According to my family, there are only three types of cake: Chocolate Cake, Swedish Birthday Cake, and Banana Cake. Whenever a birthday comes up, there is always a debate about which to make.
It’s MY birthday. My vote is for a moist Chocolate Mocha Cake! Which in my opinion is the best chocolate cake ever!
For years this Chocolate Mocha Cake was the undisputed go-to birthday cake in my life.
Then I got married, and the Swedish Birthday Cake entered the picture. Then we moved to the San Jose area Icing on the Cake’s Banana Cake took center stage. If you’re a local you know what I mean. It’s nearly as famous as Aki’s Passion Fruit cake. (RIP Aki’s Bakery, we miss you.)
For my birthday this year, I want to return to MY family traditions with this cake.
This recipe originated with my Dad’s life-long girlfriend, Cherie. She came into our lives when I was in 5th grade…not a particularly fantastic age to acquire a ‘Stepmother’. That said, she did soften her arrival with the introduction of this cake to the family.
This is the perfect cake for the first-time cake baker.
It only requires a few easy-to-find ingredients and has minimal instructions. It is really hard to screw this one up. I’ve been making this cake since I was a kid. I can’t think of a time that it hasn’t come out moist and delicious. Does it seem intimidating to make a cake from scratch? Don’t be afraid – the cake is EASY, especially this cake. Too scary to create the layers and ice them? Don’t. Make a sheet cake instead. It is YOUR cake!
PLEASE as a reader of this blog, commit to me that you will NEVER use boxed cake mix…and heaven forbid…STAY AWAY FROM CANNED ICING! If you are going to eat flour and sugar as a special treat, limit the impact on your body by at least making sure that you’re not getting a side-order of chemicals, too!
Back to the cake…
This chocolate cake is a super dark chocolate cake with a hint of coffee flavor. It is wonderfully delicious! It’s my favorite because it is always perfectly moist and never too sweet. Don’t worry, the icing provides a perfect contrast to the cake itself. The icing completes the perfect chocolate cake picture. It’s a fluffy, chocolate whipped cream. The only secret to success is making sure your icing ingredients are really cold before you start to whip them together.
Enjoy! If this cake doesn’t scream ‘celebration’ or ‘special occasion’, I don’t know what does.
Cherie's Chocolate Mocha Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Mocha Cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour
- ¾ cup cocoa
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup vegetable oil or coconut oil
- 1 cup strong coffee boiling
- ¾ cup milk whole or 2%
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla
Chocolate Icing
- 1 cup whipping cream (1/2 pint)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 tbsp cocoa
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Chocolate Mocha Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉
- Grease and flour 2 - 9" round pans (or one 13" x 9" pan).
- Combine all of the ingredients - EXCEPT the coffee. Mix until blended.
- Add the hot coffee. Mix again.
- Bake the cakes for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Approx. 45 mins for 13" x 9" pan)
Whipped Chocolate Icing
- Put all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl with beaters. REFRIGERATE AT LEAST 2 HOURS.
- Beat until there are stiff peaks and the icing is a spreadable consistency.
Notes
Nutrition
It’s all about the Cheese!
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