A super soft, easy chocolate cake with coffee in the batter and in the frosting is basically my dream dessert! The chocolate ganache here is creamy, silky and good enough to eat by itself, but the cake is worth baking for sure. I revisited this recipe recently and it’s better than ever. I hope you love it!
I’d made this cake for my sister’s birthday a few years ago, and wanted to update the photos. When I got to it, I realised I wanted to also tinker with the recipe a bit more and I’m so pleased with the results. I first saw it on Completely Delicious and it looked really great but made a verrryy large cake. My oven doesn’t hold multiple cake tins at a time, and the batter would have overflowed from a single 9″ tin. So, I halved the recipe and had a large enough cake for 8 big slices. The first time I made it, I sliced it in half and spread the ganache on both layers, but this time decided to leave it as a single layer cake. Either way, it’s delicious!
I used yoghurt instead of sour cream since that’s what I usually have on hand and it produces the same rich, moist texture. I also changed the method a little bit to make it a simple mix-dry-into-wet kind of recipe.
I found it easier to stir the cake batter by hand because it’s quite a voluminous one. If you have a stand mixer, now’s the time to bring it out so that the large bowl can prevent any messes! The cake is deeply chocolatey, with just enough coffee flavour to take it up a notch.
Butter cakes tend to firm up in the fridge, so leave the cake out at room temperature before serving, and for the most amazing, gooey flavour, warm it up just a little. Every bite is bursting with flavour and it’s just such a lovely, decadent cake. Make it quick!
Chocolate Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsps boiling hot water (155 ml)+ 4 tsps instant coffee powder (see notes)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder (30 gms)
- 1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (160 gms)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
- 140 gms butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (105 gms)
- 3/4 cup caster sugar (140 gms)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature (I have not tried an eggless version)
- 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup plain thick yoghurt (75 gms), at room temperature
For the coffee ganache
- 100 gms chocolate (50% to 60% dark), finely chopped
- 3/4th cup whipping cream/regular cream (190 ml)
- 2 tsps instant coffee
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 C and grease a 9" springform tin or round cake tin.
- Combine the hot water and coffee powder, stirring until dissolved. Set aside to cool. In a large bowl, sift the cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars with a hand mixer until pale and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of the flour mixture to stabilise the batter then beat in the yoghurt. If your batter still looks like it split, it's ok and will come together in the next step.
- Now, add the rest of the flour mixture and the cooled coffee alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Fold gently with a silicone spatula till you have a smooth, not very thick batter. If your batter has a few lumps, you can now run the hand mixer through it for a few seconds. Because coffee is acidic, the batter may have a slightly grainy appearance, don't worry about it.
- Pour into the prepared tin and smoothen the top. Bake for 1 hour and then another 5 to 10 minutes until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Start checking for doneness at 50 minutes because ovens vary. Allow the cake to cool completely at room temperature.
- To make the ganache, combine the cream and coffee powder in a small saucepan and gently heat on low, till warm and barely simmering, not boiling. Pour over the finely chopped chocolate and let it rest for a minute. Then use a spatula to stir until the chocolate has melted completely and the ganache is smooth and glossy.
- Let the ganache cool for 10 mins, then place in the fridge for 20 minutes to thicken it. You can certainly chill it further if you prefer it much thicker. Pour slowly over the top of the cake, and smoothen around the sides. Ganache sets even at room temperature, so if you have any leftover, you can add another layer of it once the first layer has set. Alternately, you can slice the cake in half and spread the ganache in the center and then on the top and sides. I've done it both ways, it's delicious whichever you choose!
- The cake tastes best at room temperature and can be stored that way in an airtight tin for a day, after which I prefer to refrigerate it. Bring individual slices to room temperature or gently reheat it, because butter cakes firm up in the fridge. Will keep for 5 to 6 days. Happy baking!
Notes
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Hi, I only have fat free yoghurt in right now, would that work?
Hi, I haven’t tried using fat-free yoghurt but my guess is it will affect the moisture a little bit. Some fat-free yoghurts also have additives that may react differently with the batter however if you have used this in other cakes as well, it should be ok to try here.
Can you use oil instead of butter?
I haven’t tried this cake with oil so can’t say for sure, but it should work although the flavour and texture will change
Hey! I just started making this and the batter has come together so nicely. Wanted to check what temperature are you baking it at? The recipe says preheat but not sure of the actual bake.
Thanks!
Hi ! It says 160 C in the first step of the recipe and that’s the temperature the cake bakes at as well. Unless specified , the preheat temperature is constant throughout. Hope you enjoy the cake!
Yeah, I somehow thought that both temperatures are different. I made it at 180 for the first 20 mins and then dropped it down to 160. It worked out just fine! Absolutely amazing recipe. Thank you!
Happy to hear that !!
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I made this cake yesterday and it was amazing. I added some chocolate chips alao in the cake batter.
Everyone loved it ! Thanks 🙂
Thank you Neeraja! I’m so happy to hear this 🙂
Lovely cake 🙂 can u plz tell me whether u hv used light / dark brown packed sugar ? N i really appreciate u providin a detailed recipe with measuremnt in grams n ml fr liquids 🙂
Thank you Bhagya! I used light brown sugar but dark is ok too 🙂
Hi Gayathri,
Can I substitute APF for Maida. Will it alter the flavor ?
Look forward to hearing from you.
(I don’t get APF in my hometown)
Thanks.
Hi Christine, all-purpose flour and maida are the same thing so you don’t need to go looking for anything else 🙂
Hey thanks you so much. I made this cake yesterday for a small get-together and everyone loved.. this is for keeps.
But I had a question, is there anyway I can keep just top of the cake a bit softer and also while cutting the cake it was crumbling a bit but the entire cake was super moist and delicious . Loved it
Thanks Madhura, happy to hear that! I think you could maybe take the cake out a few minutes earlier the next time, it sounds like the crust may have gotten a bit over-baked and therefore crumbled as you cut it. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much
Thanks for sharing
Wow. It looks delicious. I love coffee cake. So, I will try to make it. Your recipe will help me. Thanks for sharing.