If you like yourself a good chocolate chip cookie , you will surely like yourself a slice of this eggless chocolate chip layer cake.
This delicious layer cake is made up of scrumptious layers of vanilla cake studded ( almost stuffed really ) with dark chocolate chips , a super smooth brown sugar buttercream and a dark chocolate ganache drip. Sounds good ? Sure does to me!
The cake is a simple egg free cake that I have tried different variations of over the years. Its butter based (unlike most eggless cakes ) so its flavourful and has a wonderful crumb. It works well as a vanilla cake of course but the half cup of chocolate chips take it to legit next level yumminess!
When I decided to make a chocolate chip layer cake , I just knew that I wanted to pair it with a brown sugar frosting. Because what’s a chocolate chip cookie without the rich, caramelly tones of brown sugar ! I was really surprised to find that most of the recipes online that had no eggs , had BOTH brown sugar and powdered sugar ( and plenty of both !). I then wondered if I could make a brown sugar variant of the ermine buttercream . I simply loved the texture and flavour of this brown sugar ermine buttercream. Yes , it might seem a little cumbersome to make , but it really isn’t. If you prefer a less sweet , yet flavourful smooth buttercream , you should whip up a batch.
To know more about ermine buttercream , you can read the detailed post here or watch a step by step here.
The ganache drip on the outside is simply dark chocolate melted into cream, I used an equal ratio of both . It adds some visual effect ( admittedly a better effect if you do a better job of dripping it than I did ) and some more decadence in each bite. You can of course skip the ganache and keep this affair simply 2 component (cake layers + frosting ) ….. but , a little more chocolate never hurt anyone , did it ?
Eggless chocolate chip layer cake
Ingredients
For the chocolate chip cake:
- 56 grams or 1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 grams or 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 190 grams or 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 180 ml or 3/4 cup milk at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
For the brown sugar buttercream :
- 30 grams or 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 100 grams or 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 112 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter oom temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the dark chocolate ganache drip :
- 100 grams dark chocolate
- 80 ml or 1/3 cup dairy cream
Instructions
To make the chocolate chip cake :
- Preheat your oven to 160 C / 325 F . Butter and flour a 6 inch round pan and line the bottom with parchment ( optional).
- Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Keep aside.
- Using an electric mixer or whisk , beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
- Add and beat in one-third of the flour – followed by half of the milk (with the vanilla added in) – followed by another one third of flour – the remaining half of milk -lastly the remaining third of the flour. Beat after each addition until incorporated. Don't overbeat after the last addition of flour.
- Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and dry.
- Cool in pan for 5 minutes , gently un-mould and cool completely on wire rack.
To make the brown sugar buttercream :
- Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in a saucepan.
- Add the milk and whisk until combined
- Place saucepan over low heat and whisk continuously as the mixture comes to a boil
- Once it boils , cook for 1-2 minutes, then take the pan off the heat and whisk for a minute or so. It should be lump free and smooth
- Let this cool down to room temperature. To hasten the cooling , you can transfer this mixture into another wider bowl or plate . Cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap directly onto the mixture. This prevents a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cool.
- Once the mixture is cool, beat the butter until fluffy and pale,.This will take 5-10 minutes using an electric mixer.
- Once the butter is really smooth and pale (important!) , add the cooled mixture one tablespoon at a time, mixing or beating well after each addition
- After all the mixture has been added, mix or beat for another 3-5 minutes. The buttercream should be smooth and creamy
- Beat in the vanilla.
For the dark chocolate ganache :
- Chop up the dark chocolate as small and evenly as possible .
- Pour the cream on top.
- Heat this on low either in microwave , or saucepan stirring often until all the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth
- Take off heat and cool until cake is assembled
To assemble the cake :
- Slice cooled cake horizontally into two layers using a serrated knife.
- Place bottom layer on the serving plate , cake stand or board.
- Spread about 1/3 of the frosting on top using a spatula
- Place second layer on top and press gently.
- Spread another 1/3 rd of the frosting on top and spread using a spatula
- Add more frosting on the sides and smoothen as much as possible .
- Chill for 10 minutes.
- Apply more frosting and smoothen as needed.
- Using a spoon , drop small amounts of ganache on the top edge of cake and slightly nudge it so that it drips. Continue along the entire cake edge .
- Pour some ganache on the centre of top of cake and spread using spatula to cover top.
- Your cake is ready !
Notes
Soft and buttery cake with gooey pockets of chocolate with some lick-off-your-fingers good frosting . Thats some plate scraping goodness right there. This eggless chocolate chip layer cake is a superb choice for a kid’s birthday party. Don’t you think ?
If you are looking for a simpler , tea time sort of cake , you can try this less decadent, still delicious everyday kind of eggless chocolate chip cake.
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