Black Cocoa
Cake
Chocolate cake made with black cocoa
that is rich, moist, and fluffy. Wrapped in a black cocoa buttercream.
Preparation
time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yields: 12
Ingredients
Black cocoa cake ingredients:
- One cup (226g) of room temperature unsalted butter
- 420g (2 cups) of granulated sugar
- One tablespoon of vanilla extract, pure
- One teaspoon of sea salt, fine
- Four large eggs
- 325g of 2 ½ cups cake flour
- One cup (85g) of black cocoa
- One teaspoon of baking soda
- 350g of full-fat kefir or buttermilk, 1 ½ cups
Black cocoa buttercream ingredients:
- One and a half cups of room temperature unsalted butter (3 sticks, or 330g)
- 1/3 cup of black cocoa 28 g
- 3 ½ cups of sifted organic powdered sugar (455g)
- One tablespoon of vanilla
- Half a teaspoon of fine sea salt
- 113 g of optional semi-sweet chocolate
Method to Make Black Cocoa Cake
Making black cocoa buttercream:
- For one minute, beat the butter with the salt and vanilla. Beat in the powdered sugar and cocoa until smooth. If you want to add chocolate, microwave it until it melts mostly, then stir it until it's smooth. Stir it into the buttercream after it has cooled. If not using the chocolate, add heavy cream or milk (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) until the buttercream is smooth. Put aside, covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container.
Making
black cocoa cake:
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two tall cake pans that are 8" or 9".
- For four to five minutes, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy.
- Allow each egg to beat completely before adding the next one. After adding all of the eggs, beat for a further two minutes.
- With the mixer running, add the kefir and stir until the batter is completely combined after sifting in the flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Make sure to scrape down the bottom a few times to ensure nothing got stuck and didn't blend. Once the flour is in the batter, don't beat it too much or the cake will turn out tough.
- The cakes should be baked for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean or the center of the cake bounces back when pressed.
- After 5 to 10 minutes of cooling in the pan, turn the cakes over to finish cooling on a wire rack. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least one hour.
- When the cakes are cold, frost them.
No Dye Black Cake (Black Oreo Cake)
This gorgeous black cake only
requires a bowl and whisk, no mixer, and no artificial coloring. It has a rich,
smoky flavor that is reminiscent of Oreo cookies, and the color comes from
black cocoa powder.
Yield: 6 to 10 slices
Preparation
time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total
time: 50 minutes plus frosting and
assembly time
Ingredients
- 46g, or half a cup, of black cocoa powder
- 100g (3 1/2 oz) of dark chocolate, broken up into tiny pieces
- 1 1/4 cups (257g) dark or light brown sugar
- One teaspoon of kosher salt— use half if you're using fine salt.
- 210g (three-quarters cup plus two tablespoons) of boiling water
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (124g) of flavorless oil, like vegetable or canola
- 1 3/4 tablespoons (24g) full-fat sour cream
- 158g, or 1 1/4 cups, of all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoons of baking powder
- Two large egg yolks (50g)
- Three large eggs weighing 150g
Instructions to Make No Dye Black Cake
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position to preheat the oven. Turn the oven on to 350°F, or 180°C.
- Get the pans ready. Line the bottoms of three 6" cake pans with a circle of parchment paper and butter or oil the insides of the pans.
- Bloom cocoa powder. Combine the chopped dark chocolate, brown sugar, salt, boiling hot water, and black cocoa in a large mixing bowl. To melt the chocolate, make sure the water is boiling hot. Mix everything together with a whisk. To allow the chocolate flavor to develop and deepen, leave your bowl aside for at least five minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients by whisking the oil and sour cream into the chocolate bowl. The oil may separate on top, but continue whisking until it's well combined, glossy, and a little thicker. Add baking powder and all-purpose flour and whisk until no flour residue is visible.
- For approximately one minute, whisk in the eggs and yolks until the batter is velvety black and well combined.
- Pour batter into pans. Divide the batter evenly among the pans that have been prepared. It's normal for it to begin to bubble. The other ingredients are interacting with the baking powder. If you want extremely smooth cake tops, you can wait five to ten minutes after pouring the batter into your pans and then tap the pans on the counter a few times.
- Bake for 23 to 28 minutes, then let it cool. If you have three pans, you can bake all three layers at once or just one. At 20 minutes, begin checking for doneness. To check for wet crumbs but not wet batter, you can pierce the center with a skewer or consider the temperature; a central temperature of about 200°F/93°C is ideal. After moving the pans to a cooling rack, give the cake five to ten minutes to cool slightly.
- Remove cakes from the oven while still warm to preserve moisture. To remove the parchment bottom, turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack after loosening the edges with a butter knife or offset spatula. When you're ready to frost the cakes, cover them with plastic wrap and, if you'd like, cut off the domes. Make sure they are completely cool before trying to assemble.