Let me show you a new to me recipe for the best Dark Chocolate Cake With Whipped Cream Frosting. Birthdays will never be the same around here!
I come from a long line of pie lovers… which means you won’t find cake at most of our family gatherings, even birthdays. We snub our noses at store bought cakes and are proud to be on TEAM PIE… So it’s no surprise to me that I only have a handful of cake recipes here on Lovely Little Kitchen. But this Dark Chocolate Cake With Whipped Cream Frosting is a game changer for me! I made it for my husband’s birthday recently after he specifically requested a cake (WHAT?) and I’m so glad he did.
It’s so easy to make, requiring one bowl, regular all-purpose flour, and a hand mixer. Nothing fancy, and nothing I can’t handle even though cake is something I probably make once a year. And it’s so delicious!!! Super moist and fudgy, with a rich chocolate flavor without being too sweet.
The frosting I paired with it is my homemade whipped cream with some dark chocolate cocoa powder added to it. It keeps beautifully in the fridge so you can make it even a couple days ahead of time.
Since I’m not too fancy with my cakes, I kept the decorations simple by smoothing out the sides, dragging a spoon in a spiral shape on top, and tossing on a few sprinkles. We can do this! I even piped a few dots of extra frosting around the bottom edge to cover up a slight gap. Frosting covers a multitude of sins, my friends.
The recipe for this Dark Chocolate Cake came from my neighbor, who found it on the side of the Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder container. I adapted it just slightly, and didn’t use the frosting recipe as written because I wanted something lighter than a traditional buttercream.
If you have something special coming up to celebrate, this is your cake! I tried to list some cake making tips and tricks that were helpful to me in the recipe below, but I’d love to hear what works for you all too. Happy Baking!
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Dark Chocolate Cake With Whipped Cream Frosting
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This super moist and decadent Dark Chocolate Cake With Whipped Cream Frosting made a cake lover out of me! Try it and you’ll see!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cups dark chocolate cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup oil (I used avocado oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon coffee extract
- 1 cup boiling water
For the Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray two nine-inch baking pans with baking spray. Cut four 1 inch by 12 inch strips of parchment paper and arrange them in an “X” across each of the baking pans. This will give you “tabs” to remove the cakes from the pans after they are baked.
- In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add eggs, milk, oil, and extracts. Beat the ingredients together with a hand mixer on low speed, and then gradually increase to medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Slowly stir in the boiling water by hand. The batter will be very thin. Don’t worry!
- Evenly divide the batter between the two baking pans and bake for 33-35 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out mostly clean, or with a few crumbs attached.
- Let the pans cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, and then place into the freezer for 1 hour.
For the Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting
- Over a large bowl, sift powdered sugar and cocoa powder together. Add heavy cream and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed (carefully at first) and gradually increase the speed to high as the mixture thickens. After about 3-4 minutes, you will have stiff peaks in the cream and it will be ready to use for frosting.
To Assemble
- Place a few more strips of parchment or wax paper around the edge of your cake plate or pan. This will keep the surface clean while you are frosting. Place the first cake (domed side down) onto the center of the plate.
- Remove the cakes from the freezer, and use the tabs to lift them out.
- Scoop about 2 cups of frosting on top of the cake and spread to the edges in an even layer.
- Place the second cake (domed side up) on top of the frosting layer. Add more frosting to the top of the cake, and spread to the edges and down the sides. Keep adding more frosting until the cake is completely covered.
- Use a knife or offset spatula to smooth the edges. I like to drag a spoon around the top of the cake to make a spiral design. If desired, reserve 1 cup of frosting to pipe around the bottom edge of the cake to cover any gap after you remove the parchment paper strips. Add chocolate sprinkles.
- Cover (if possible) and refrigerate until ready to serve. I think this cake tastes best served cold on the day after it is made, which is nice because you can make it ahead and have it all ready to go.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Piece
- Calories: 553
- Sugar: 49g
- Sodium: 430mg
- Fat: 29g
- Saturated Fat: 13g
- Unsaturated Fat: 13.3g
- Trans Fat: 0.6g
- Carbohydrates: 68g
- Fiber: 1.8g
- Protein: 6.3g
- Cholesterol: 89mg
Veronica Percy says
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday and he said, “You really outdid yourself with this cake.” Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe. It’s our new family favorite.
Jennifer Rodrigues says
I absolutely love this cake and frosting! I couldn’t believe the frosting held up for days without using a stabilizer! Super yummy. I made my own birthday cake just so I could try this… so glad i did!!!
Thank you so much!
Mary K. says
Hello,
I apologize if someone has already asked this question… Can I make the cake and freeze and then when I’m ready finish it off?
Julie says
Yes, you can bake, cool, wrap, and freeze the individual cakes ahead of time. I think it’s quite a bit easy to frost when the cakes are frozen firm. It will thaw fairly quickly in the refrigerator after you frost it. I hope you enjoy!
Mary K. says
Well, Julie, I made the cake for Orthodox Easter. I froze it for a couple of days prior to frosting. Made it just as the recipe is written but of course mine didn’t look as pretty as yours. I would have posted a photo but the only pictures taken were showing the side that was hit by the box when my daughter was taking it out!
Everyone loved it. It’s so nice and moist. Because I’m a cheating diabetic (who can resist!?) next time I make it I will cut down on the sugar a little bit…both in the cake and the frosting and see how that works. I’m sure it will be just as delicious.
Thank you for the recipe and a belated thank you for your reply about being able to freeze it.
Dua Emran says
The DELICIOUSNESS!!! YUMMILICIOUS Recipe ever I’ve ever seen or made. None site provided the Best frosting idea for the cake but just YOURS. I’ve pinned that over my Pinterest site with your link of website. Search for my board “Yummilicious” to see that:)
Duaa Emran says
Here’s just a question: that It’s my mom’s birthday so can I refrigerate the cake’s batter for more smoothness? For about 2 hours?
Cindy Carney says
I’m making this today with the help of my 4 year old granddaughter for my son Matthew’s 37th bday …(cake is in the freezer now) …I’m hoping it comes out okay, I’m visiting from out of state and I’m using all kinds of subs for ingredients! Lol
It smells delish and now I’m wishing I had the plain gelatin to stabilize the frosting. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before I was stuck without car for the day!
Oh well the show must go on!
Let you know the results!
dawn says
This cake was so moist, loved it! I am not sure what I did wrong, but the frosting was so soupy; there is a lot of liquid ( 2 1/2 c of heavy cream) compared to “solids” ( 1 1/2 c powdered sugar and 1/4 c of dark chocolate powder). I am not sure how much more powdered sugar I ended up adding, but it was way more than 1 1/2 c. What did I do wrong?
Irina says
Oh my goodness, thats a chocolate dream! Made it 2 days ago but got to eat it only today and it blew my mind! Its moist, rich chocolatey goodness, and not too sweet. Thats the only chocolate cale recipe i will use from now on. The only change i did was to use a cup of hot coffee instead of a cup of hot water, thus omitting coffee extract, just because i didnt have it on hand. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this recipe!!!!!
Julie says
Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed!
Phil says
The first time I ever tried to bake a cake was last month for my middle daughter’s birthday. Turned out so bad I had to chuck it and buy one at the last minute. Determined to learn for my oldest girls birthday, a month from now, I tried this. This turned out perfect- family consensus is the frosting tastes like a chocolate milkshake. Great all around recipe
Julie says
Thank you for taking the time to let me know! So glad you all enjoyed!
Liseth says
Finally!!! A cake recipe that I loved and wasn’t sickly sweet or over-the-top with thick buttercream!!
I made it last weekend and EVERYONE loved it. Thanks for perfecting and sharing this amazing recipe!! It’s a winner – you have a loyal fan right here!🙋🏽‍♀️
Julie says
So glad you love it!
Cornelia says
This is now my go-to chocolate cake recipe. I have made it several times for my daughter’s birthday and have even made it into a Black Forest cake for my sisters in law. The awesome part is that I can substitute my own gluten free flour blend to make it and it still turns out, though I’m guessing it’s a little more fragile than a cake made with all-purpose flour. I also made one other substitution which is to use hot coffee instead of the boiling water and coffee extract. Very good flavour!
There is one suggestion I have for changing the instructions. I had near disasters when I used parchment strips to help remove the cakes after baking. They started tearing the cake up! Instead, I grease the pans and line the bottoms with parchment circles. To remove after baking and cooling, I simply run a knife around the edge and the cake easily comes loose from the pan when inverted. The parchment peels off easily too.
I also love the chocolate whipped cream frosting which I also use for frosting other cakes or as a fruit dip. Thanks for sharing these recipes!
Julie says
Thank you Cornelia. Good to know it can be made gluten free and I will try the brewed coffee next time. So glad you enjoyed!
Laura McMeeking says
I made this for my dad’s birthday. He requested a chocolate whipped cream cake like his grandmother used to make. I decided to make your recipe since it looked so good, and I didn’t have my great-grandmother’s recipe.
It was a total hit!!! This is absolutely delicious. I had so many compliments. The cake is so moist yet holds the frosting well. The frosting is creamy and chocolaty. It was also really easy to make, which I appreciated.
We will keep this in our rotation. I think I will make it for my birthday too!
Julie says
So glad you all loved it, thank you!
Maria says
I made this recipe for my daughter’s birthday cake. I used two 6″ cake pans and also made 6 cupcakes. I froze the cupcakes for another time and cut the frosting recipe in half. There was plenty to frost the cakes. It tasted as good as these pictures look. Even the non-chocolate fans enjoyed it. Thank you.
Julie says
How fun! I’m so glad the recipe worked out well. Thank you for taking the time to let me know!
Steven Arnold says
What does the baking soda do in this recipe? There isn’t any acid for it to react with, is there?
Steven says
…it tastes amazing but it doesn’t always rise as much as I’d expect.
Julie says
I agree, the texture is more rich and dense than other chocolate cakes, especially a boxed mix.
Julie says
Great question, Steven! Cocoa powder is the acidic ingredient here that the baking soda reacts with. Here’s an interesting article related to that if you want to check it out… https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/08/difference-dutch-process-natural-cocoa-powder-substitute.html
Steven says
New baker here, so apologize for another question. I’m using Hershey Dark Chocolate powder, which is a Dutch chocolate. So, it doesn’t react with baking soda, correct?
Should I use a natural chocolate powder instead?
Again, love the cake! Just want a bit more height 🙂
Steven says
Also, it only fills my 9″ round pans about 1/4-1/3.
Normal?
Julie says
I will take note of how high it fills my pans next time I make this recipe, but off the top of my head 1/3 sounds right.
Julie says
The Hershey’s Dark Chocolate should be fine to use – make sure you are giving the batter a good 2 minute mixing before adding the hot water so that air is incorporated into the egg.
Leah says
Made this for my moms birthday and she loved it. Really great recipe!
Julie says
I’m so glad it was enjoyed, and that you took time to make this cake for your mom!
Christina says
Does this recipe make 12 cups of batter so 6 cups per 9 inch pan?
Julie says
Christina, not sure on exact measurements. I will take note of how much batter goes into each pan next time – I just pour half in each pan adjusting as I go as needed.
Jill Dean says
I literally never write reviews, but I had to make the time to write one for this cake….
Let me start off by saying I HATE BAKING! However, it was my husbands birthday yesterday and with covid-19 going on I decided to give this a try!
It was aaaamazing and super easy to make!! Like other reviewers, I was not able to find coffee extract so I substituted 1 cup of coffee in place of the water. It was so perfect and moist I cannot say enough about this cake!!! And the frosting!! ❤️❤️ THE BEST! Thank you for posting this! It will forever be my husband’s birthday cake!!
Julie says
I’m so glad it worked out so well for you! And thank you for taking the time to leave me a note. Happy baking!
Breanna S. says
WOW! This turned out just like I’d hoped it would. My boyfriend requested a moist chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting for his birthday and I found this recipe while Googling. So happy I decided to make this. The cake is very moist and has a deep chocolate flavor and the chocolate whipped cream is the perfect compliment because it’s so light. I’ll definitely make this again.
Julie says
I’m SO happy to hear this cake turned out just as you were hoping! Thanks for letting me know!
Sirisha Koduri says
HI,
I love this recipe, Can I use the same recipe for a simple vanilla cake?
Julie says
Hi! This is a great question. Unfortunately, this cake can not be made into an equally as delicious vanilla cake just by subbing the cocoa for vanilla. If I ever come across a vanilla cake I love, I’ll be sure to share it. Sorry not very helpful.
Jamae says
Made this cake for hubby’s birthday and it was a huge success! Really easy to make, and didn’t require any crazy ingredients I had to hunt for. This cake is awesome!
Hana says
This cake is really delicious and not too sweet. Thanks for the recipe Julie! Can this cake be frozen after it has been frosted? It’s just me and my husband so it takes awhile for us to eat through an entire cake. Thanks again!