Chocoholics – listen up! This cake is for us! It’s got 3 layers of chocolate cake and it’s filled with a homemade chocolate caramel sauce and chocolate frosting. Then it’s topped with MORE chocolate!
Where are my fellow chocolate lovers? I know some of you are out there, including a few of my new coworkers. I’ve become known as the person with the fun food backgrounds. Some days I have cupcakes, and other days I have cookies or cake. A few weeks ago, I had chocolate. In fact, in one recent meeting, a coworker asked where my chocolate background went (I think I had changed it to sourdough bread) so I switched it back to chocolate and they were much happier. Ha ha!
I’m a chocolate fan through and through and could probably eat some every day. Maybe I do and I’m just not telling. When it came time to finally choose my birthday cake, I actually had a hard time. After much hemming and hawing, I finally set my eyes on a death by chocolate cake. I was afraid it would be too much chocolate, but then I realized how silly that statement actually was. Is there really such a thing?
My friend Ashley at Baker By Nature creates recipes that I know are tried and true. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad recipe of hers. So I knew that her death by chocolate cake recipe would be nothing short of amazing.
I made the chocolate caramel sauce a few days in advance so that I could spend less time baking and more time eating. If you make the full batch of the sauce, you will have some left over. That means more to drizzle on top of ice cream and brownies!
Wow – this was one beautiful (and scrumptious) cake. I decorated the top of my cake with a fancy border and garnished with chocolate chips and shaved chocolate. The cake base was similar to the Hershey’s cake that my family adores. But – this cake tends to hold up better structurally, so I believe we’ll be using this cake base moving forward. Addie said that this was the best chocolate frosting she’s ever had. The only reason she didn’t give this cake 5 stars is because she wanted more caramel flavor in the sauce.
This is one of my favorite cakes to date – I hope it becomes one of yours too.
Husband’s rating: 5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
My rating: 5 out of 5
Death by chocolate cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 and ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 and ½ cups brown sugar packed
- 2 and ½ cups all-purpose flour NOT packed
- 1 and ¾ cups unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
- 3 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and ¼ teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 and ½ cups milk
- ⅓ cup full fat Greek yogurt or sour cream
- ¾ cup vegetable oil can substitute with melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 and ½ cups hot water
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Chocolate frosting
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter very soft
- 4 and ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream more if needed
- 2 Tablespoons hot fudge sauce store-bought or homemade (see note below)
Toppings
- 1 cup hot fudge sauce see note below
- 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate shaved
- 1 and ½ cups chocolate chips
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease and line three 9" round baking pans and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer set over low speed, mix together the sugars, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate medium sized bowl, mix together the eggs, egg yolks, milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla extract. Mix well until uniform.
- With the mixer still on low speed, slowly pour in the egg mixture until everything just comes together. Slowly stream in the water. Your batter will be very thin. Add in the chocolate chips and mix until combined.
- Evenly divide the batter into your prepared baking pans. Bake in your preheated oven for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (do not over bake your cake).
- Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting
- In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Be careful or else you will get powdered sugar and cocoa powder EVERYWHERE (yes, I am speaking from experience).
- Turn the mixer to medium speed and add in the vanilla, salt and cream until smooth. If your frosting appears too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it appears too thick, add more cream.
Assemble your cake
- If your cakes are domed, trim off the bumpy portion with a serrated (bread) knife. Eat the leftover bits! Place one of the cakes, flat side down, on a cake plate or cake stand.
- Using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of frosting on top. Then add about ½ cup of the hot fudge sauce on top. Repeat with the remaining cake layers. Make sure that the top layer of cake has the flat side facing UP so you get a nice even top layer.
- Place the cake in the refrigerator for an hour to chill.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake with the frosting. Add chocolate shavings on the top of the cake and garnish with additional chocolate chips. You can also press some chocolate chips into the side of the cake if desired.
- Slice and enjoy!
You’re right; there’s no such thing as too much chocolate! This cake looks heavenly, and is a must make!
Author
Let me know if you make the cake, June! 😄