A decadent fudgy cocoa cake with a chocolate mousse frosting. A chocolate lovers dream come true!
This is not your average chocolate cake. It’s a tender fudgy cake with a whipped chocolate frosting that is airy and creamy like a homemade chocolate mousse! This cake is an homage to chocolate. It will satisfy your chocolate cravings in just one slice. In fact, it’s so rich, you’ll probably only be able to eat one slice. But that slice is pure chocolate perfection. If you are looking for a Weight Watchers approved cake, leave now. What follows is not diet friendly! It’s comfort food bliss.
I do not feel like the title does this cake any justice. This decadent cake calls for a name that is more dramatic, such as ‘Death by Chocolate Cake’ or ‘PMS Cake’. However, I wanted to keep things simple because I wanted this to be a beginners approved cake. If you don’t have much experience baking but want to make your first chocolate cake, I got you! Today we are going through this recipe step by step and I will show you how easily you can whip this up in your kitchen. And I seriously hope you do because this will make you the star of every event you bring it to.
If you like rich, buttery and chocolaty desserts, you are going to love this. You might also enjoy this decadent pie, this fluffy chocolate mousse or these fudgy brownies that are filled with caramel and hazelnuts. Yup, I love rich desserts if you haven’t been able to tell. Don’t worry, I also eat a lot of salads though, such as this one and this one. After all, a balanced diet is key. 😉
Frosting
The frosting on this cake is equally good as the cake itself. Because of it’s whipped and airy texture its very similar to chocolate mousse. It gets its creaminess from the mascarpone and butter that is added to the chocolate ganache. If you have never made chocolate ganache before, don’t worry! It’s super simple. It only contains two ingredients- chocolate and heavy cream. The heavy cream is heated on the stovetop and once hot you add in your chopped up chocolate or chocolate chips and stir until you have a gorgeous smooth chocolate ganache.
Since I mentioned chocolate chips, I need to also mention the following. With chocolate chips I do not mean the low quality Hershey’s chocolate chips. I am talking about high quality chocolate chips (or drops) with a high percentage of cocoa (no milk chocolate!). I prefer to use couverture whenever I make a dessert with chocolate. It has a higher percentage of fat, melts like a dream and gives your desserts a beautiful glossy finish…oh and it also tastes amazing! Whichever type of chocolate you use, make sure it’s a good one. The quality of the chocolate will immensely effect the taste of your frosting.
Cake
This cake recipe is truly simple and easy. Like the title already states, you only need one bowl! You’ll also need a hand mixer and a round pan the size of 20,3cm x 7,6cm (8 in.x 3 in.) or a similar size cake pan. I use this cake pan by Wilton but you can use any brand you like. The process is rather straight forward. You combine all the ingredients in your bowl, aside from the water and mix. Then you’ll slowly add in the water while you continuously mix. Pour it into your greased cake pan and bake. (The oven times may vary depending on how strong your oven is, so check on it after 45 minutes!) After you have baked the cake it is incredibly important to let it cool before you attempt to take it out of the pan. It needs to be completely cooled. Because this is a very fudgy cake, it isn’t quite as stable as others, so you’ll want to handle it with care.
Decorating
There are various ways to decorate your cake with the frosting. I will show you how I did mine. If you want to simplify it even more, you could just spread the frosting on your cake and make wave patterns with your spatula. No need to get out the bench scraper!
Start off with placing your cooled cake on a cake turntable or a surface you can easily turn. I put some aluminium foil underneath my cake to remove the crumbs more easily. You can also place a cardboard the size of your cake underneath it to pick it up more easily. With a serrated knife, trim away any uneven parts. This is done easiest by coming to eye level with your cake.
With a serrated knife, slice your cake in half lengthwise. I have severe difficulties doing anything in a straight line. Whether it’s drawing a straight line or cutting in a straight line. If that sounds familiar to you, you can use this handy tool that helps you cut perfectly straight and achieve even layers.
Add a generous layer of frosting to the first cake layer and spread it out evenly with an angled spatula.
Then add your second cake layer and add the rest of your frosting. (You might have some frosting left over, this recipe makes quite a large batch.) There’s no need to do a crumb coat, just add generous layers of frosting and spread them evenly on your cake. Scrape the sides with a bench scraper until smooth and even.
Like I mentioned before, if this seems like a daunting task, you could also just add your frosting and then make a wave pattern with your spatula or a spoon. It will look just as beautiful!
Dust the top with a generous amount of cocoa powder. This is obviously optional but it adds a nice finishing touch. Feel free to add any extra decorations of your choice (think chocolate chips, sprinkles, edible flowers,..). I simply added some lavender flowers from my garden.
I hope you give this chocolate cake a try, and if you do, be sure to let me know how you liked it in the comment section down below! Also don’t forget to tag your creations with #homebakedbliss on Instagram so I can see them!
Happy national chocolate day!
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One Bowl Chocolate Cake
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 3hours 45 minutes (includes chilling time)
- Yield: 1 (serves 8) 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
A decadent fudgy cocoa cake with a creamy chocolate mousse frosting
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 240g flour (2 cups)
- 240g white granulated sugar (1 and 1/2 cups)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 60g cocoa powder (3/4 cups)
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 250ml buttermilk (1 cup)
- 180ml canola oil (3/4 cups)
- 250ml boiling water
Chocolate Frosting
- 450g dark chocolate, or semi sweet chocolate chips or drops* (15.8oz)
- 450ml heavy cream (1 and 3/4 cup)
- 250ml mascarpone (1 cup)
- 40g powdered sugar (1/3 cup)
- 70 butter, softened (1/3 cup)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Extras
- cocoa powder for dusting
- decorations of your choice
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Grease a 20cm (8 inch) round cake pan with non-stick spray and preheat your oven to 150C or 300F.
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, apart from the water. Mix with a hand mixer until smooth for about 2 minutes. Then slowly add in the water while continuously mixing. Batter will be thin, that’s okay!
- Pour into your prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Oven times may vary so check on your cake after 45 minutes and then every 5 minutes to avoid over baking.
- Let your cake cool completely and then remove from the cake pan.
Chocolate Frosting
- If using a chocolate bar, chop it into small pieces, no larger than chocolate chips.
- Bring the heavy cream to a boil, stirring constantly and remove from heat as soon as it starts to bubble.
- Add in the chocolate and stir until smooth.
- Let it cool a bit at room temperature and then place in the fridge. The ganache will take about 3 hours to thicken, check back regularly to make sure it doesn’t get too thick. It should be thick but you should still be able to stir it with a spoon.**
- With a hand mixer beat the mascarpone, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla until smooth. Then add in the chocolate ganache and continue mixing until it is well combined.
Assemble
- Trim away any uneven parts of your cake and slice it in half. Spread a generous amount of frosting onto your first cake layer with an angled spatula.
- Place your second cake layer on top and add the rest of the frosting (you may have a bit of frosting left over). Smooth out with a bench scraper.
- Dust the top with cocoa powder and add decorations of your choice.
Notes
*Make sure to use high quality chocolate or couverture for the ganache.
**If your ganache got too thick in the fridge, simply leave it out at room temperature until it is stirrable again.
Store your cake in the fridge up to 4 days or freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 3 months. If freezing your cake, wrap tightly in 2 layers of aluminium foil.
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