Mocha Cake Recipe

A slice of mocha cake on a plate, showing the three layers and chocolate ganache top with chocolate-covered espresso beans.

This Mocha Cake recipe is a fan-favorite for a reason! You’ll love the moist chocolate cake, velvety chocolate coffee frosting, and smooth dark chocolate ganache.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 10

Servings servings

Calories 1391kcal

Author John Kanell

Equipment

3, 9-inch cake pans
Cake strips, optional
Stand mixer with whisk and paddle attachment

Ingredients

For the Cake:

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (40g)
1 cup very hot coffee (240mL)
3 cups all-purpose flour (360g)
2½ cups granulated sugar (500g)
2½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil (240ml)
1 cup whole buttermilk room temperature (240ml)
3 large eggs room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the Buttercream:

2 cups unsalted butter (450g)
2 pounds confectioners sugar (900g)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream
½ teaspoon salt

For the Ganache:

½ cup dark chocolate chopped (90g)
¼ cup heavy cream (60mL)

For the Assembly:

½ cup chocolate-covered espresso beans chopped (95g)

Instructions

For the Cake Layers:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter three (9-inch) round cake pans or spray with baking spray, and line the bottoms with parchment paper. (I highly recommend using cake strips for a more even bake.)
In a medium bowl, sift the cocoa powder. Whisk in the hot coffee until the cocoa is dissolved. Let cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
To the cooled cocoa mixture, add the oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Pour the mocha mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. Divide the batter evenly among the cake pans.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the cakes are springy to the touch and just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. (If you have to bake the cakes on separate oven racks, carefully rotate them after 20 minutes of baking.) Let cool completely in the pans. Run a knife around the edge of the cakes to loosen them and invert them onto a wire rack. Remove and discard the parchment paper.

For the Mocha Buttercream:

In a large bowl, sift together the confectioners’ sugar, salt, cocoa, and espresso powder. (If you want the buttercream to have a stronger espresso taste, add as much as you would like!)
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium speed for about 5 minutes.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar mixture. Add the vanilla and drizzle in the heavy cream while beating. Beat until the frosting is fluffy and easily spreadable.

For the Ganache:

Microwave the cream on high for 20 to 30 seconds until very hot but not boiling. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream over top. Set aside for a few minutes and whisk together. If there’s a few bits of unmelted chocolate just microwave it for 10 seconds on half power and whisk again. If your kitchen is cool, hold the ganache warm over a double boiler or set in a warm water bath.

For the Assembly:

Spread about 1 cup of buttercream on the first layer, add a swirl of the ganache on top, then a sprinkle of chopped espresso beans. Add the second layer on top and repeat the process. Top with the remaining cake layer and cover the top and side of the cake with buttercream. Chill for 20 minutes.
To make the ganache drip on top of the cake, rewarm the remaining ganache for 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave until slightly runny. (You may need to add an additional tablespoon or two of cream.) Transfer it to a piping and drip the ganache down the sides of the cake. Drizzle the remaining ganache over the top of the cake, and smooth it out with an offset spatula. Chill until set.
Pipe dollops of buttercream on the edge using a large closed star tip. Top each dollop with a whole chocolate-covered espresso bean, if you like.

Video

Notes

Weigh the flour to avoid accidentally using too much, which will cause the mocha cake to turn out dry. A kitchen scale is your best bet, but if you don’t have one, fluff the flour in its container, spoon it into a measuring cup, and level off the top with a knife.
Use room temperature ingredients. Set the refrigerated ingredients out in advance so they can come to room temperature, which makes them easier to blend with the other ingredients.
Add a crumb coat: This cake is exceptionally moist with a soft texture. I recommend coating the cake with a very thin layer of frosting (a crumb coat) and then refrigerating it for 20 minutes to firm up. Once chilled, ice the cake with the remaining frosting. This keeps cake crumbs out of your final presentation, and the layers won’t shift at all while decorating.
If you want to decorate the cake with additional piped icing, make 1.25 or 1.5 times the amount of mocha buttercream.
For a pretty ganache drip down the sides of the cake, you may need to add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of warm heavy cream to the remaining ganache (after using it between the cake layers). Different brands of chocolate may melt in a looser or thicker way, so adjust it as needed with cream. Rewarm the ganache with the cream in the microwave or whisk the ganache over the double-boiler until smooth and the cream is combined. To make the drip, test in one spot of the cake or on the rim of a tall glass to be sure that it is the right consistency and not so thick it won’t drip or too thin that it runs to the bottom.

Nutrition