Let me just say…this recipe takes the cake…the homemade chocolate layer cake that is!
It’s a delicious double layer chocolate cake made with cacao powder and topped with a sweet chocolate buttercream icing. The cake has a moist, melt in your mouth texture. It’s light and fluffy but somehow also seems to have the perfect density.
I’ve been making this recipe for 2 years worth of family and friend’s birthdays. There’s been a lot of “this is the best cake I’ve had” and “how do you make this so good” – which I don’t take lightly! Everyone that’s had a bite has had some praise for the texture, flavor, icing, richness, etc. Even the non-cake and/or non-chocolate fans have loved it…and that’s coming from a non-cake person herself.
And of course the best for last…this recipe has only all natural, preservative free ingredients that are safe for those sensitive to sulfites. Using the organic ingredients like the brands listed and linked in my blog post List of sulfite free foods for the sulfite sensitive, you can make a safe cake that tastes too good to be true.
Ingredients
There’s one ingredient that I recommend not substituting which is the cacao powder. While cocoa powder does work, it doesn’t produce the same rich taste as cacao. I prefer to use Navita’s organic cacao powder, but have made it with other brands as well. For sulfite free, using a cacao powder not processed with alkali is important.
Cake ingredients:
- All purpose flour
- Cane sugar
- Cacao powder
- Baking powder
- Sea salt
- Fresh lemon juice
- Melted butter
- Vanilla
- Water
Icing ingredients:
- All purpose flour
- Cane sugar
- Cacao powder
- Almond milk / Milk
- Softened butter
- Vanilla
- Sea salt
- Chocolate chips
Making the Chocolate Layer Cake
The best part of this cake recipe is that it’s a one bowl recipe! It makes for such a simple mixing process and an easy clean up.
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees and grease two 8 or 9″ cake pans. Then begin mixing together the flour, sugar, cacao powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Stir until well combined then make three separate indents in the mixture. Add the vanilla into one, the melted butter into the second, and the fresh lemon juice into the third. Next, pour the room temperature water over the top of all ingredients and begin to stir from the top down. Mix well until you have a smooth, chocolate-y mixture.
Pour the batter into the two cake pans and place into the pre-heated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes then stick a toothpick / fork into the center and ensure it comes out dry. If not dry, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. *Timing varies by oven. I typically bake the cakes for 25 minutes then check the center and if it’s not done I add an additional 5 minutes until it is done (I frequently use two different ovens).
Making the Homemade Chocolate Icing
This is a delicious homemade buttercream chocolate icing that goes perfectly with the cake. While it may take a bit of mastery to perfect – it’s worth every bit of the learning process.
First you start by heating up a large saucepan on the stove (I use medium heat). Add the sugar, flour, and cacao powder into the pan and mix together then add in your milk of choice and stir well. Continue to stir intermittently until the mixture begins to thicken. Once the mixture has a pudding-like texture, pour into a bowl and place into the fridge.
While the mix cools, melt your chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. The best practice is always to start with 25-30 seconds then remove and mix before melting again for another 20-25 second. Once melted, leave on the counter to come to cool. You want the melted chocolate to come to room temperature but not harden. Next use a hand mixture to mix together the softened butter, vanilla, and sea salt in a large bowl. The butter base should have a light and fluffy texture.
When the pudding mix had cooled entirely, pour it into the butter base and use the hand mixer to combine well. Then finally pour the cooled melted chocolate in and mix once more. The result is a fluffy, chocolate icing!
Loving the dessert recipes? Check these out!
Rich Chocolate Layer Cake with Homemade Chocolate Icing
Equipment
- 1 Large bowl
- 1 Medium bowl
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Handmixer
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 3 cups All purpose flour organic, unbleached
- 2 cups Sugar organic
- 1/2 cup Cacao Powder Not processed with alkali*
- 2 tsps Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
- 2 tbsps Fresh lemon juice
- 12 tbsps Melted butter
- 2 tsps Vanilla
- 2 cups Water
Chocolate Icing
- 2/3 cup Sugar
- 1/3 cup All purpose flour organic, unbleached
- 3 tbsps Cacao powder not processed with alkali*
- 1 cup Whole milk or almond milk
- 2 sticks Butter softened
- 1 pinch Sea salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips organic
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and grease two 8" or 9" cake pans (I prefer to use some melted butter, but any oil will work).
- In one large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cacao powder, baking soda, and sea salt.
- Make 3 separate indents in the mix and add the fresh squeezed lemon juice to one, vanilla to the next, and melted butter to the last.
- Finally pour the two cups of water over the top of all the ingredients and begin to stir from the top down.
- When the cake batter is smooth and creamy, pour half into one cake pan and the remaining into the other.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on the oven). The best practice is to start with 25 then check on the cakes by sticking a toothpick or fork into the center and checking if the inside of the cake is dry. If not, bake until dry!
Homemade Chocolate Icing
- Place a medium sized saucepan on the stove over low to medium heat.
- Sift the sugar, flour, and cacao powder together in the saucepan, then add in the milk and mix well.
- Continue to stir the mixture occasionally until a pudding begins to form. The mixture will continue to thicken (this is when you want to stir the mixture more actively). Once the mixture has thickened, pour it into a bowl and place in the fridge.
- While the pudding mixture is cooling, melt the cup of chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Then let the chocolate chip mixture sit and cool while you begin the next step.
- Use a hand mixer to beat together the softened butter, sea salt, and vanilla in a medium sized bowl. Mix until fluffy.
- When the pudding has cooled entirely, pour (more like scoop) it into the butter and use the mixer to beat together.
- Finally, add in the cooled melted chocolate chips and mix everything together one more time.
- The icing should be a rich, chocolatey buttercream that is smooth and easy to spread. You can leave it in the fridge until you're ready to ice the cake.
Assembling the chocolate cake
- Start by removing one of the cooled cakes from the pan and placing it onto a flat surface (plate, cake dish, serving platter, etc.) Then ice this cake completely making sure there is a heavy layer of icing on top.
- Remove the second cake from it's pan and place on top of the first. Then ice the cake entirely.
