Chocolate Layer Cake
The best chocolate cake you'll ever make or taste! This recipe takes the classic Hershey's Black Magic Cake and adds in extra chocolate for the most decadent and moist cake.
Servings 10 or more
Equipment
- Two 10-inch round cake pans or three 9-inch round cake pans
Ingredients
For Cake Layers:
- 3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut or Ghirardelli
- 1 ½ cups hot brewed coffee
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour see note
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened cocoa powder not Dutch process
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups well-shaken buttermilk see note
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla
For Ganache Frosting:
- 1 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut or Ghirardelli
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 4 tablespoons butter ½ stick
Instructions
Make Cake Layers:
- Preheat oven to 300°F and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper or parchment paper and grease paper.
- Finely chop chocolate and combine with hot coffee in a bowl. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
- In a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In another 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 coffee mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture on medium speed until just combined well. Batter will be very thin.
- Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until tested inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.
Make Frosting:
- Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 ½- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.
- Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency).
- Spread frosting between cake layers and over top and sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.
Notes
For a gluten free cake: Use a measure for measure gluten free flour in place of all purpose flour.
Substitute for buttermilk: 1 cup of milk mixed with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, let sit for 5 minutes.
Source: Adapted from Epicurious.com
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