. It’s always frustrating when things don’t turn out as you expect especially when you put a lot of effort in to making a cake and icing from scratch 🙁 Just glad to hear that you are happy with the flavor. Getting the consistency of the icing is definitely tricky. Before I decided on blogging about this cake in fact, I had made a different chocolate cake with the same icing recipe. I hadn’t made the icing in awhile, and I think I did what you did — I made the sauce a little too thin. The next time I made the icing, I went a little more slowly, and made sure to really whisk the chocolate and confectioners sugar until smooth, and then I slowly whisked in the eggs and stirred constantly until it was thick — I think this is the part where things can go wrong. If you add the butter before the mixture thickens up, I don’t think there’s much hope in getting it to the right consistency. You definitely have to be whisking or stirring constantly after the eggs have been added to be sure that they don’t curdle, and you also have to be patient to make sure the icing gets to that right thickness. I should really make this again and post an update in the instructions. I also used Baker’s brand semi-sweet chocolate, so I don’t think that was the issue. I think not cooking it long enough is what caused it to not glaze properly as well as to not look as black. And mine definitely thickened as it cooled. I had it in a pyrex liquid measuring cup, and I could barely pour it out when it had completely cooled. I had to warm it in a water bath to loosen it up. As for quantity, I feel like it should be enough for one whole cake, but I did make a half recipe. I had a lot left over, which is why I say that it should be enough for a whole cake, and this is the same quantity that we pour over an angel food cake, and it always covers it sufficiently. Now, were you hoping to cover both an inner layer as well as the whole outer layer? There might not be enough for that. I hope this answers some questions, and again, I am so sorry for the trouble. It’s never fun when these issues arrise.
I was just wondering …. do you know that the coffee also adds acidity to this recipe?? So maybe that is why it works with the Dutch Chocolate.
This cake looks so good, I can’t waite to try it!!
One more question, have you ever tried using the icing as a filling in your cake or cupcakes? I thought it would be like a chocolate lava cake if placed in straw size holes made on the cake/cup cakes.
Thanks for sharing!!
Rose
Rose — you are so smart! I hadn’t even thought about that but you are absolutely right. Thanks for pointing that out. I have not tried the icing recipe as a filling recipe, but I think that sounds fantastic. It would make the moistest most delicious little cupcakes. Must try that soon!
For the cake, can i make it in a bundt pan??
Whitney — I think a bundt pan is a great idea actually. I love bundt cakes — they always cook nice and evenly. Just be sure to grease it really well!
Alexandra, what I love about Pinterest is, the idea’s and all the sharing!! Sharing is caring. 🙂
Can boiling water be used in place of coffee? Really not a fan of coffee.
Nasreen — I would imagine water is fine, but may I just try to convince you to use the coffee? The flavor of the coffee is almost undetectable, yet somehow it enhances the chocolate flavor — so essentially, more chocolaty flavor and very little coffee flavor. Make sense?
I made this last night. OH so good! I did a different take on the icing though.
I added a dash of milk to the melting chocolate. Instead of adding whole eggs, I only added egg whites. Which I beat until light and fluffy, then I folded them in. I had no issue with curdling, but still whisked it all really good. For flavor, I put blood orange zest and juice into the icing. It was so light, and ran over the cake beautifully.
Thank you for posting this recipe! It was my first cake from scratch, and I fell in love with it!
Shay — wonderful to hear this! And your icing sounds incredible — so inventive and flavorful. I love the combination of orange and chocolate, so I know I would love this. Thanks so much for writing in!
ahh I finallly made this gorgeous chocolate cake, I also halved the recipe, didn’t make a glaze for it. But seriously this is a great and east recipe. I was scared because the mixture wasn’t thick but it came out great. raised well, I used a 3inch by 8 inch round tin.
I tried it the day I made it, but it was 100 times better when we tried it a day after, it was fudgier, gooey, very moist. People try it out, and add the coffee, I hate coffee but didn’t taste a hint of it (I just remembered I put it in the mixture).
Fuchsia — wonderful to hear this and thanks for sending other commenters encouragement regarding the coffee — you really wouldn’t know it was in there but some how it’s essential. And this is definitely one of those cakes that tastes better on subsequent days. So good to know this, especially if you need to make something in advance for a special occasion. I think it would make an awesome wedding cake.
Wow!!! Yuuuummm!!! I just made this cake and icing recipe but baking up cupcakes and I am in love!!! I am a chocoholic and this hits the spot!!! Thank you for sharing such a fabulous recipe!!! 🙂
Terrie — So wonderful to hear this! Love the idea of making cupcakes out of this batter.
Amei sua receita .Sou chocolatra e Instrutora quando vi disse esta é a receita .obrigada por dividir .Moro em Manaus Amazonas Brasil.
Wanda — maravilhoso ouvir isso!
Also I put the icing as the filling for the cupcake and whipped up a fluffy icing using granulated sugar so the icing was almost marshmallow like. It was a hit!! Thanks again for this AMAZING chocolate recipe! 😉
Terrie — sounds SO good. Love these ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this amazing cake recipe!! I made this for a friend’s birthday party. I used an unsweetened, natural raspberry jam for a filling between the layers and a chocolate ganache on top. It was a perfect moist, rich, chocolate explosion! People at the party kept asking which bakery I bought it from! This is going to be my new stand-by cake recipe. Thank you!
Brenda — wonderful to hear this! Love the idea of adding a raspberry jam layer — such a nice complemente to the chocolate.
Just made this for Mother’s Day. AMAZING! It is such a dense, moist cake with a wonderful chocolate flavor. I didn’t change a thing. PERFECT RECIPE!
This cake reminds me of that chocolate cake in Matilda mmmmmm 🙂
This cake looks sooooo delicious! Do you think it would handle a layer of cheesecake between 2 cake layers? It looks super fudgey so I am worried that it might not be stiff enough to hold the weight.
I finally made the recipe with cake pans instead of cupcakes and both pans the cake fell in the center a little….I did open the oven before this happened, could that have been why! I’m in Cali so no high altitude :(.
Terrie — sorry to hear this. What size cake pans were you using? I don’t think opening the oven could have really affected the cakes’ structure. My only thought is that maybe the cakes needed a little more time in the oven. Often when cakes are underdone, they sink in the middle. Or, if you used deeper pans (smaller in diameter), then the cakes definitely would need a little more time in the oven. I used odd-shaped pans for one batch of this recipe bc I liked the tall shape of the pans, and I had to bake the cake for much longer bc the center was just not done. Hope that helps and so sorry for th trouble.
Will this cake work in Denver which is 5280 altitude? Or, do you have to make adjustments. Thanks.
Marjie — I have no idea?! Sorry. Do you usually make adjustments when you bake? If you do, I would do so here as well.
Can you taste the coffee in the cake? I do not like coffee, but i heard it intensifies the chocolate flavor.
Alexandra – I used two 8″ square pans which are a little deeper then the rounds it seems like so yea, that could have been it. Good thought. :o)
Is there a specific reason why you bake this cake at 300 instead of a typical 325?
Katie…once the coffee is baked into the cake, no you can not taste the coffee…it does indeed intensify the chocolate taste! :o) This is my opinion on Alexandra’s recipe.
Could you use chocolate chips in both the cake & frosting instead of blocks of chocolate? I made this recently & it was wonderful! However I want to make it again but have limited time & I felt like it took me forever to chop the chocolate up. Thanks!
This chocolate cake is AMAZING. Something that you would have at a restaurant that you always talk about. My mom made this and I did as well. Everyone that tried it thought it was just fantastic.
I love all of your recipes, you are truly gifted!
Thank you, Claire. I am so so happy to hear this. Now I’m craving chocolate cake…my birthday is coming up. Hmmm 🙂
I love this cake!! I made it for my moms birthday a few weeks ago and it was a total hit. I might have polished off the leftovers from the fridge over the next week 😉
Question – Have you ever made this cake recipe in cupcake form? Can you estimate the cooking time needed for standard non-stick cupcake pans?
yay! I think I might have to make this cake in cupcake form for my son’s upcoming birthday. Ok, I would say 20 to 25 minutes at 350ºF. Good luck with it! I’ll report back if I make them in cupcake form.
Did you ever make them as cupcakes? I wanted to try that. I made it in cake form and it was divine!
I have not but that is a very good idea! I am sure it will work beautifully.
Holy sweet mother of chocolate! I’m often so-so on cakes. They are often dry, lacking in flavor and often seem not worth the calories. THIS cake, however, was life-changing. Amazing. Delicious day 1 and day 3 after being in the fridge. I didn’t imagine that mine would come out looking as decadent and moist and fudgey as your picture did, but it did. I may never make another kind of cake again. I am ruined in the best way possible. 🙂
Yesssss. I am so happy to hear this! I felt exactly the same way as you when I first made it. I had no idea that this kind of chocolate cake could be this good/worth the calories. I think my mouth just watered a little bit thinking about it. It’s obviously been too long since I’ve made this cake. So happy you approve! And I know, how nice that it still tastes amazing days later?!