Okay, I am not kidding here, but I just made the most AMAZING buttermilk chocolate cake EVER! And truly, it was not hard at all. I originally saw the recipe in Marcy’s copy of February’s Portland Monthly magazine, and thought I should write it down, but I forgot. Then, while David was waiting that extra hour for me to finish with my dentist appointment, he came across it again and thoughtfully asked the receptionist to photocopy it for me. (Such a sweetheart!)
Since we were having a friend over for dinner, I thought I’d use that as an excuse to try out this new recipe. And it was… magic! Moist, rich, chocolaty, not too sweet and with just the right amount of depth and complexity. And did I mention beautiful? Gorgeously dark with a semi-matte, creamy ganache frosting. I’m never going to buy chocolate container frosting ever again. Now I know the secret – and so do you!
Chocolate Buttermilk Layer Cake
Once you pour the hot coffee into the batter, don’t be alarmed by its thinness.
“It’s definitely the thinnest cake batter I’ve ever worked with,” [Portland Baker
Melissa] McKinney says. As for the frosting, there’s no need to use fancy chocolate,
she says. “I just use semi-sweet chocolate chips and it comes out perfect.”
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)*
1 1/3 cups canola oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups freshly brewed, extra-strong hot coffee*
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
24 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Place flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on low to combine. Keeping the mixer on low , add oil, buttermilk, then eggs one at a time. Add hot coffee in a thin stream, pouring down the side of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix until batter is smooth. Divide into pans and back until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pans for at least 20 minutes.
3. Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a boil. Place chocolate chips and cream in a stainless steel mixing bowl (I used glass) and set on top of simmering water, Allow mixture to melt–do not stir right away, When chocolate has melted, stir it with a whisk. Allow to cool at room temperature.
4. Remove cakes from pans. Place one layer of cake on a serving plate. Trim the top with a serrated knife to make it even (although I didn’t find this necessary). Place a scoop of ganache in the middle and smooth it out to the edges using a palette knife or spatula. Trim the top off the other layer and place the untrimmed side down on the top of the frosted layer, pressing gently. Spoon more ganache on the top and smooth it around the sides, adding more ganache as needed to cover. If you need to apply a second coat of ganache, put the cake in the refridgerator for no more than 15 minutes to set before adding a second coat (although I found myself with a surplus of frosting). Makes a single 9-inch layer cake.
My notes: For the cocoa powder I used Droste cocoa from Holland, which is like gold around here, but I really wanted to make it extra special. I also didn’t bother to sift it. For the chocolate frosting I used Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. And instead of the extra strong coffee, I pulled four extra long shots of espresso, enough to make the full 1 1/2 cups.
Postscript: In response to a comment below, I thought I’d add this paragraph from the article for those interested:
So what gives this recipe such staying power? It’s the oil, says McKinney. “Oil makes a moister cake, and allows it to last a week, whereas a layer cake made with butter becomes dry the next day.” Plus, the hot coffee elevates the cocoa’s depth and complexity. The cake is versatile as well: The batter can be stored in the fridge for several days; stout can be used in place of coffee, it can even be made vegan (McKinney suggests using egg replacement and vanilla soy milk.) And the layers can be filled with whipped cream and fresh berries instead of ganache.
*Update* See this post on halving the recipe, with updated shape and photos!
I was watching the movie Chocolat last night. This would have been perfect with the movie.
anything with chocolate is amazing. My favorite is the Godiva chocolate cheese cake .. with hot chocolate syrup on top.
oh my god. that looks sooooooo amazing!! i need an excuse to make it…
my mouth is absolutely watering. i am supposd to make a low-fat dessert for dinner wtih my parents tonight. this is low-fat right?
drooooollllll
that looks so delicious – i just made a chocolate cake this weekend – and now I want to make this one!
I made this cake exactly as recipe and found it slightly to oily and lacking taste. I made another and used 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature and 3/4 cup oil. Wow! perfect with better texture, not spongy.
Really? That is so interesting, but I’m glad you were willing to try it again with your own variation. One excerpt from the article I didn’t include above was this paragraph:
So what gives this recipe such staying power? It’s the oil, says McKinney. “Oil makes a moister cake, and allows it to last a week, whereas a layer cake made with butter becomes dry the next day.”
Actually, I think I’ll include the whole paragraph in a postscript above, if you find that is any help. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.
I made this tonight, just a single layer. Very soft and moist, but much paler than in the picture. It was quite good, though I had hoped it might be denser. The ganache made it better, and it would be amazing with 2 layers! Thanks for sharing!
How tall were the cake pans you used? I used 2 9″ pans and it overflowed. I had double checked all my measurements before assembling.
The reason it was paler was you probably used natural cocoa instead of Dutch-process (alkalized cocoa) like paperseed did.
Has anyone tried this with gluten free flour?
Thanks for the posting. I used to work at a restaurant where we made a this cake. It was extremely popular. We put a cream cheese frosting on it, though. To Everybody: THIS IS THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE, EVER!!!
I made this cake for my son’s 2nd birthday party, and since the comment about the butter made me start to think (fan of butter) and liked the comment about the texture improvement, I decided to do the same. half and half about. It turned out amazing and everyone loved this cake. I am so happy to have found this recipe.
Now I am possibly going to start to make this cake for a small cafe in my community, only questions now are, does it need to be refrigerated? I’m assuming since it has a ganache it does, but am not sure. Also I guess It must be only oil for it to have that lovely staying power that is mentioned in the article! Thanks for this amazing recipe!!!!!
I’m not sure why anyone would consider changing this recipe. I’ve already made it twice now and people love it! Its moist and really flavorful. I wouldn’t change anything. I used it to make cupcakes and they turned out great… as for 2 9″ cake pans, mine didn’t overflow but they were really thick layers! Next time I might make it into a three layer cake instead to cut back on the baking time to ensure its completely cooked throughout.
sick peice of chacolate that should feed a bunch
Hi,
It really looks good.
Today I had a cake that is made with layers of cookies (They’re known as Maria cookies here in Portugal and in Spain).
It’s done with a butter cream and coffee.
Kind regards,
José
This is incredible. Anything with heavy whipping cream and buttermilk has to be good! I will make it. Eat your heart out Paula Dean!
This recipe looks absolutely delicious. Can’t wait to try it!
This cake looks so rich and moist, I can’t wait to make it. So decadent!
I love baking with buttermilk! It gives such a nice, tangy flavor you just can’t put your finger on…
This cake looks and sounds amazing!
Kimberly
i’m not a fan of fudgy cake.
WOW. This looks amazing. Love the combination of buttermilk and chocolate. Well done
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse (now even hungrier)
I’m thinking of making this cake for a birthday next week but have a couple of questions so grateful if anyone can reply – what kind of oil is canola? (I’m in the UK and we don’t have that brand here). Also, I need to decorate my cake with quite heavy icing (Spiderman theme!) – is the cake firm enough to stand up to this? Finally, does it have any taste of the coffee as I really don’t like coffee flavour? Thanks for any answers!
Hi Donna,
Canola oil is the same as rapeseed oil. That you should be able to find at local supermarkets.
cheers
Marianna
Donna -
Canola oil is basically a slightly healthier version of vegetable oil and it doesn’t have a very strong flavour. The cake is definitely firm enough to hold up a lot of icing, just make sure you cook it all the way through! I commented earlier that I was going to use 3 cake pans instead of 2, because there is a lot more batter than most cakes I’ve made, so it takes a lot longer to bake and theres a possibility the outside could burn before the inside is fully set. So I’d just make sure you don’t overfill your cake pans and you’ll be fine.
You don’t even taste the coffee. Coffee is just there to enhance the chocolate flavour. You’ll never even notice it. You’ll love the cake, though! I just made it again yesterday. I’ve probably used this recipe at least 6 times now. It freezes wonderfully!
I can’t wait to try it. I love cake so much I can’t see straight. Thanks for the post!
Ummmmy. Just looking at it makes me want to make it! Great recipe, I will try to make it and tell you how it goes.
I like the cake, but the frosting was not very good. The chocolate was too thin. I put the cake in the refrigerator and the whole top layer slid off. Made quite a mess in the refrigerator. I put it back together. The chocolate frosting never did get thick. I had to put skewers in the cake to keep the layers from sliding off. It did make 3 really thick layers. I can taste the coffee in it, but I don’t like coffee so it was easy for me to taste it. Don’t know why the frosting didn’t ever set like ganache.
Try chilling the icing until it is consistancy of pudding then whip it until stiff peaks form.
Will not slide then and will have a much nicer texture.
This is the second time I am making this cake. I am making it a single layer (I only have one cake tin
)
Its been 40 minutes and the centre is just literally as runny as it was 40 minutes ago when I put it in there. I do live in England. Could that be why?
Hi! I made this cake tonight in cupcake-form, and it was a big favorite, so I posted it on my blog and linked back to you. Thank you so much for sharing! You have a truly lovely blog.
I tried the recipe it was a total disaster!!!!!!!! Am I the only one here with such results? The whole batter was very liquidish and wobbly jus before slipping it into the oven… and i had a strong hunch that disaster is at bay… Gosh so dissapointed with the outcome.. Trying to figure where I went wrong. I followed the recipe exactly…
I made this cake and it was very moist!
I have a convection oven
I found it to not be very sweet. I would add more sugar or something like maple syrup.
I bake all the time and have made plenty of chocolate cakes. I make the birthday cakes for everyone in my family. I saw this and decided to give it a go for my mom’s birthday. It was amazing and I am going to make this again, and again and again! I made it with a milk chocolate frosting which was delicious – will be making it next with a cream cheese frosting. What I like about this cake is that you don’t need butter or chocolate – just cocoa powder so it’s easy to make in a pinch. Make sure you don’t fill your pans up too much – mine overflowed!
Something is wrong with this recipe. I made it following all directions and using 2- 9 inch cake pans. Like another baker that commented the pans overflowed in my oven. The flavor was not worth the mess.
Has anyone tried cutting the fat content with applesauce (maybe half oil and half applesauce)?? I seems to have such a high fat content!
Do you have any suggestions/information on making this cake at high altitude? I live in Denver CO so I would love to make this but would need the adjustments for ingredients. Thanks!
Two round nine inch cake pans is not enough. You could probably use 4 or 5. I started using a huge rectangular cake pan about 12″ x 18″. It bakes about 3-4 inches high. My frosting finally set when I did what Janet told me….cool in fridge and whip it. Today I will make it for the 3rd time. I also do not use parchment paper for the rectangular pan. I do use wax paper when I make round cakes that I want to turn out. I also use a convection oven so it gets done quicker and more evenly.
This is sooo fantastic!!! it is really the most amzaing choclate cake ever. It is so easy to make, so moist and it comes out so well. So far I have made it twice with great reviews.
Oh, a few tips…It actullay takes much longer to cook – more like 45 – 1hr cooking time. When you start to smell the cake you know it is almost ready you can then check the cake ever 5-10 minutes to see if it cook through. The middle of the cake will be raised, the inside crumbly, anytime before then will mean that the cake is still wet in the middle. The cake mixture is really large so make sure you fill only 2/3 of the cake tin to get the best results. The first time I made the cake I used 3 loaf tins.
Hi,
I made this yummy cake for my husband’s birthday and it was an instant hit with my family and friends!
I am planning to make it for my 9years old daughter’s birthday party after 2 days and was wondering if I could dress it up a bit differently so that kids enjoy it.
thanks for the recipe,
this is a hard cake to make but it’s worth it! But I do hate the coffe and brandy taste.
-e
hope my cake turns out! I made it with one of my 3 sisters…shes 20 and I’m 11. Cross your fingers!
I made this cake today for a late Christmas celebration with my family and I have to say that it is by far, THE BEST cake I have ever made. Perfectly moist, the right amount of sweetness – I absolutely love it. I could not taste the coffee – It did have that nice dark chocolate flavor. It did provide enough batter for three large layers for me – but that is not a problem in the slightest! Thank you for posting this recipe!
I made this for Xmas Eve. Here is a link to a photo of it.
It was really amazing. So dense, moist and rich. Delicious!
Thanks!
http://mortadifame.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-2009-photo-recap.html