Dense, fudgy coffee chocolate cake with rich, dark chocolate and coffee frosting topped with a mountain of chocolate malt balls.
You might be all chocolated (yep, that’s a word now) out now but I’m taking my chances because this cake, this glorious, four-tiered cake sandwiched with fudgy, coffee-flavoured chocolate frosting, is the most chocolatiest of chocolatey cakes. I promise.
Woolworths asked me to come up with a recipe to tie in with their Celebrity Masterchef SA #CelebrityChef campaign and I was given coffee as my ingredient. I could do whatever I wanted and immediately I started thinking about cooking with coffee. I love adding a shot of strong espresso to my chili con carne and bolognese as it gives such a rich depth to the finished dish and adding coffee to a spicy rub for ribs or steak is a great way of enhancing the meaty flavours but by far my favourite way of using coffee is with chocolate.
Adding coffee to chocolate is magical. It makes the chocolate taste richer, darker and more intense and that’s why I knew that this would be pairing I would be basing my recipe on. And let’s face it, everyone is always looking for a great chocolate cake recipe and I have come to the rescue because this one is truly marvelous (if I do say so myself).
I made a really dense, moist chocolate cake and sandwiched it with rich, fudgy chocolate frosting which I spiked with some espresso. With that, I added crushed coffee-flavoured chocolate malt balls for texture and even more chocolate-coffee flavour. And then why not finish and already OTT cake with a ton more of coffee-flavoured chocolate malt balls? The end result is this show-stopper which had my guests drooling for more. For more awesome ways to cook with coffee, visit the Woolworths website.
Double coffee chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting
Ingredients
for the cake
- 400 g caster sugar
- 275 g flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1.5 teaspoons bicorbonate of soda baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 100 g melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 250 ml 1 cup buttermilk
- 250 ml 1 cup hot coffee
for the frosting
- 200 g butter room temperature
- 600 g icing sugar sifted
- 50 g cocoa powder sifted
- 100 g dark chocolate melted, room temperature
- 2-3 tablespoons espresso
- 3 x 125g packs of coffee-flavoured chocolate malt balls I used Woolworths' Chuckles
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°c and grease and line 2x 20cm cake pans.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until combined.
- Divide the batter between the two cake pans.
- Place in the oven and allow to bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. don't worry if the cakes sink a little in the center.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- To make the buttercream, beat the butter until light and fluffy (around 4-5 minutes). Add the sifted cocoa powder and icing sugar then beat for another 2 minutes until combined.
- With the mixer running, slowly pour in the chocolate and mix well.
- Add the espresso, one tablespoon at a time, and mix until you have glossy buttercream.
- When the cakes are cool, carefully sliced them in half lengthwise, resulting in 4 cake layers.
- Stack the cakes with buttercream in the centre, adding the crushed chocolate malt balls between every layer.
- Finish the cake with the remaining buttercream and top with chocolate malt balls.
Hi
I have made this recipe twice now and both times my cake has stuck to the pans. I have greased the pans really well but don’t know why. Are you able to assist. The cake tastes so good so I really want it to look good too! Please help!
I would suggest using parchment paper. It’s a fail-safe way to make sure your cakes will release from the pan.
2nd time making!!! It’s so yummy – can you tell me how the malt balls have the shiny look and are able to stack up on top – it’s so pretty but I looked over the recipe repeatedly and do not see directions for that step – thank you in advance!!! ???
What kind of dark chocolate do you use? Thanks!
I like using Lindt or Valrhona. 70% is my ideal dark chocolate.
Hi Alida.
Should I add the butter, eggs and hot coffee in any particular order considering the possibility of the eggs cooking when mixed with hot coffee? My first attempt didn’t come out so well, the cake didn’t rise and I used 1.4 tsps baking powder+1.5 tsps baking soda. I also used normal white sugar instead of confectioners sugar. Do you know what i might have done wrong?
Nope, I just dump it all in together and mix well. I’ve never had issues. If the cake didn’t rise it could be that your raising agents have expired.
Love the recipe but is their anthing I can do to substute the espresso shot
Boiling water is a good substitute.
Hello,
I baked this cake twice and it was a success. Now I want to bake it for children. With what can I substitute the 250 ml hot coffee?
Regards, Daniëlle
Milk will work well. 🙂
Please could you advise if the 180 degrees is fab forced or not?
I would like to make this for my daughter’s birthday as she has asked for coffee cake but also loves chocolate – is it more chocolate flavour than coffee? Thanks.
I meant fan!
No, not fan assisted. If using fan assisted, bake at 160 until a skewer comes out clean. It’s definitely more chocolate in flavor.
Thank you.
Can I add chocolate chunks if so how much
You definitely can. A cup would be perfect.
Made this cake for my nieces’ birthday and it was a huge hit, so I made it for my mom’s and again, huge hit! The cake is so moist and decadent. I’ve had some issues with the frosting though. My butter sat our overnight and it was very soft. I followed the recipe and when adding the powdered sugar it comes out as a crumb-like texture. Add in the cocoa powder and it doesn’t get much better, but eventually it turned into almost a fondant texture. I added in espresso powder not realizing it was an actual shot of espresso. I could see how this would loosen up the frosting so I’ll have to try this next time. What I did on my Mom’s cake is I took 3 TBLs of cream and about 8 oz Marscapone and that gave it just a soft, light texture, it was amazing. My nieces I added in some melted butter to loosen it up and then it was fine. Clearly I need to read better, but this recipe is definitely staying in my book!
So happy you liked it! 🙂
Looks amazing! I’m going to attempt it this weekend. Is it plain or self raising flour you need? And normal or salted butter? Thanks in advance!
Plain flour and I used salted butter but you can definitely use unsalted. 🙂
Cannot wait to try this cake! Looks amazing! Love the decorating (grooved icing/frosting) and the Chuckles! Chocolate is a work of art, combining it with coffee in a cake…speechless!
Thanks Ben! Hope you like it.
Sorry if I sound abit dense bu can you tell me if the 2-3 tablespoons of espresso Is powder or if it’s mixed with water and needs to be cold before putting it in thanks
Good questions! The espresso is liquid espresso and it can be either hot or cold but I usually just use it hot straight out of the machine.
Mine went very liquid. Am I doing something wrong? Leaving it tonight to see if it dries a little bit. Maybe to do with the coffee. Please help.
Your oven might need to be turned up and add a bit of baking time.
Link removed found the same recipe at this address. is it you or someone else?
amazing cake i must say
Unfortunately that is a website that stole my content, I have contacted them. Thanks so much for letting me know. 🙂
This cake is a stunner!!! Simple, moist and tasty. I baked in a large square pan as I didn’t have sandwich tins. Just used a foil on top for 10 mins so as not to burn the top. Baked at 170C for 35 mins. But I don’t recommend it. The sides were a little crunchy, so I shaved the sides after sandwiching with the luscious cream filling. Husband says it’s a keeper and I can’t agree more. Thanks so much!!! It was gone before I even had time to take a picture.
I’m so glad to hear you loved it Anu.
I made this for hubbies birthday on Saturday, loads of compliments people were impressed at my baking skills but it’s so easy to make and looks so good with the frosting. My only issues were that it stuck in the pan because I didn’t have any baking paper on hand, just greased the pan. Wasn’t sure if the icing was working as it is a bit like crumbly dough in the beginning but after adding the coffee it came out nicely. I substituted yoghurt with milk for the buttermilk.
All in all a top quality cake that I am adding to my baking repertoire. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it.
Hi I am planning on making this cake and wondered if I could bake the sponge in advance and freeze them?
Many thanks
That shouldn’t be a problem at all. 🙂
Can you clarify what caster and icing sugar are? From what I have researched caster is a very fine sugar? I’m guessing icing sugar is the same as powdered sugar? Thank you!
Caster sugar is also known as super fine sugar and icing sugar is confectioner’s/powdered sugar. 🙂
Is the flour used self raising or plain?
Plain.
Hello,
I am planning to make this cake and was wondering if it is okay to add vanilla ?
Definitely!
Thank you!!!! This recipe just won me my office cake baking competition! Great Cake. One word of caution to anyone making it the batter is super thin and if you are using a spring bottom tin, line it with foil!
Oh yay! Yes, I wouldn’t suggest using a springform tin at all (with any cake really) and rather use a classic cake pan lined with baking paper.
Hi. This cake looks delicious. Can’t wait to make it. Would i be able to pipe the frosting. Make star shapes etc? And could i replace dark chocolate in icing with white chocolate so i can colour icing different colours? Any tips would be great. Thank you
It won’t be as firm as regular buttercream but you could probably get some shapes out of it. I’ve never made the frosting with white chocolate so won’t be able to advise on that front.
I made this cake twice already and I fell in love with it! And everyone who had the pleasure to eat, fell in love too! Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe <3
Oh yay! I’m so glad to hear you love this recipe so much Leticia!
My buttercream is all dry. I followed the recipe. What may have went wrong? And how can I save it?
It could be that your icing/powdered sugar is more absorbant so it might need more liquid. If it’s very, very dry, I would add a little more butter and beat it in. Otherwise a splash of milk should work.
Oh my God!!! The cake was heavenly. I tried it following the recipe exactly and it turned out to be the most delicious cake I have ever baked. There is equality between the flavours of coffee and chocolate. I thought chocolate would be overpowering but it really wasn’t Also I was worried about the consistency as it was too liquidy and used a butter paper as my pan was springform. It did take longer to bake but then again it takes longer time for all my cakes.
So anyway I thank you so much for sharing this recipe and I recommend everyone to try this recipe as this one is worth all the effort.
I’m so glad you liked it!
Hi i want to try this the soonest but can i ask can i use instant coffee instead because espresso is the one you used? Do you have a video making this especially frosting the cake? Because i am not good in frosting my cakes ??
Yes, you can!
Can you use normal milk instead of buttermilk?
The acidity in buttermilk gives the cake a much more tender crumb but regular milk can be substituted, the end result might just not be exactly the same.
Hi,
I tired this yesterday minus the bicarbonate and salt. It came out really well. Thank you so much!! It was my second time with the frosting and all so while spreading the frosting, it was taking with tiny bits of cake with it. Why do you think it was so?
May you light up many Owens and people’s baking skills!
It could be that your cake wasn’t cooled properly which would make it very delicate or that the icing was a little too thick. In future, add a little more milk to the frosting to thin it out just a little.
I absolutely love this recipe, but I am making it for someone who does not like coffee. Is there anyway to substitute malt for coffee?
Absolutely!
I made this cake a few days ago! It was magnificent, so easy and oooh so moist! Everyone was so impressed with my baking skills haha 😉 This is definitely my basic chocolate cake recipe going forward 🙂
Do you have a chocolate ganache recipe I can use on this cake next time I make it – and also a basic vanilla cake recipe?
Thanks a mil! x
I’m so glad you liked it Lilly! I have a basic vanilla cupcake recipe: http://simply-delicious-food.com/classic-vanilla-cupcakes-whipped-buttercream/. I don’t make ganache often but I’ll get going on that for you. 😉
Is it plain flour or self raising flour? Thanks.
Plain/cake flour is best.
I’m making this right now for a birthday celebration tonight! Interesting that dry and wet ingredients are whisked by hand rather than using a mixer. I’m what difference that makes?
No difference really, you could definitely do it in a mixer, it’s just such an easy batter, you don’t have to worry about doing it with an electric mixer.
is the espresso in the frosting supposed to be coffee or coffee powder
Coffee.
Hi, Can I use cake flour? If yes, will I use the same amount of measurement you provided?
Thanks! Looking forward to hearing from you 🙂
I’m planning to make this over the weekend
Yes, absolutely. Cake flour will give you the lightest, best result. I hope you enjoy the cake!
Can you break the measurements down into cups , tsp, and such. Also oven temperature, I don’t know what 180 is ! The recipe sounds great, and would love to make it !
Hi Mary. You can have a look at our Conversion chart, it should be pretty helpful: http://simply-delicious-food.com/conversion-chart/
I tried the recipe. The cake itself came out delicious and moist but the icing was a total flop… To thick to spread and lumpy, what do you think I did wrong? Want to try it again..
It could be that your butter was too cold when you started the icing which would result in lumps. Unsifted icing sugar can also do that. Icing that is too thick can be easily remedied by adding some milk or water and beating until you have a more desirable consistency.
Looks great! I see the recipe uses 1 cup of hot coffee. How much coffee powder would I need to add to the hot water?
Claire, I used 1 tablespoon coffee.
Hi Alida,
When you posted the Double Coffee Cake Recipe on your blog in April, I mentioned that I would be baking this cake for my birthday. Well, it was my birthday on Saturday, and I baked your cake. OMW, it turned out absolutely beautifully, it tasted divine, with the most amazing strong flavours of the chocolate and coffee, just as I like it. This recipe is a keeper, for sure. The touch of the malt balls is genius ! I know I will be baking your cake again and again, especially for those special occasions, as this cake is so special. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you so much for the lovely comment Lynne and I am SO glad the cake came out the way you expected. Happy belated birthday!
Looks delicious!!! If I wanted to make a 4 tier rectangular cake (30x40cm pan) how would I adjust the amounts? Just double up on ingredients maybe? This one looks beautiful but won’t be enough for our 25 guests ??
I have been searching for a coffee chocolate recipe lately! This looks just fabulous! This is most certainly on my to make list and to be made very shortly! Love your site and all your accomplishments.You’re a very talented lady. congrats! x
Thank you for your wonderful comment Milena. It means so much. I hope you love this cake and please let me know what you think once you’ve tried it!
Thanks for your reply Alida!
I was also wondering if it’s possible to make the fudge icing a couple of days in advance? Will it keep in the fridge? Thanks
Hi there,
Am just wondering if this cake will keep in the fridge for 3 days. I could do the frosting later, but have to bake the cake in advance as I don’t have much time to get it prepared.
Could I bake the cakes 3 days in advance and then cut and frost them on the day before serving?
Thanks so much for your help.
Hi Stella. Yes, if you bake the cakes ahead, make sure you cool them thoroughly then wrap them well in greaseproof paper and plastic wrap. Keep them in the fridge and they’ll be perfect 3 days later.
This cake looks divine. Was wondering if you think it would be possible to make the cake on the wednesday and not eat it till saturday arvo? Obviously I would keep it in the fridge. How many days do you think it would keep for? Or would it go soggy from the frosting in between layers?
I saw this post and just couldn’t resist. I made this on the weekend for my mother in laws birthday. It was absolutely DEVINE! I am not a coffee lover and even I loved it! The cake was so moist and velvety smooth. I did have some challenges with the icing though, it was very crumbly and only came together at the end once I added in the espresso and even then it was quite sticky. It is quite possible though that I messed up the measurements as I was using an old kitchen scale :-). Absolutely yummy!
So glad you liked the cake Michelle. Sorry about the icing but glad it was still delicious.
Stumbled on this post via TasteSpotting and oh my God!!!! This looks ridiculously decadent! Looks so moist and yummy can’t wait to make it and dig into it. I need this in my life ASAP!!!!
🙂 Thanks so much. Let me know what you think once you’ve tried it!
Although I am pretty chocolated, I could definitely go for a slice or two of this marvelous looking chocolatiest cake 🙂
There’s always room for more chocolate. 😉
Awesome ! Yummy! Delicious !(pinned) This is so my kind of cake…..Think I will make it as my birthday cake this year 🙂
Oooh! Let me know what you think once you’ve made it Lynne!
Oh my goodness, words can’t even explain how amazing this cake looks. Coffee + chocolate — forever a winner!
I’m so glad you approve Alexandra. 😉
That looks incredible! I love the way you decorated it, very simple and elegant 🙂
Thanks June!
Wow.. what a cake! It looks SO moist, rich, decadent and delicious. I wish I had a slice as you clearly have baked it to perfection!
Is it possible to be all chocolated up? If so, I am pretty sure this sinful cake would change that mindset lickety split. This cake is simply a work of art. And those coffee-flavored malt balls. . .they are like jewels for an already decadent cake. Beautiful!
Thanks for your lovely comment Lynn!
Well helloooooo beautiful!! This cake is such a stunner!
Your cake is truly impressive!! This would certainly be the center of attention. Who could possible eat when they knew this beauty was waiting to be devoured!! Bravissima!!
Thanks Marisa!
This looks Awesome…. Going to make this soon.