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Six-Layer Chocolate Cake
Maggie Banko

Rich Six-Layer Chocolate Cake

Calling all chocolate lovers! This cake is packed with rich chocolate in every cake layer and has the most incredible chocolate fudge buttercream frosting that is as smooth as silk.
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 22 slices
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

For the Cake
  • ⅔ cup room temperature sour cream 160mL
  • 1 ¼ cups room temperature whole milk 315mL
  • 4 room temperature large eggs
  • 2 cups strong hot coffee 473mL
  • 1 cup vegetable oil 226mL
  • 1 tbsp + ½ tsp vanilla extract 16mL
  • 4 cups cake flour 462g
  • 3 ¼ cups granulated sugar 700g
  • ½ cup cocoa powder 62g
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder 7g
  • 3 tsp baking soda 17g
  • 1 tsp fine salt 6g
For the Buttercream
  • 1 lb + 4 oz powdered sugar 567g
  • 4 oz cocoa powder 114g
  • tiny pinch of salt
  • 2 cups room temperature unsalted butter 452g
  • vanilla extract to taste
  • ⅓ cup chocolate chips 65g
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream 30mL

Method
 

For the Cake
  1. Preheat your oven to 350℉ and line three 8" cake pans with butter, parchment paper, and a dusting of cocoa powder.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients as well as the granulated sugar.
  3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients and mix well.
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just incorporated (don't over-mix!)
  5. Evenly distribute the cake batter throughout all three cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of each layer comes out with just a couple of crumbs on it. The baking time will vary depending on your oven so keep an eye on the layers as they bake!
  6. Allow the cake layers to cool for about 20 minutes in their pans before flipping them out onto a cooling rack to completely cool.
For the Buttercream
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using an electric hand mixer), whip the room temperature butter on medium speed until it's silky in texture and pale in color.
  2. In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and heavy cream together for 30 seconds. Give it a good stir until its silky and then pour the melted chocolate into the butter. Mix until well combined.
  3. Add the pinch of salt, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract.
  4. Mix on low speed until the powdered sugar and cocoa powder begin to mix into the butter, and then increase the speed to medium until everything is well combined and the buttercream is smooth.
Stacking & Decorating
  1. Once the cake layers have fully cooled, slice all three cake layers in half so that you have six thin layers.
  2. Add a small amount of buttercream to a cake stand or a cake drum to ensure that the cake doesn't slide around as you stack!
  3. Begin with one cake layer, add some of the buttercream on top of the layer, and smooth it out using an offset spatula until its evenly distributed.
  4. Repeat the above step until all six cake layers are evenly stacked.
  5. If you have leftover buttercream, feel free to add more to the outside of the cake as decoration.
  6. Slice the cake into 11 large slices or 22 half slices (this cake is very rich so the "half" slices are typically the perfect serving!)