This Chocolate Espresso Cake is a delicious layered chocolate cake where the flavors are brought out with espresso bringing the chocolate flavor to life. The perfectly easy and tasty cake to grace any dessert table.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda, set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the butter with the sugars, and once they are combined.
Mix in the eggs, and vanilla.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients, scraping the bowl to be sure you have all ingredients combined.
Pour in the brewed espresso or coffee and mix to combine it with cake batter.
Evenly divide the cake batter, and pour into two, lightly sprayed, 8 inch cake pans. Gently tap on the counter to make sure all air bubbles are settled.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the cake springs back to the touch. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the rack before frosting.
In a large bowl, or stand mixer, mix the butter with the cocoa powder, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Use the whisk attachment or electric mixer’s beaters to whip the frosting until it’s smooth and creamy.
Layer one cake on a cake stand or turntable and add ¾ to 1 cup frosting and frost. Add the second layer and frost the top and sides of the cake until covered.
Garnish cake with chocolate covered espresso beans or chocolate chunks, chopped into smaller pieces.
Notes
The use of coffee in a cake brings out the chocolate flavor.
You can substitute the coffee/espresso for buttermilk or regular milk.
Decorate the top however you'd like, we use chocolate covered coffee beans which can be easily found at your local grocer.
This can be frozen, see my tips above.
This serves a lot of people so it is a great cake to bring for gatherings.
If you are not a fan of chocolate on chocolate you can absolutely frost with another buttercream recipe.