Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Why This Recipe Works

This simple chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting is everything a great homemade chocolate cake should be-deeply rich, incredibly moist, and packed with an intense chocolate flavor in every bite. The combination of oil and sour cream creates an ultra-soft, tender crumb that's fudgy, and stays moist for days. Blooming the unsweetened cocoa enhances the chocolate flavor and ensures a smooth, lump-free batter.

This old fashioned cake recipe is easy enough for even beginner bakers to manage and experienced bakers will love! The cake is finished off with a silky smooth chocolate cream cheese frosting. The frosting is rich, creamy, with a subtle tang that does not overwhelm the chocolate flavor.

The chocolate cream cheese frosting has been declared by several of my friends to be the best chocolate frosting they've ever tried. Try using the frosting on our brownies, double chocolate cookies, or pairing it with our yellow cake.

This recipe is perfect for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions, yet simple enough to make anytime a chocolate craving hits. After testing and tweaking this recipe six different times, I feel confident that this cake will be beloved by all that try it!

The chocolate cake recipe versatile and is written as two 8-inch round pans for a classic layered cake, but instructions have also been included for how to make into cupcakes or a 9x13-inch pan.

Ingredient Notes

Chocolate Cake:

• Cocoa Powder. This recipe should be made with Dutch-processed cocoa for best results. Natural cocoa will work, however the results will not be as good. I do not recommend using black cocoa in this recipe or the cake will turn out dry. If you're not sure if the cocoa powder is natural or Dutch-processed, check the ingredients, it should have alkali in it.
• Coffee or Water. Use hot coffee or water to bloom the cocoa before mixing it with the other ingredients. You can use freshly brewed black coffee (or leftover reheated works too!), or even 2 teaspoons of instant coffee mixed with 1 cup hot water works. Coffee will give the chocolate cake a richer flavor, but if you don't drink coffee you can use hot water.
• Eggs. Use large, room temperature eggs.
• Sour Cream. Full fat sour cream will give the best results. Full fat Greek yogurt can also be used.
• Milk. Whole milk will give the best results, however, because it is a small amount any kind of milk will work.
• Oil. Use a neutral flavored oil like vegetable or canola oil.
• Vanilla. Vanilla adds that rich bakery taste.
• Sugar. White, granulated sugar sweetens, tenderizes, and adds moisture to the cake.
• Brown Sugar. Use packed light brown sugar.
• Flour. Use white, all-purpose flour.
• Baking Soda & Powder. We use a combination of both baking soda and powder to help the cake rise. Make sure both are fresh and not expired!
• Salt. Salt enhances and balances flavors.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Butter.  You can use salted or unsalted butter here. Make sure the butter is room temperature for a smooth buttercream frosting.
• Cream Cheese. Use cream cheese that comes in a brick, not the kind that comes in a plastic tub. The cream cheese that comes in a tub has more water content and will lead to a runnier frosting.
• Cocoa Powder. As in the cake, use Dutch-processed cocoa powder for the best flavored chocolate cream cheese frosting.
• Powdered Sugar. Powdered sugar sweetens the frosting.
• Salt. Salt balances the flavors.
• Vanilla. Vanilla add flavor.
• Cream. Use cold, heavy whipping cream. When the cream cheese frosting is whipped on high the cream will aerate and lighten the frosting.

How to make this Recipe

Chocolate Cake:

1. Bloom Cocoa. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add cocoa powder to a mixing bowl and pour hot coffee (or water) over top, whisking together until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Mix Wet Ingredients. In a large separate bowl, use a hand mixer on low to blend together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and vegetable oil.

3. Whisk Dry Ingredients. In a third bowl, combine the dry ingredients-granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk them together so there or no lumps.
4. Add Dry & Wet. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix on low until smooth.

5. Mix Batter. Add the cocoa-coffee mixture, mixing until fully combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is fully mixed.
6. Pour into Pans & Bake. This recipe can be made into two 8x8-inch pans or a 9x13-inch pan (see notes in recipe card for cupcakes). Grease the pan or pans and line the bottom with parchment paper for easy removal. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans (or pour it all into one for the 9x13-inch pan). Bake the 8-inch pans 0r 9x13-inch pan for 23-28 minutes. Check the cakes for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake-it should come out clean, a few moist crumbs is fine. Gently press with your finger tips on the center of the cake, it should gently spring back and not stay indented.

7. Cool. Cool the cakes in their pans for 10-15 minutes before turning the cakes out on to a cooling rack. If making a 9x13-inch cake, leave it in the pan to cool completely. Tip: for extra moist cakes, wrap the cakes in plastic wrap while they are still warm-this will trap the steam and moisture, preventing them from drying out. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Note: if making this into a 9x13-inch sheet cake, I recommend halving the frosting recipe, unless you prefer a very thick layer of frosting on top.

1. Cream Butter and Cream Cheese. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, add the butter and cream cheese and beat for 1 minute until smooth.
2. Whisk Dry Ingredients. Whisk or sift together the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and salt to there are no lumps.

3. Add Dry Mixture and Cream. Add half of the dry mixture, vanilla, and half of the cream to the butter and cream cheese. Mix on low until smooth. Add the rest of the dry mix to the frosting, beating on low.
4. Whip Frosting. Add the remaining cream to the frosting, whipping on high for 2-3 minutes until the chocolate cream cheese frosting lightens in color and texture considerably. If the frosting seems to thick you can add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of cream, I recommend adding them one at a time and mixing to avoid making it too runny.

Cake Assembly:

1. For 9x13 inch cake: You can frost this in the pan or turn the cake out onto a large cutting board or cake board before frosting. Spread the chocolate cream cheese frosting over top of the cake in a thick even layer using a metal off-set spatula to smooth. If removing from the pan, you can frost the top and sides or leave the sides unfrosted.
2. For 8-inch round cakes: If the cakes are domed significantly in the center, cut off the top layer of the cake to make an even and level surface.

3. Secure First Layer. Add a small dollop of frosting to your cake plate before taking the first cake layer and placing it bottom side down-the frosting will help the cake adhere to the cake place and keep it from sliding around.
4. Add Frosting. Add a thick layer of frosting on top of the first cake layer. Use an off-set spatula to spread it in an even layer past the edges of the cake-try to avoid touching the cake and picking up crumbs.

3. Frost Tops and Sides. 5a)Take the second cake layer and place it top side down on top of the first cake. Make sure sides of the cakes align evenly with each other. 5b) Cover the whole thing with a thick layer of chocolate frosting. For best results, serve the cake and frosting at room temperature.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Expert Tips

• Use room temperature ingredients. Room temperature ingredients are important for the cake and frosting in this recipe! For the cake, room temperature ingredients will give you a better rise and texture. In the chocolate cream cheese frosting it is important to use room temperature butter and cream cheese to prevent the two from clumping, ensuring a smooth frosting.
• Use HOT coffee or water. Hot coffee (or water) is an important step in blooming the cocoa powder. It intensifies the color and flavor of the cocoa powder and also helps prevent any clumps of cocoa powder.
• Prepare your pans properly. To make sure your cakes don't stick to your pans and release cleanly, make sure you prepare the pans properly. My favorite way is to grease the pan and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. You can also grease and flour the pans.
• Don't beat the frosting too long. With this chocolate cream cheese frosting you need to whip the frosting long enough that the cream whips up and lightens the frosting, this should only take a few minutes once the cream is added. Be careful not to beat the mixture for long periods of time with a hand mixer or stand mixer-the base of the frosting contains cream cheese, which if over mixed can start to release water, making the frosting runny.
• Wrap the Cakes. Wrap each cake layer in plastic wrap while still slightly warm and let cool completely-this traps steam and keeps the cake extra moist.

Tips on Frosting and Assembling Your Cake

• Cooling Cakes. Allow cakes to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning them out to help them release cleanly. The cakes should be completely cool before frosting, or the frosting will melt.
• Level the cakes. If you cakes have a significant dome in the center, use a sharp knife to carefully level it off. This will make stacking and frosting the cakes easier.
• Freeze the Cakes. Wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and freeze the cake layers for about 30-60 minutes (up to several hours) before frosting to make them easier to handle, frost, and decorate.
• Beat the frosting. Beat the frosting with a wooden spoon for a few minutes to remove air bubbles and create a smoother finish when frosting the cake. .

Variations of this Cake

• Use a different frosting. If this frosting isn't quite what you're looking for try serving it with a classic cream cheese frosting (omit the almond extract in this recipe), chocolate ganache frosting, chocolate buttercream, or a vanilla buttercream frosting (again, omit the almond extract).
• Add some décor. Dress up the look of this cake by decorating it with chocolate curls, chocolate cookie crumbs, colorful sprinkles, chocolate jimmies, or some fresh berries and mint leaves.
• Add a filling. This cake would be amazing with a filling in addition to the chocolate cream cheese frosting. Some good ones would be a raspberry sauce, raspberry jam, dulce de leche, or sweetened whipped cream.
• Serve with fruit. I love this cake served with fresh raspberries, sliced strawberries, or blackberries.

How to Store this Recipe

Making the Cake and Frosting Ahead of Time

The chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting can both be made ahead of time to save yourself some time and stress the day of assembly. For the cake, if needed level the cake before wrapping it in two layers of plastic wrap and store in the freezer. If storing for longer than a week, wrap it in an additional layer of foil to prevent freezer burn. The cake can be frozen for up to 3 months.

The frosting can be made 2-3 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Before frosting the cake, let the frosting come to room temperature and rewhip it with a hand mixer so the frosting is light and fluffy before assembling the cake.  

Storing in the Refrigerator

Once your cake is assembled it can sit out at room temperature for about an hour and half-the chocolate cream cheese frosting needs to be refrigerated. After that it should be wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. It is best eaten within 3-5 days of making-it will last longer than that, it will just start to dry out.

Freezing the Cake

Your leftover assembled cake can also be frozen! My preferred method of freezing cake is to cut it into slices and wrap each slice in plastic wrap, then storing the slices together in an airtight container. This makes it easy to grab a slice from the freezer, let it thaw at room temperature, and enjoy a slice of cake whenever the craving strikes. The frozen cake slices it best eaten within 3 months of freezing.

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