Chocolate Overload Cake

5 from 2 votes

This chocolate overload cake is what chocolate dreams are made of — a tender chocolate layer cake frosted with a rich dark chocolate fudge frosting. Perfect for birthdays, holidays, and all your celebrations.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: North American

Servings: people

Calories: 901kcal

Author: Jolina

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake:

2⅔ cups granulated sugar
2⅓ cups all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs room temperature
1⅓ cups milk can substitute with buttermilk
¾ cup vegetable oil or canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1⅓ cups coffee hot

For the Dark Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

2 cups unsalted butter softened
⅔ cup confectioner's sugar sifted
⅔ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder sifted
½ cup coffee hot
⅓ cup sour cream room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
19 oz dark chocolate chopped, melted and slightly cooled

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line the bottom of 3 8-inch round baking pans and set aside.
Sift sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl if using a handheld electric mixer, or into the bowl of your stand mixer if using that.
2⅔ cups granulated sugar, 2⅓ cups all purpose flour, 1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt
Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on low-medium speed until well incorporated (about 2 minutes).
3 large eggs, 1⅓ cups milk, ¾ cup vegetable oil, 2 tsp vanilla extract
Add coffee and stir until combined. The batter will be thin.
1⅓ cups coffee
Transfer the batter into your prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with minimal crumbs.
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes then on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Dark Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat unsalted butter on medium speed until light and creamy (about 5 minutes using a stand mixer), scraping the bottom and sides of your bowl as you go.
2 cups unsalted butter
Switch to low speed and add confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, coffee, sour cream, vanilla and salt. Beat until combined (about a minute).
⅔ cup confectioner's sugar, ⅔ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder, ½ cup coffee, ⅓ cup sour cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ¼ tsp salt
Switch back to medium speed and beat for another 2 minutes.
Add the melted chocolate and beat until smooth (about a minute).
19 oz dark chocolate

Assembly:

Trim the tops of your cakes if they are uneven using a serrated knife or a cake leveller.
Take one and place on a platter or cake turntable, smooth side down (trimmed side up). Evenly cover the top with frosting.
Repeat with the 2nd and 3rd layers. For your 3rd layer, remember to place it smooth side up (trimmed side down) so that you'll have an even top.
Finish the cake by also covering the sides of your cake with frosting. To help even out the frosting on top and the sides, use a bench scraper and gently scrape away excess frosting.
Decorate as desired.

Video

Notes

When testing the cake for doneness, if your toothpick or tester comes out completely clean, your cakes are most likely over baked. This leads to dry cakes. What we’re looking for is a tester that comes out with minimal dry or slightly moist crumbs, but not wet batter.
Make your coffee stronger than what you would normally drink. However, if you’re already a fan of intense black coffee, go with that. We use espresso but you can also use instant coffee or brewed coffee. And yes, you can use decaf!
Ensure your cakes are completely cool before frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will melt and fall off the cake.
Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge. They should keep up to 5 days.
See post for more tips, FAQs and step-by-step photos.

Nutrition