Even if you’ve never made and frosted a cake from scratch, you may be familiar with the old saying that cooking is an art, but baking is a science. To achieve ideal results, it’s important to follow recipe measurements and instructions exactly and keep most improvisation out of the equation. The chocolate layer cake with chocolate buttercream frosting is a classic, uncomplicated cake recipe that you can easily adapt to other flavors after making it once. Take advantage of the layer cake’s simplicity to feature only the freshest, highest-quality ingredients you can find.
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottoms and sides of two 8-inch round cake pans with a bit of butter. Line the greased bottoms with wax paper.
Step 2
Cream 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted room temperature butter and 3/4 cup superfine sugar together with an electric mixer for two to three minutes, or until fluffy.
Step 3
Beat 3 eggs, one at a time, into the butter and sugar mixture.
Step 4
Fold 1 1/4 cups sifted, self-rising flour into the batter in batches until well mixed.
Step 5
Mix 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder into the batter.
Step 6
Divide the cake batter equally between the two prepared cake pans. Spread it evenly with the back of a spoon. Place both pans in the preheated oven on the middle rack.
Step 7
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife blade inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.
Step 8
Let the cakes cool in the pans for five minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.
Step 9
Place 2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar, the remaining stick of unsalted butter, the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder and 2 tbsp. milk in a bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
Step 10
Set one of the fully cooled cakes on a plate. Spread slightly less than half of the chocolate buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Place the second layer on top and frost with the remaining buttercream.
Tips and Warnings
- You can make a vanilla layer cake with this recipe by replacing the unsweetened cocoa powder with 1 tsp. vanilla extract in the batter and 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract in the buttercream frosting. Change it to a lemon layer cake by replacing the unsweetened cocoa powder with the finely grated zest of one lemon in the batter and the finely grated zest of 1/2 a lemon in the frosting; also replace the milk in the frosting with 2 tbsp. lemon juice. Add a simple fruit filling by spreading a thin layer of strawberry, raspberry, blueberry or black currant jelly on the top of the bottom cake.
Things You'll Need
- 2 8-inch round cake pans
- Wax paper
- 2 and 1/2 sticks unsalted, room temperature butter, plus more for greasing
- Electric mixer
- 3/4 cup superfine sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 and 1/4 cups self-rising flour, sifted
- 3 and 1/2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- Knife
- Cooling rack
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- 2 tbsp. milk
References
- “A World of Cake”; Krystina Castella; 2010
- “500 Cakes”; Susannah Blake; 2008
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