“Home is where you treat your friends like family , and your family like friends.”
My blog has a new home ! And I thought this occasion calls for some cake ! Well, I think all occasions call for cake …
This cake , by Caroline Wright, really ticks all the boxes for me.
Well, first of all . Its Mocha. Mo….cha! Mocha is probably one of my favourite culinary words. Two of my poisons in one – chocolate and coffee ! Just can’t get enough of both. D
And then , it is so ridiculously easy to put together, Thats how cake making should be right . One or two bowls , a good whisk , a whole lotta love and off into the oven it goes. You just need to wait for the magic to happen !
Now lets talk about the size. Two perfect sized 8 or 9 inch layers or four equally perfect 7 inch layers . How great is that .
The most important obviously is the taste test ! Absolutely delicious . Not too dense , not too moist , not too fluffy. Just right !
Lets talk about some frosting …shall we ?
I am usually a dark chocolate girl but this time I decided to go with milk. Milk chocolate gets a bad rap . I too don’t use it much – find it a little too sweet. But I guess its the right recipe that matters. And this lovely milk frosting from Dede Wilson turned out finger-licking good ! it kinda marries a ganache with an American style buttercream but the end result is smooth , light and infinitely yum!
Mocha cake with milk chocolate buttercream
Ingredients
For The Cake
- 310 grams or 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 300 grams or 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 45 grams or 1/2 cup cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 eggs at room temperature
- 225 grams or 1 cup butter melted and cooled
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup curd or yoghurt at room temperature
- 240 ml or 1 cup very hot coffee one tsp instant coffee powder dissolved in it
For The Milk Chocolate Frosting
- 250 grams milk chocolate
- 200 ml or 1 cup cream
- 112 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 200 grams or 2 cups icing sugar sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For The Soaking Syrup
- 100 grams or 1/2 cup sugar
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp instant coffee powder
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat your oven to 180 C / 350 F. Butter and flour two 7 inch round pans well . Line the bottoms with parchment (optional).
- Whisk together the dry ingredients - the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt , cocoa powder and sugar very well in a large bowl.
- Mix in the eggs , melted butter , yoghurt , hot coffee and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
- Divide batter among two pans an bake for 32-38 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 5 minutes , remove and cool completely on wire rack.
To make the Milk Chocolate Frosting
- In a double boiler / microwave , heat the cream and chopped milk chocolate together until melted and smooth.
- Cool to room temperature.In another bowl, beat the butter until light and smooth.
- Add one cup sifted icing sugar , a few tablespoons at a time , beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl as needed.
- Add the remaining sifted icing sugar , the vanilla and the cooled chocolate-cream mixture .
- Beat until desired consistency is achieved.
For The Soaking Syrup
- Heat together the water, sugar and coffee in a saucepan until sugar and coffee dissolves.
- Simmer for couple of minutes .
- Take off heat and cool.
For The Assembly
- Slice each cooled cake into two horizontally.
- Place one cake slice on a cake board/ serving plate , brush generously with soaking syrup on top and sides .
- Spread about quarter cup of the frosting on top.
- Place the next cake slice on top and repeat.Place the last layer on top , spread the icing on top and sides and frost as desired!
Notes
The frosting makes just enough to fill and cover the cake , you might need one and half times the recipe if you want to do some piping.
This cake really was so good. The cake was really moist and darkly decadent , the luscious milk chocolate frosting perfect with the not-too-sweet cake . Mochaliciousness at its best !
Affiliate links : Just so you know, I have baked this cake in my trusty Morphy Richards 52 Litre Oven 
Happy baking !
Hi I’m making this cake. I’ve cooled the ganache added to the butter n sugar mixture. But the frosting is thick n floppy. Not stiff. Must I refrigerate t ??
Hi… Try refrigerating it and then using. If it doesn’t work, do add more sugar for required consistency. Hope this helps!
Hi
Can I bake this in one eight inch pan and cut into 2 layers?
Hi Vaishnavi… you would need to have a really tall 8 inch pan , and bake at 160 c . Even then , the outsides would be slightly hard by the time the inside cooks. I am not saying its not possible, but its tricky to get the texture right. If you do get it baked right, you will easily get two thick layers. Hope this helps !
Hi Akshata ,
Thanks for the lovely recipe ..Planning to half and make two 6inch cakes ..
Wanted to check with you the hot coffee would be water with the instant coffee powder ..and we should be cooling it before adding the other ing’s ??
Hi Dimple ..Yes, dissolve instant coffee powder in very hot water… And use it hot itself
Yes akshatha eggs were whipped till triple in volume…next time will b more coucious while following every steps …
Thanks akshatha….one more query …today I made ur hotmilk sponge in cup cake form …but it didn’t rise much as it used to b in whole cake …in fact it was less fluffy too…I checked my bp also before using …dnt know where I did wrong ..
Sangita , did you beat the eggs until they tripled in volume and while folding , did the batter deflate too much ? those are two possible places where the problem could lie
Hii Akshatha…can I use mocha whipping cream as filling and ganache as frosting in this recipe ? Can I use this recipe under findent cake??will it taste good ???
Hi Sangita !! Yes, you can use Mocha mousse in the filling ! I would suggest milk chocolate ganache as dark chocolate ganache might be too bitter against the coffee and cocoa of the cake.But you can taste the cake after baking and take a call on that . And you can use it under fondant as well 🙂
Hi
Lovely recipe.. Just one question in normal ganache recipes we don’t use icing sugar in it plus not so much of butter. Could be enlighten on this point. Tia
Hi Divya ! This frosting isnt exactly a ganache recipe. Its more like an American style buttercream flavoured with milk chocolate ganache. So , no waiting time for ganache to set and better consistency to pipe with and more stable . on the downside – more sugar and butter ! That said, you could just use milk chocolate ganache or whipped cream to frost the cake too. The flavour profile would remain same. I was just trying something different !
For eggless version how much of the Apple sauce should I use
Hi Avi.. it’s usually 1/4 cup applesauce for 1 egg…I haven’t tried this substitution myself…
Thankyou so much for the delicious recipe. The cake turned out yum !!
For the frosting, can we use dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate? Will the ratio of sugar change?
Hello ☺️
I made this cake yesterday and loved every bit of it. Used milk chocolate mousse to frost as my husband wanted that instead of the milk chocolate buttercream. I halved the recipe and baked in two 6″ pans and got 4 beautiful layers. It weighed about 1kg after frosting.
Just sharing the details hoping that it might help someone
Hi Nithya… thanks for trying the cake. Happy you liked it ! A bigger thanks for sharing the details of your results ! it will surely help others planning to try this cake !
Hi
How can I do a eggless version of this
Hi Asha… I haven’t tried an eggless version of this cake , but if you read the comments, you will see that another reader used applesauce and it worked well for her . You can give it a try too!
Hi Tisha … ! Thanks so much for trying the cake and i am happy that you are happy ! Unfortunately , photos aren’t allowed in the comments here ! But you can email me at flours.frostings@gmail.com so that i can share them on the main post. Would love to do that ! Thanks 🙂
Hello,
I have tried many chocolate cake recipes..this is the best I must say.
Outcome was scrumptious. I have used sour cream instead of yogurt.
I am a home based baker..always follow your reciepes. Is there any chance I can post my cake pics here?
Thanks a lot for these wonderful recipes.
Hi Akshata,what is the weight of this cake (kg)?
Hi Akshatha
Wanted to prepare the cake today! Could you please let me know, if I can use this mocha cake batter to prepare cup cakes?
TIA
Love all your recipes always
Hi Bharti.. so sorry for the late reply… Been a little busy ! You can make cupcakes , you will get more than 24 !
Mine frosting became too sweet …what to do to reduce sweetness
Hi Priya.. the cake is not so sweet so the frosting goes with it. If it is really sweet, you can try folding in some cream cheese or whipped cream about 2 tablespoons at a time to mellow it out.
Can I use white chocolate instead of milk chocolate as I want to make white chocolate icing?
Hi Khushboo.. I haven’t tried white chocolate in this frosting. You will need to adjust sugar and other ingredients. Why don’t you have a look at this white chocolate buttercream instead ? It comes out well and is simple. Would go well with this Mocha cake . https://floursandfrostings.com/eggless-red-velvet-cupcakes-with-white-chocolate-frosting-recipe/
Thank you! I will surely give it a try!
What do you mean by cream?
HI Anu..for the frosting , you can use any cream. i have used low fat Dairy cream (Amul fresh cream) but a heavier cream or non dairy whipping cream will do good too and give you better consistency !
Hi Ritika..thanks so much for the recp. I tried d eggless version replacing d eggs with Apple sauce..was absolutely yumm..a total keeper 🙂
hi Divya…. did you try the mocha cake ? how much applesauce did you use instead of the 4 eggs? by the way..little confused about the Ritika part?
Thank u for the replies… i m planning to do a trial batch as in with just one layer cake n enough frosting to frost tht one layer … should i just take half the ingredients?
Yes… half the ingredients should work for a small cake!
Hi again,
I dont have 2 tins of same size.. can i bake this batter in 2 batches? if yes, where do i keep the batter while 1st cake cooks? fridge or in the kitchen?
( m in north india where the room temp has come down to 25degrees)
Hey Ritika.. u can keep half of the batter waiting in the kitchen itself , and bake it immediately after the first one. There will a slight difference in height of the cake. But otherwise it will be ok 🙂
Hi..what can I replace eggs with??
sorry Divya…as the cake has 4 eggs , i wouldn’t try substituting it …I am trying on a similar eggless cake though.
Thank u so much for replying. just one last thing, can oil be used in frosting as well where u have mentioned butter??
Hey Ritika, In frostings , it is better to stick to butter where mentioned , because softened butter is needed for the consistency of frosting . Oil wouldn’t work here as its just liquid ..
Hi,
2 things i want to ask. can butter be replaced with ghee?
And what sort of milk chocolate did u use? any brand thts easily available in india?
Hi Ritika ! I haven’t tried replacing the butter with ghee, but I have used equal quantity oil and it comes out well. About the milk chocolate , you can use a baking chocolate (compound or couverture ) , or Amul milk chocolate is a brand easily available I guess…Hope this helps 🙂