This double chocolate cake is everything a chocolate cake should be: fudgy, moist, intensely chocolaty. When assembled into layers with chocolate ganache slathered in between, as the original recipe instructs, this cake becomes the perfect birthday finale for any chocolate lover; when topped with black velvet icing, as pictured here, this cake becomes an elegant dessert, a perfect treat to enjoy with morning coffee or afternoon espresso.
Why Is This Cake So Good?
A few things:
- Unsweetened cocoa powder, which imparts a deep, intense chocolate flavor and a rich, fudgy texture.
- Buttermilk, the magic ingredient in many a cake, namely this buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake.
- Oil (as opposed to butter), which keeps cakes incredibly moist (read: The Case For Making Cakes with Oil as Opposed to Butter).
Fair Trade Chocolate
But this post is not all about cake. It is about Fair Trade, foremost, and two wonderful Fair Trade products from the Lake Champlain Chocolates company. Had I been a good girl and posted at the start of the month, I would be encouraging you to do what the wonderful people at Fair Trade have been suggesting you do this month: swap one of your staple grocery items with a Fair Trade certified product, which are available at more than 100,000 locations across the country.
Look for tea, coffee, chocolate, honey — all of your favorite things — with a Fair Trade Certified label and know that with each Fair Trade purchase you make you are supporting sustainable businesses that not only adhere to international environmental standards, but also empower women and support education. Read more about Fair Trade here. (This old blog post may be of interest, too.)
How To Buy More Fair Trade Products
Now, just because October ends tomorrow, doesn’t mean you need to stop your Fair Trade purchases. In fact, now is the perfect time to stock up on some some Fair Trade products for the impending holiday gift-giving season.
There are many Fair Trade products out there that would make wonderful gifts — Fair Trade products are often organic and always high quality — but I have two in mind: Lake Champlain Chocolates Unsweetened Cocoa Powder and Lake Champlain Chocolates Hot Chocolate. I promise I am not just saying this because LCC is going to send one of you a box of their Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels (giveaway details below).
The difference between Dutch-process and natural cocoa powder:
This info comes from Regan Daley’s In the Sweet Kitchen:
- Natural cocoa powder is produced if virtually all of the cocoa butter is removed from the cocoa liquor, leaving a dry cake that is then ground to a fine powder. Natural cocoa powder is quite acidic, so can be used as the necessary acid to activate baking soda in leavened baked goods, if present in sufficient quantity. Because of its high acidity and unpalatable bitterness, natural cocoa powder is best used only in baked or cooked desserts.
- Dutch-process cocoa (also called alkalized cocoa powder) has been treated with a small quantity of an alkaline solution to reduce the natural acidity. The process darkens the cocoa’s color, making it rich, often redder brown, and gives it a smoother, more mellow flavor.
- Both natural and Dutch-process cocoa have had about 75% of the cocoa fat removed.
- Although some recipes can be made with wither form of cocoa powder, many rely on the properties of one or the other. For this reason, be careful when substituting Dutch-process for natural and vice versa. In recipes for baked goods using baking soda as the leavener in which no other acid is present, Dutch-process cocoa is not appropriate as it does not contain sufficient acid to activate the baking soda. (You could use Dutch process for natural cocoa but an additional acid such as cream of tartar would need to be added.) Similarly, using natural cocoa powder in a recipe originally calling for Dutch process cocoa may cause the mixture to become overly acidic. Adding a small amount of baking soda, or increasing the amount already called for, will compensate for this.
- Natural cocoa is better for brownies, old-fashioned chocolate cakes and simple chocolate cookies. Dutch-process cocoa, more palatable than natural cocoa when raw, is good for icings, custards, creams and sauces that will not undergo further cooking. It has a more subtle, delicate flavor, one well suited to many to many elegant European-style cakes, biscuits, pastries and creams, and in any recipe where an overt, sharp chocolate flavor would overpower more delicate flavors. It is very good in nut cakes and ice creams, where a refined, un-bitter chocolate taste can complement the soft flavors of the other ingredients.
- If the cocoa will be tasted raw, as it is when dusted on cakes, cookies or truffles, opt for Dutch-processed. If the recipe is for a traditionally rich and fudgy baked good, use the stronger flavor of natural cocoa powder.
20 Must-Try Chocolate Recipes
• Gourmet’s Devil Dog Cake
• The brownies from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
• Minny’s Chocolate Pie via the Garden of Eden
• Bon Appetit’s Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter & Walnuts
• Flourless Chocolate Cake via House to Haus
• Good Housekeeping’s Rich Chocolate Cake
• Grammy’s Chocolate Cookies on Martha Stewart Living
• David Lebovitz’s chocolate sorbet
• Wacky Cake from The American Heart Association Cookbook
• Smitten Kitchen’s Brownie Roll-Out Cookies
• Cook’s Country Wellesley Fudge Cake
• Cocoa Almond Granola from Joy the Baker
• Busy-Day Chocolate Cake from Lucinda Scala Quinn’s Mad Hungry cookbook
• Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies from the Garden of Eden
• Zoë Francois’ Not Your Average Devil’s Food Cupcake
• Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake
• Barefoot Contessa’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake
• Molly Wizenberg’s Chocolate Cupcakes with Bittersweet Glaze
• Cook’s Illustrated Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling
• Jim Fobel’s Devil’s Food Cake with Fudge Frosting from the Old Fashioned Baking Book.
Both of these Fair Trade products from the Lake Champlain Chocolates company would make wonderful gifts for the holidays. They can be found at Whole Foods Market as well as online.
Double Chocolate Cake with Black Velvet Icing
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 to 12 servings
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Source: Gourmet via Epicurious (for the cake) and my grandmother (for the icing)
Notes: The original recipe calls for making a chocolate ganache, which sounds heavenly, but I have always adored my grandmother’s chocolate glaze recipe — it’s called black velvet icing and it contains eggs, which is odd, but it’s so good — so that is the one I use. If you want to use Gourmet’s chocolate ganache, find it here.
If you want to make a half recipe, see this post: Gourmet’s Double Chocolate Cake, Revisited. I love these 6-inch cake pans for making half recipes of all sorts of cakes, namely this one. You need two.
Ingredients
for the cake:
- 3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
- 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
for the black velvet icing:
- 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
- a heaping 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar
- 3 eggs, well beaten
- 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Instructions
- Make the cake: Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease two 9- or 10-inch by 2-inch round cake pans with unsalted butter or nonstick spray. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
- Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer, beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined. Divide batter between pans (being sure not to fill pans higher than 2/3 full—they will overflow if you do; it’s not worth it) and bake in the middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the icing: Because several commenters have had trouble, with the icing, I am suggesting you use a double boiler. If you know how to set up a double boiler, do so; otherwise, fill a pot with an inch of water. Place a medium bowl over top. Turn the heat to medium. Place the chocolate in the bowl. Once it has melted, stir in the confectioners’ sugar, whisking until smooth. Stir in the eggs a little at a time, whisking vigorously after each addition — a flat-bottomed whisk is good for this. (I use a whisk until the ingredients are blended and then switch to a heat-proof spatula.) Cook over low to medium-low until thick. Stir in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Set aside to cool. Transfer to a glass measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring or store in whatever vessel you wish.
- Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Remove parchment paper. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.
- If you are making a layer cake, halve each cake round crosswise to create 4 layers. Spread icing over one cake layer. Top layer with other cake layer. Repeat until all layers are stacked. Pour icing on top of top layer and with an off-set spatula (if you have one) spread it all over the sides. Cake keeps, covered and chilled, 3 days. Bring cake to room temperature before serving. (I keep mine at room temperature always…there’s never space in the fridge.)
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate, double, black velvet, icing, Gourmet, best
Monica says
Hi Alexandra! This cake looks exactly like the one my hubby made me and which I jokingly say is the reason I married him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t remember the recipe he used, but reading your ingredient list I feel as though this is it. Can’t wait to try it.
alexandra says
It’s such a good one! I hope it comes close to the one of your memories 🙂 🙂 🙂
Risa Krahmer says
I made this into cupcakes and they turned out amazing! I also doubled recipe and instead of 3 cups sugar I used 4, they are plenty sweet and moist, texture is light and tender. Since I put peanut butter icing on them the sweetness is just right.
The coffee is a wonderful addition, this is my go to recipe for chocolate cake from now on!
★★★★★
alexandra says
Yay!! So happy to hear this Risa!! The peanut butter icing with this sounds delicious.
Manda says
Hi – I was wondering if you can freeze this cake ( before it’s iced )…….
★★★★★
Jessica says
I believe she had said this is a pretty great cake to freeze because it is so moist. Wish you luck!
Jessica says
I do have a big question! I read that you had mentioned such great differences between natural and Dutch blended… Can you please instruct me how much cream of tartar to use if I only have the DUTCH :-/ mehh. I didn’t see it in other posts, yet I have not read every single one either. Well, yet. Hopefully I can find an answer some way! Thanks, it looks so good. My hubby will love having this for his birthday..just have to be a day late at this point 🙁 maybe add that into the original post perhaps?
enni rusli says
Made 2/3 of the recipe and had three 5″ pans with a bit leftover. Surprisingly fluffy with all the richness and moistness. Wrapped up the cakes with plastic immediately after taking them out of the oven to seal the moisture. Frosted it with whipped ganache. I also brushed some rum between layers and added rum raisin leftover from holiday baking. I also heard that frozen cakes are easier to cut, but it was a bit hard to cut through the layers right out of the freezer. All in all, a keeper!
★★★★★
john says
good article
★★★★★
AB says
Hi
If I wanted to half the recipe what would the quantities of the ingredients be? Can’t wait to try it!!
Thanks
Rebecca says
I’ve already made this once and it was gobbled up in less than 48 hours between 3 people! I am making it again right now! I managed to fill 3 tins each a hair under 2/3rds full to use up every drop of this deliciousness. This recipe will be on repeat and I’m pretty sure any other chocolate cake I eat will be subpar! So thanks 😛 !
★★★★★
Kathleen Eiring says
This was THE BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever made and I’ve made tons of them! So EXCITED to have this recipe! Thank you!
alexandra says
So happy to hear this, Kathleen!
AMG says
I’m super excited to try your cake! What size pans are recommended? Thanks!
alexandra says
I would use two traditional/standard 9-inch cake pans. But you can also halve the recipe and use two smaller pans, as here: https://alexandracooks.com/2017/02/14/gourmets-double-chocolate-cake-revisited/
Georgia says
I’m going to make this for my fiance’s birthday on Saturday, I am excited to try this recipe out!
alexandra says
Yay!
Diane says
I am going to make this for my husband’s birthday on Sunday. I can’t wait to try it…and use my black cocoa powder for both the cake & frosting. I’m hoping I won’t have to adjust the acidity levels! Cheers!
alexandra says
Hope it turned out well! The black cocoa sounds lovely.
Deb says
Can this be made in a bundt pan like the photo shows?
I would think it would require a longer baking time?
Liz says
Thanks so much for your post I’m a chocolate cake conniseur too and this recipe sounds brilliant and very special and the icing sounds delicious too! Thanks for the science now I finally understand the difference between the two cocoas. I can’t wait to make this for a birthday. Thanks!
Sara Conley says
Being that the icing is made with raw egg, wouldn’t leaving it out on the counter cause it to go bad?
alexandra says
You cook the egg very gently either over direct heat or in a double boiler with the chocolate and confectioners sugar — I think this helps prevent it from going bad.
Hannah Rabkin says
I had the same problem with the icing seizing when i added the eggs as others reported above in the comments — which unfortunately I didn’t look at until the first disaster. Alexandra, I love your recipes and commentary but I’m a bit frustrated that in 2018 or 2019 you reposted the recipe exactly as it was in 2014 when people had pointed out the bug in the icing recipe and you’d written that you’d fix it! Glad we had extra eggs, chocolate and butter, so we’re giving it a second shot adding eggs one at a time and will first mix some of the chocolate mixture into the egg before adding. Fingers crossed.
alexandra says
Hi Hannah, I’m so sorry to hear this. I swear there is a note somewhere. I remember trouble-shooting with several of the commenters years ago. I’ll try to find those notes. Again, sorry for the trouble.
alexandra says
I can’t find the notes, but I’ve updated the recipe. Again, sorry for the trouble.
Gina Rombley says
This cake is absolutely amazing. Made this for my daughters birthday, just a small family party… Gone. Just. All. Gone. To the point my birthday girl was quite disappointed, and I had to make ANOTHER the next day!
The frosting is the best!
★★★★★
alexandra says
So happy to hear this, Gina!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Christine says
Hello,
Thanks for the recipe. I’m looking for to trying it out for a weekend birthday party, but I’ve only got 1 9-inch pan. I feel like making the whole cake, not half… do you think half the batter would keep well for an hour while the other half is baking?
Otherwise, would baking one layer in a glass pan and another layer in a metal springform be a huge risk?
Thanks in advance
alexandra says
Hi Christine,
I think you could do either. It might be less of a pain to use both of your pans as opposed to having to wait, let it cool, wash it, etc. There may be a subtle difference in how the cake cooks in each pan given the difference in material, but not enough for anyone to notice. For the springform, I would be sure to wrap in foil just to be sure it’s leakproof unless you know your springform pan is reliable (mine is not :)). But, if you choose to wait, I do think the batter will be fine.
Cindy says
Love, love, love this cake!!! It is THE BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever had!! So moist and sooooo chocolatey. But…….it made two 9 inch layers PLUS 12 cupcakes, plus a little left over. Wow!! I will certainly be making this cake again, but will most likely half the recipe. Thanks for such a great recipe!! Definitely 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
★★★★★
Marina Dykhtan says
How did you manage to get so much out of it??
Heather says
I made this cake for my husbands birthday. It turned out amazing. I did have to change some things in the recipe. We do not drink coffee or dairy milk. so instead I heated chocolate almond milk. used that to melt the chocolate. I also used the highest quality chocolate I could find all dark variety and all dairy free. I made it into 4 layers. I subbed 1/2 cup of the flour with almond flour. One of the layers had chocolate pudding the others had that amazing velvet icing. for the velvet icing I used df butter. Amazingly it still all turned out. I am not vegan I just cannot have cows milk. The cake was rich with deep chocolate tons, moist, basically the perfect cake and so much better than ones I’ve bought from bakeries. I am making it again for a party tomorrow.
★★★★★
alexandra says
Wonderful to hear this Heather! And thanks for noting all of your changes … that’s so useful for people needing to make similar adjustments.
Rachel Doyle says
What would you recommend as a substitute for the coffee in the cake?
alexandra says
The flavor is undetectable, so if you are worried about that, I would just use the coffee — coffee, somehow, heightens the flavor of chocolate. But, if you want to omit the coffee for other reasons, I would just use water.
Patricia says
Help! Making this now. Your post discusses the difference between natural and Dutched cocoa, but your recipe just says “unsweetened cocoa powder.” Which one is used for this recipe to get the dark, almost black coloration—Natural or Dutched?
alexandra says
Hi! I know, confusing: Dutch process will give you that dark, almost black coloration. I’ve used both Dutch process and natural with success here. Original recipes calls for not Dutch process, but I think I prefer Dutch process cocoa in this cake.
Mary Lou Winn says
I made the 6 inch version of this recipe with your grandmother’s frosting. I had my doubts when the little cakes fell slightly in the middle. I have no idea why that happened, as I had followed the recipe religiously. But, when the cakes were iced and we had the first bite, all doubt was eliminated. This is definitely the best chocolate cake that my hubby and I have ever tasted. This was a treat for our 52nd wedding anniversary, so you can imagine how many chocolate cakes we have tasted. 😉
★★★★★
alexandra says
So happy to hear this, Mary Lou!! I think this cake falls a bit because it is so, so moist — there is so much liquid compared to the amount of flour. I find it almost always falls a bit, but as you say, it doesn’t matter in the end. Happy Happy Anniversary!!
Anthony Done says
Hello,i see this chocolate cake has a lot of coffee in the recipe,can you taste the coffee or does the chocolate overtake the flavour?cheers.
alexandra says
You can barely taste the chocolate — it simply enhances the chocolate flavor. Cheers!
Marina Dykhtan says
this cake has blown my mind!
alexandra says
Yay! SO happy to hear this, Marina!
Micki says
Is the recipe for the icing enough ingredients for the size of the cake? How much icing does the recipe make? Should it be doubled?
alexandra says
The icing recipe yields enough for 1 cake. No need to double.
Ryan says
Hi! I love recipes like this and can’t wait to try it. My wife and kids love when I stumble across great finds like this. We live in northern Utah and at around 5000 feet. Is there any considerations for adjustments to the recipes for high altitude?
alexandra says
Hi Ryan,
I don’t have experience baking at altitude unfortunately. I would just make any adjustments you typically do when baking cakes/muffins etc. Or google search: baking cakes at high altitude.
Good luck.
Ryan says
Ok, thanks for the reply. I’ll let you know what changes I made and if it worked.
Jean Lener says
I did everything the recipe called for and the sides of the cake raised but the middle didn’t it stayed flat and gooey! Can you tell me what I may have done wrong. No butter in this recipe?
★★
alexandra says
Bummer! Nope, no butter in this recipe. It sounds as though you didn’t bake it long enough. Did you make any changes to the recipe? Does your oven run cool?
Rita Dowd says
I just tested this recipe out once before I make it again for my grandmothers birthday next week. It baked perfectly, the icing came out perfectly! Though I need some advice on the coffee, I think it made the cake slightly bitter. I’m glad I tested this out a week before, though the cake is still good I was expecting a more rich chocolate flavor. I used a medium roast coffee, natural cocoa powder and semi sweet chocolate so the bitterness has to be from the coffee. Do you have any suggestions on the type of coffee? Maybe a blonde roast?
★★★★★
alexandra says
So happy to hear all of this, Rita! Re coffee, you could definitely use a blonde roast, or you could simply use water. The coffee is there to heighten the chocolate flavor, but if you’re tasting it too much, I would omit or cut it with water.
Richelle says
If you will use this recipe to make a roll cake, will it break?
alexandra says
I think so.
Amelia Boone says
I made this tonight, but used Hershey’s Special dark coco, and added a 3/4 cup of mini semi sweet chocolate chips. Wow, can you say amazing. The taste is fabulous. My texture reminded me of a brownie cake, but my oven temperature is wanky. Chocolate lovers, you must try this recipe with the dark coco. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. I used a different frosting I found on Pinterest.
★★★★★