Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Dense, ultra-moist chocolate cake piled high with the best chocolate cream cheese frosting. This is a recipe you’ll want to keep in your recipe book for years to come!
A little bit more about this chocolate cake
If you know me, you know I value a really well-done chocolate cake above pretty much any other dessert. If its a cake with no moisture and an average buttercream, I usually leave feeling slightly disappointed. I think every chocolate cake should be incredibly moist and bursting with chocolate flavor, while also having that delicious and smooth chocolate buttercream that we all know and love.
This chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese butter cream is filled with both – an incredibly dense chocolate cake and -arguably- the best chocolate cream cheese frosting out there. The use of buttermilk and oil in this cake brings the moisture, and the seemingly large amount of chocolate used in the chocolate cream cheese frosting brings everything together into probably one of my all-time favorite cakes – and that’s saying something!
Why this recipe works
This recipe for chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting is a fan favorite in our home because not only does it perfectly encompass everything anyone could ever want in a chocolate cake, but it also serves a crowd. And a big crowd at that. Sheet cakes are one of my favorite ways to serve cake, mainly because I think the cake-to-buttercream ratio is just about as good as it gets when it’s served this way.
In a layer cake sometimes I think you can end up with just a teensy bit more frosting than I’d like. This cake has the perfect amount of both cake and chocolate cream cheese frosting all in one bite.
If you’re also a lover of sheet cakes, check out this funfetti sheet cake – I love using this recipe for birthday cakes and parties!
Ingredients for the Best Chocolate Sheet Cake
- All-purpose flour – I always use all King Arthur flours, and I suggest you do the same for consistency’s sake!
- Cocoa powder – for this recipe you’ll just want to make sure you’re using Dutch-process cocoa powder. It should advertise that on the label – otherwise, look for “alkali” on the ingredients list – this means the same thing!
- Baking powder – this will be one of our leavening agents in this chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe.
- Baking soda – another leavening agent, and will react nicely with the buttermilk for the perfect rise!
- Kosher salt – Diamond crystal is my go-to, and I order it in large amounts on Amazon!
- Light brown sugar – If you want to do all brown sugar or all granulated sugar, that will work great too, but I think a balance of both is optimal for the perfect texture and overall bake.
- Granulated sugar – Like I said above, feel free to omit and use only brown sugar if you’d like to!
- Buttermilk – To me, it’s almost like buttermilk belongs in a chocolate cake. Anytime I make a chocolate cake, like this one-layer chocolate cake, I’m always trying to make sure buttermilk is my liquid!
- Vegetable oil – For an increased amount of moisture in the recipe, I decided to use vegetable oil as my fat. I think butter adds a really nice flavor, but I wanted the cake to be extra moist. You can use butter in place of the oil if you’d like to, or do half-and-half!
- Large eggs – just try to make sure they’re room temperature!
- Pure vanilla extract – emphasis on the word pure. Baking is not the time for the fake stuff!
- Instant coffee granules – this will be mixed with the hot water to make a good amount of coffee. Just make sure the water you mix it with is hot!
You’ll also need to make one batch of this chocolate cream cheese frosting to go along with your cake. If you’re not interested in cream cheese frosting, you could try this chocolate french buttercream instead – it’s in close competition with the cream cheese frosting as my favorite buttercream!
Some equipment you may need…
- Stand mixer: this is the one I have and I love it! I’ve had it for years now and I’ve never had any trouble with it. You don’t “need” a stand mixer for this recipe, but it sure does make life a lot easier.
- Offset spatula: the best little utensil for almost any baking project. I find myself reaching for this one all the time in the kitchen. It’s so helpful to use when spreading the chocolate cream cheese frosting onto the chocolate cake.
- Measuring cups/spoons: I’ve been linking these in all of my posts because I love them SO much! They are beautiful and look just like some other expensive ones on the market (but way cheaper).
- Mixing bowls: I love these glass mixing bowls from Amazon – and I really love the fact that they nest so nicely in my cabinet – such a great storage help!
How to Make Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Step 1 – Prepare the cake batter
This is a pretty straight-forward cake batter to mix up. For the most part, you could do this all in one bowl, but for the best results I’d recommend using a couple different bowls.
You’re going to mix the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients separately, and you’ll alternately beat the dry and wet ingredients into the egg/fat mixture in 3 additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. This just helps ensure that everything gets incorporated really nicely so we end up with the best chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting.
I’m all about a simple cake recipe, and the fact that this one bakes up in a sheet pan and gets frosted all at once with the best chocolate cream cheese frosting is a major win for me!
Step 2 – Make the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
We don’t want the cake without the frosting, do we?! This cake is topped with the best chocolate cream cheese frosting, and I think you’ll realize what I mean when you make it yourself! It’s packed with lots of chocolate flavor, and you may even think to yourself that it’s too much chocolate – but could there ever be such a thing?
I like to whip my frosting up while my cake is cooling, that way things are ready to go when the cake is cool and I don’t risk having a frosting that melts away.
Step 3 – frost your cake!
Now for the best part – frosting your chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting! The combination of these two recipes is just a match made in heaven, and my entire family agrees because we all can’t get enough of it.
Chocolate Cake FAQs
Can I make this chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting in advance?
Yes! You can make both the cake and the frosting in advance, but for best results, I’d recommend keeping them separated. You can go ahead and frost the cake, then wrap the entire pan in plastic wrap and refrigerate, but I like to freeze my cake, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, and freeze my frosting, also tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, let them both come to room temperature when I’m ready to serve the cake, and frost/decorate then and there.
If you freeze the cake, it will keep for up to 3 months. If you opt for refrigerating, it will keep for about 5 days before it’s probably time to serve it.
What is the best frosting to use on this cake?
If you’re not a fan of chocolate cream cheese frosting, check out this in-depth tutorial on making chocolate French buttercream. It’s up there as one of my all-time favorite buttercreams, and that’s across the board of all flavors.
I’d also suggest checking out this easy swiss meringue buttercream. If you’re looking for more of a vanilla route to pair with your chocolate cake, this is one of the best options out there.
I hope you all love this recipe! I’m not making it up when I tell you that my entire family absolutely adores this recipe. I think I’m going to consider using it for my birthday cake this year.
If you make this chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, be sure to tag me on socials @sarahsdayoff, and if you have any questions about the recipe or any others on my site, feel free to shoot me an email at sarah@sarahsdayoff.com or leave a comment below and I’d be happy to get back to you!
Happy baking!
Love,
Sarah
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33-
The Best Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup full-fat buttermilk
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp instant coffee
- 3/4 cup hot water
For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 batch chocolate cream cheese frosting (linked above)
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, buttermilk, and oil in a separate large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and combined.
- Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Beat in vanilla.
- Combine the instant coffee and water in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer running on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and coffee mixture in 3 additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- On the last addition of the dry ingredients, stop mixing with the mixer and switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to finish mixing until no streaks of flour remain.
- Pour the cake batter into your prepared pan and bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before removing to a wire rack.
For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prepare one batch of chocolate cream cheese frosting, and spread it on top of your cooled cake.
- Top with chocolate sprinkles or other decorations, if desired.
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