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Espresso Chocolate Cake

Published: Updated:
On trend

3 Reviews

Total Time
1h 25m
Prep Time
45m
Bake Time
40m
Serves 10
Serves 10
intermediate
A little effort

About the bake

Enjoy a delicious coffee break with this indulgent Espresso Chocolate Cake! It features two layers of rich, moist and fudgy chocolate cake filled and coated with velvety coffee buttercream. For extra indulgence, we finished with cake with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. Best served with your favourite hot drink or a cold glass of milk!

13 ingredients11 steps

    Method

    1. Step 1

      Begin by making the chocolate cake. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan / 180°C conventional. Grease and line the base and sides of two 7-inch round cake tins with baking paper.

    2. Step 2

      In a large bowl, stir the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together until well combined.

      Ingredients for this step

      • Self-raising flour
        325gSelf-raising flour
      • Baking Powder
        1 tspBaking Powder
      • Cocoa Powder
        60gCocoa Powder
    3. Step 3

      In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs, oil and milk together until well combined.

      Ingredients for this step

      • Billington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
        350gBillington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
    4. Step 4

      Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir the espresso powder with 3 tablespoons of boiling hot water. Then add to the bowl too and whisk everything together until the mixture is smooth and combined.

      Ingredients for this step

      • Espresso powder
        1 tbspEspresso powder
    5. Step 5

      Divide the mixture evenly between the cake tins. Bake for 40-45 minutes until risen and the middle of the sponge springs back when lightly pressed. Leave to completely cool.

    6. Step 6

      To make the buttercream, beat the butter until soft, light and fluffy in a large bowl. Add half the icing sugar and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Beat until smooth and combined.

      Ingredients for this step

      • Salted butter (room temperature)
        250gSalted butter (room temperature)
      • Billington's golden icing sugar
        250gBillington's golden icing sugar
      • Milk
        1 tbspMilk
    7. Step 7

      Add the remaining icing sugar. Stir the rest of the milk with the espresso power, then add to the bowl as well. Beat until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.

      Ingredients for this step

      • Billington's golden icing sugar
        250gBillington's golden icing sugar
      • Milk
        1 tbspMilk
      • Espresso powder
        1 tbspEspresso powder
    8. Step 8

      Next assemble and decorate the cake. If the cakes have domed on top, level them off with a knife so they have a flat surface.

    9. Step 9

      Spread two heaped tablespoons of buttercream on top of one sponge and sandwich with the other sponge.

    10. Step 10

      Coat the top and sides of the cake in buttercream, using an icing spatula to create a swirly finish.

    11. Step 11

      To decorate, drizzle the chocolate sauce on top of the cake (we like Askeys Treat sauce), letting it drip down the sides. Slice and enjoy!

    Ingredients

    • For the chocolate cake

      • Espresso powder
        1 tbspEspresso powder 
      • Billington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar
        350gBillington's Unrefined Light Muscovado Sugar 
      • Eggs (large free range)
        3Eggs (large free range) 
      • Vegetable Oil
        150mlVegetable Oil 
      • Milk
        200mlMilk 
      • Self-raising flour
        325gSelf-raising flour 
      • Baking Powder
        1 tspBaking Powder 
      • Cocoa Powder
        60gCocoa Powder 
    • For the coffee buttercream

      • Salted butter (room temperature)
        250gSalted butter (room temperature) 
      • Billington's Unrefined Golden Icing Sugar (sifted)
        500gBillington's Unrefined Golden Icing Sugar (sifted) 
      • Milk
        2 tbspMilk 
      • Espresso powder
        1 tbspEspresso powder 
    • For the decoration

      • Chocolate sauce
        Chocolate sauce 

    3 Baker Ratings

    Could you use butter instead of oil?

    Baking Mad

    Yes, you could use melted butter at the same ratio as oil for this cake. 

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