Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting is the recipe that Maria makes every most deeply loved birthday and every most celebrated family milestone when she wants to create the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely definitive individual chocolate celebration cake that represents the absolute pinnacle of the most classic and the most beloved American homemade chocolate birthday cake — distinct from every other chocolate cake version in the most complete Nonna’s Kitchen collection because this most specific version uses the most extraordinarily effective individual technique of browning the butter before incorporating.
It into the batter for the most deeply nutty and the most completely caramelized individual butter character that most brilliantly amplifies the natural cocoa flavor to the most extraordinary individual depth, combined with the most essential buttermilk for the most beautifully tender individual crumb, and produced in the most impressive three-layer individual format using three 8-inch pans for the most dramatically tall and the most beautifully defined individual cross-section that makes every single birthday guest immediately reach for their most enthusiastic first slice.
Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting is the most easy and deeply extraordinary 1-hour 30-minute moist buttermilk brown butter three-layer chocolate celebration cake made with flour sugar cocoa baking powder baking soda salt browned butter eggs buttermilk vanilla and hot coffee baked at 350°F for 22 to 25 minutes frosted with chocolate buttercream. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful cake recipes and easy celebration favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting recipe is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely definitive individual American chocolate birthday cake that delivers the most brilliantly amplified and the most deeply nutty individual chocolate character through the most innovative brown butter technique — browning the butter until the most beautifully golden and the most nutty-fragrant before incorporating produces the most dramatically deepened and the most genuinely complex individual chocolate-butter flavor that conventional melted or softened butter recipes can never replicate.
The most genius addition of hot brewed coffee rather than boiling water as the individual liquid bloom for the most final batter addition produces the most dramatically intensified and the most deeply concentrated individual chocolate flavor — the most dissolved individual coffee solids the most brilliantly amplify the most naturally present cocoa flavor compounds without producing any detectable individual coffee taste in the finished individual cake. Our Homemade Chocolate Cake makes a beautifully equally moist and equally deeply chocolatey companion for a complete and wonderful chocolate celebration cake collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
For the Brown Butter Buttermilk Chocolate Cake:
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- ¾ cup Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1½ tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¾ cup Unsalted Butter, browned and cooled
- 2 large Eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup Buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Hot Strong Brewed Coffee
For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- 1½ cups Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 cup Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 5 to 6 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
- ½ cup Heavy Cream, plus more
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- ½ tsp Salt
How to Make This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line three 8-inch round cake pans.
Brown the butter: melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the most beautifully golden brown and the most nutty and the most fragrant individual aroma develops — approximately 5 to 7 minutes. The most small brown flecks at the bottom of the pan indicate the most properly browned butter. Remove immediately from heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl to stop further browning. Allow to cool to room temperature.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the cooled brown butter, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla, mixing until the most combined. Carefully stir in the hot brewed coffee — the batter will be the most beautifully thin, cara mia.
Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared pans. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Cool in pans 10 minutes then transfer to wire racks.
For the chocolate buttercream, beat the room-temperature butter 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add cocoa powder and beat incorporated. Gradually add sifted powdered sugar alternating with cream. Add vanilla and salt. Beat medium-high 3 minutes until the most smooth and the most beautifully fudgy and spreadable.
Assemble the three layers with generous chocolate buttercream between each. Apply crumb coat, refrigerate 20 minutes, apply final frosting layer.
How to Serve This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Serve at room temperature for the most beautifully softened and the most properly fudgy individual chocolate buttercream texture. Allow 30 minutes out of the refrigerator for the most properly softened individual frosting that delivers the most luxuriously creamy individual texture in every single forkful.
For the most completely extraordinary and the most properly chocolate-celebration individual presentation, decorate with chocolate sprinkles, chocolate shavings, or fresh raspberries scattered over the most beautifully frosted individual exterior for the most dramatically gorgeous birthday cake presentation. Our Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake makes a beautifully equally three-layer and equally deeply chocolatey companion for a complete and wonderful chocolate celebration cake collection.
How to Store This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate for up to one week. Allow 30 to 45 minutes at room temperature before serving for the most properly softened individual chocolate buttercream. Freeze individual unfrosted cake layers wrapped tightly for up to 3 months.
Tips to Make This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Watch the browning butter the most closely and the most constantly — butter transitions from the most beautifully golden and the most fragrant individual browned state to burned in the most matter of seconds. Use a light-colored individual saucepan rather than a dark non-stick pan for the most clearly visible individual color indication and pour immediately into a heat-safe bowl the moment the most beautiful golden color and the most nutty fragrance develop.
The most hot brewed coffee added as the most final individual liquid ingredient must be genuinely hot — not just warm — for the most effective and the most complete individual cocoa bloom that produces the most dramatically intensified individual chocolate flavor. The most properly hot individual coffee produces the same most essential cocoa-blooming effect as boiling water but with the most additional concentrated individual depth.
Helpful Notes for This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Browning the butter produces the most extraordinarily nutty and the most deeply caramelized individual flavor from the most Maillard reaction between the milk solids and the butter fat — the individual nutty notes produced most brilliantly complement and the most dramatically amplify the most natural cocoa flavor for the most genuinely extraordinary individual chocolate cake character.
For the most easily assembled and the most beautifully stacked individual three-layer cake, bake the layers one day ahead, allow to cool, wrap tightly, and refrigerate overnight. The most cold and the most slightly firmed individual layers are the most easily handled, the most cleanly leveled, and the most beautifully stacked during the most final assembly.
Variation of This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Maria made a version using dark Dutch-processed cocoa for both the individual cake layers and the chocolate buttercream for the most completely extraordinary and the most deeply intense individual dark chocolate celebration cake. Teresa tried a salted caramel drizzle between the individual layers alongside the chocolate buttercream for the most completely extraordinary and the most deeply indulgent individual salted caramel chocolate celebration layer cake.
For an espresso chocolate version, add two teaspoons of instant espresso powder to both the individual cake batter alongside the dry ingredients and to the individual chocolate buttercream for the most completely extraordinary and the most deeply sophisticated individual mocha chocolate celebration cake. Our Guinness Chocolate Cake makes a beautifully equally deeply chocolate and equally celebration-sophisticated companion for a complete and wonderful rich chocolate cake collection.
FAQs About This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
What does browning the butter add to chocolate cake?
Browning the butter before incorporating it into the individual cake batter produces the most beautifully nutty and the most deeply caramelized individual flavor through the most Maillard reaction between the individual milk solids and the individual butter fat — the most distinctive nutty and the most caramelized individual brown butter notes most brilliantly complement and dramatically amplify the most natural cocoa flavor for the most genuinely extraordinary individual chocolate cake character that conventional melted or softened butter versions simply cannot replicate.
Why use hot coffee instead of boiling water?
Hot strong brewed coffee performs the same most essential individual function as boiling water — blooming the cocoa powder to release the most concentrated individual flavor compounds — while additionally contributing dissolved individual coffee solids that most brilliantly amplify the most natural chocolate individual flavor to the most dramatically intensified individual depth. The most hot coffee produces no detectable individual coffee taste in the finished individual cake — only the most powerfully deepened individual chocolate character.
Can I make this as a two-layer cake
Yes. Divide the individual batter between two 9-inch pans rather than three 8-inch pans and bake for approximately 28 to 32 minutes at 350°F. The two-layer individual version produces equally extraordinary individual results with the most slightly less dramatic height than the most specifically three-layer individual format — both are genuinely magnificent.
Conclusion
This Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely definitive brown butter buttermilk three-layer chocolate birthday celebration cake that makes every birthday and every milestone feel genuinely and completely magnificent through the most brilliantly browned butter chocolate crumb and the most deeply fudgy chocolate buttercream and the most dramatically tall three-layer individual presentation in every single perfectly stacked and completely irresistible homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting slice.
We hope it brings the same deeply joyful brown butter chocolate birthday celebration and the same completely delighted table to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa.
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Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting The Most Easy Moist Buttermilk Brown Butter Cocoa Three Layer Chocolate Celebration
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes including cooling
- Yield: 12 to 14 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most extraordinary moist Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting made by preheating oven to 350°F greasing and lining three 8-inch pans browning 3/4 cup butter in light-colored saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly until most beautifully golden brown and nutty 5 to 7 minutes pouring immediately into heat-safe bowl cooling to room temperature whisking 2 cups flour 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup cocoa 2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt adding cooled brown butter 2 room temperature eggs 1 cup room temperature buttermilk and 2 tsp vanilla mixing combined carefully stirring in 1 cup hot brewed coffee batter will be thin dividing between three pans baking 22 to 25 minutes until toothpick shows few moist crumbs cooling 10 minutes then on racks then beating 1 1/2 cups room temperature butter 3 minutes pale and fluffy adding 1 cup cocoa beaten incorporated adding 5 to 6 cups sifted powdered sugar alternating with 1/2 cup cream adding vanilla and salt beating medium-high 3 minutes fudgy assembling three layers crumb coating refrigerating 20 minutes applying final frosting. A completely perfect brown butter buttermilk three-layer chocolate birthday cake recipe.
Ingredients
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Granulated Sugar
3/4 cup Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter browned and cooled
2 large Eggs room temperature
1 cup Buttermilk room temperature
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Hot Strong Brewed Coffee
1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter room temperature for frosting
1 cup Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder for frosting
5 to 6 cups Powdered Sugar sifted
1/2 cup Heavy Cream plus more
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract for frosting
1/2 tsp Salt for frosting
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F 175°C. Grease and line three 8-inch round pans.
2. Brown butter in light-colored saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly until golden brown and nutty 5 to 7 minutes. Pour into heat-safe bowl. Cool to room temperature.
3. Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
4. Add cooled brown butter, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix combined.
5. Carefully stir in hot brewed coffee. Batter will be thin.
6. Divide evenly among three pans. Bake 22 to 25 minutes until toothpick shows few moist crumbs.
7. Cool 10 minutes in pans. Transfer to racks. Cool completely.
8. Beat room temperature butter 3 minutes pale and fluffy. Add cocoa. Beat incorporated.
9. Add powdered sugar alternating with cream. Add vanilla and salt. Beat medium-high 3 minutes fudgy.
10. Assemble three layers with generous frosting between each.
11. Apply crumb coat. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Apply final frosting layer.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake, Birthday, Celebration
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 600
- Sugar: 62g
- Sodium: 380mg
- Fat: 32g
- Saturated Fat: 20g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10g
- Trans Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 76g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 110mg
Keywords: homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, easy moist buttermilk brown butter homemade chocolate cake chocolate frosting recipe, best three layer chocolate birthday cake brown butter coffee, moist buttermilk brown butter chocolate celebration cake
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