Best Chocolate Cake – What Jessica Baked Next

The BEST Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake. This is the one and only chocolate fudge cake recipe you need. Decorate this stunning cake as you desire and get ready to receive many compliments!

When it comes to chocolate cake, this recipe I have for you today is simply the best. Yes, that’s a bold statement, but once you’ve had a slice, then you’ll be raving about just how fabulous it is.

Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa) is the author of this recipe. It’s quite frankly the absolute queen of chocolate cakes on the internet. I’m a great fan of Ina, and the summer before I started my professional cookery course at culinary school, I watched episode after episode of her programmes that were on Food Network. I love her simple, timeless approach to cookery.

A cookbook of Ina’s I own has a recipe for Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. This is the recipe I’m using today, but I’ve used a different buttercream to decorate mine. The cocoa buttercream is divine, with just the right amount of richness and creaminess. It’s a standard American-style buttercream and tastes great paired with the fudgy chocolate cake.

I’ve shared chocolate cakes and cupcakes on my blog, but never a classic layered chocolate fudge cake with buttercream.

There are a few ingredients that make this chocolate cake superior to many other recipes. The delectable, fudgy and moist texture is thanks to the use of oil instead of butter in the cake batter. Also, the addition of buttermilk and hot coffee keeps this cake from being anything but dry.

To tell you just how GOOD this cake is, I baked and decorated my cake in the morning and by the evening we only had a quarter of it left! It’s the kind of cake you just can’t help but go back for more of.

Once you bake the cake, get ready for all the compliments and glory you receive. I know myself first hand. For a short time, I baked numerous cakes for customers and quite a few of my orders were for this chocolate cake. I loved hearing my customers enjoying the cakes – it’s the best feeling when someone enjoys something you’ve put a lot of effort into.

I kept my decoration simple. I spread half the buttercream on one cake layer, and then I topped that with the other cake layer. Finally, I spread the remaining buttercream on the top – placing a little bit of it in a piping bag fitted with a star nip nozzle. I piped swirls of the buttercream around the edge of the cake, then further decorated my cake with white chocolate truffles, triple chocolate curls and some crunchy shimmered biscuit balls.

So I say it just one more time. Here you have the BEST American-Style Chocolate Fudge Cake. Have a great time baking this one!

Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

The BEST Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake. This is the one and only chocolate fudge cake recipe you need. Decorate this stunning cake as you desire and get ready to receive many compliments! This cake can be made either as a 2 or 3 layer cake.

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 30

Servings 12

Author What Jessica Baked Next

Ingredients

Chocolate Fudge Cake Batter

210 g plain flour
400 g caster or granulated sugar
90 g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
240 ml buttermilk
120 ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
240 ml freshly brewed coffee I use 1 teaspoon of coffee granules with 240ml of boiling water - you can use just boiling water and leave the coffee out

Cocoa Buttercream

225 g butter (salted or unsalted) I prefer using salted butter for my buttercream
420 g icing sugar sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
40 g cocoa powder sifted
3-4 tablespoons double cream add more or less to just consistency of buttercream

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Line 2 x 20cm (8-inch) round cake tins with baking/parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt until thoroughly combined.
In a medium-sized bowl or jug, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
Now add the wet ingredients along with the hot coffee and carefully whisk until just mixed and no lumps of flour remain.
Distribute the cake batter evenly between the two cake tins and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean without any uncooked batter attached. Please Note: The original recipe instructs you to bake the cake for 35–40 minutes, mine took nearer to 60 minutes to fully cook through. All ovens are different, so you may need to check the cake at 40 minutes and keep baking until the cake tester comes out clean.
Once the cakes are baked all the way through, allow them to cool in the tins for 30 minutes, then remove from the cake tins and leave to cool on a wire rack completely.
To make the buttercream, start by creaming the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. This should take about 5 minutes by hand or by using an electric mixer. Now add the cocoa powder and mix again until just combined. Finally, add the double cream and mix again until combined.
Take the first cake layer and place directly on your chosen serving dish/plate. I used a cake board and spread a tiny bit of buttercream on the base to secure the first cake layer. Take half the buttercream and spread it out evenly, then place the second cake layer on top and spread the remaining buttercream on top. I like to pipe a few swirls of the buttercream on top of my cake.
Decorate the cake further with your favourite chocolates or sprinkles. The cake will keep stored, covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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Chocolate fudge cake decorated with a layer of velvety dark chocolate ganache.

Originally posted in July 2014, recipe and photographs updated May 2018.

It’s taken me four years to update this much-loved chocolate cake of mine. I’ve trialled several more chocolate cake recipes since then and now I’ve found this new recipe, which my taste testers and I absolutely love.

The original recipe I shared was a two-layer cake, the top of the cake was garnished with fresh raspberries and the sides decorated with milk and white chocolate biscuit fingers.

However, since then I’ve wanted to share an updated recipe with easier and minimalist decoration, with focus purely on the taste.

This recipe is from SWEET by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh. Just like my favourite Chocolate Fudge Brownies, this cake has both dark chocolate and cocoa powder added for intense chocolate flavour and if there wasn’t enough chocolate already in the cake, there’s also a dark chocolate ganache spread on the top of the cake.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Fudge Cake:

250g butter (salted or unsalted), at room temperature and cut into 2cm cubes

200g dark chocolate, cut into 2cm pieces

1 and 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules (optional)

350ml boiling water – this is for dissolving the coffee

250g caster sugar

2 large free-range eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

240g self-raising flour

30g cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt – only add this if using unsalted butter

Chocolate Ganache:

200g dark chocolate, cut into 2cm pieces

200ml double cream

1 tablespoon golden syrup

1 tablespoon butter (salted or unsalted)

Method:

1. To make the cake: Preheat oven to 170°C / 150°C Fan / 325°F / Gas Mark 3. Grease and line a 23cm springform cake tin with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Place the cubed butter and chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Pour over the hot coffee (1 and 1/2 teaspoons of instant coffee granules dissolved in 350ml of boiling water) and whisk until melted.

3. Now whisk in the sugar until it’s all dissolved. In a smaller bowl beat together the eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Add the egg and vanilla mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk until incorporated.

4. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt (only use if using unsalted butter). Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. The batter will be liquid, don’t worry as this is how it should be. Bake the cake for 60 minutes or until the cake is risen and a cake tester comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs attached when inserted into the centre of the cake – my cake took an extra 10 minutes to finish completely baking. The top of the cake will crack, but once you’ve covered the top of the cake in ganache you won’t notice this.

5. Leave the cake to cool for 20 minutes, then carefully remove it from the tin, peel off the piece of parchment paper off the bottom and leave it cool completely on a wire rack.

6. To make the ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium mixing bowl. Heat the cream and golden syrup in a small saucepan until bubbles just begin to appear on the surface and just before it starts to come up to the boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until mostly melted. Now add the butter and continue to stir until smooth. Directly place a piece of clingfilm on the top of the ganache and leave it at room temperature for about two hours until spreadable.

7. Using a spatula or palette knife, spread the ganache on the top of the cake. Serve the cake with pouring or whipped cream, ice cream and fresh raspberries and strawberries. Cake will store covered at room temperature for 4-5 days.

Recipe from SWEET by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh

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