Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake
A deep, dark two-layer chocolate cake with glossy fudge frosting, mixed in one bowl with hot coffee.
Two things separate a good chocolate cake from a dry one. The first is hot liquid poured over the cocoa, which blooms it and turns the flavour from dusty to deep. The second is oil rather than butter in the crumb, so the cake stays soft straight from the fridge. The frosting is a real fudge frosting built on melted chocolate, not a sweetened buttercream pretending to be one.
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How to make Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake
Ingredients
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Cake
Fudge frosting
Equipment
- Two 20 cm / 8 inch round cake tins
- Electric whisk or stand mixer
- Cooling rack
- Offset spatula
Method
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1
Heat the oven and line the tins
Heat the oven to 180C / 350F. Grease both tins, line the bases with baking paper and dust the sides with cocoa rather than flour, which would leave pale streaks on a dark cake.
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2
Whisk the dry ingredients
Whisk the flour, cocoa, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl for a full 30 seconds, until no cocoa lumps remain. Cocoa clumps will not break up later.
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3
Add the wet ingredients
Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium for about 2 minutes, until the batter is smooth and slightly glossy.
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4
Pour in the hot coffee
With the mixer on low, pour in the hot coffee in a steady stream. The batter will go alarmingly thin, almost like a thick cream. That is correct, and it is what makes the crumb moist.
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5
Bake
Divide the batter between the tins and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a skewer in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs. Start checking at 30 minutes; a clean skewer means it has gone slightly too far.
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6
Cool completely
Cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and leave until no warmth remains at all, about 1 hour. Frosting a warm cake melts the frosting and tears the crumb.
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7
Make the frosting
Melt the chocolate gently and let it cool until barely warm. Beat the butter for 3 minutes until pale, then add the icing sugar and cocoa in two batches, followed by the cream, vanilla and salt. Beat in the cooled chocolate last and stop as soon as it is uniform.
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8
Fill and cover
Level the cake tops if they domed, spread a generous layer of frosting over the first cake, set the second on top and cover the whole thing. Swirl the surface with the back of a spoon and leave it 20 minutes to firm before slicing.
Cook’s tips
- Room-temperature eggs and buttermilk matter here. Cold dairy seizes the melted chocolate in the frosting and makes the batter mix unevenly.
- The coffee does not make the cake taste of coffee. It sharpens the chocolate, and boiling water works nearly as well if you would rather skip it.
- Let the melted chocolate cool before it meets the butter. Hot chocolate turns the frosting into a loose glaze that slides off the sides.
Variations
- Bake as a single 23 x 33 cm sheet cake for 35 to 40 minutes and frost it in the tin, which is easier for a crowd.
- Fold 150 g of chocolate chips through the batter for a cake with molten pockets.
- Make it dairy-free with plant milk soured with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in place of the buttermilk, and a vegan block butter in the frosting.
Storage and make-ahead
Keeps under a cake dome at room temperature for 3 days, or 5 days in the fridge; bring chilled slices back to room temperature before serving. Unfrosted layers freeze well for 2 months, wrapped tightly.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 512 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 64 g |
| Fat | 27 g |
| Fibre | 4 g |
| Sugar | 47 g |
| Sodium | 330 mg |
Nutrition is estimated from ingredient averages and will vary with brands and portioning.
