Tips For Making Chocolate Cake

Similar to Ina Garten's "Outrageous Brownies,” which are totally delicious yet a labor of love, at first glance, whipping up Ina’s most popular chocolate cake recipe didn’t exactly look like a cake walk. Confession: Even after working as a food writer for well over a decade, layer cakes still intimidate me. 

So when I heard that the decadent two-layer treat was available on Goldbelly and could be delivered to my doorstep, I admit that I was extremely tempted. But as soon as I saw the price ($100 for a 6-inch cake or $120 for an 8-inch cake), that was enough evidence to convince me to try the DIY route. 

I dove deeper into fan feedback about this chocolate cake, and spotted notes like, “the cake is a snap to make,” and “this is now our official birthday cake recipe,” I felt confident enough to tie on my apron, preheat the oven, and give it a try. If anyone can coach me through my layer cake reluctance, I trust it could be my “how easy is that?!” guide. 

Tips For Making Chocolate Cake

If you, too, happen to be intimidated by layer cakes—or if you’re simply hoping to take your homemade desserts to the next level—here are a few additional pointers from Ina, our Test Kitchen, and my own discoveries while making Beatty’s Chocolate Cake.

Skip the chips. Chocolate chips have stabilizers and other ingredients that prevent them from sticking to each other, and generally don’t melt as smoothly as chocolate bars. If you can’t find or don’t love semisweet chocolate, bittersweet works here, too, according to Ina. Or try our savvy cocoa powder conversion if you prefer.

Consider cupcakes. This recipe can also be made in a muffin tin for single servings. It should yield about 12 cupcakes; perfect to pair with the 12-serving chocolate buttercream frosting recipe. If you go this route, reduce the baking time to about 25 to 30 minutes, Ina advises.

Trust the process. The batter will be extremely thick after you add the wet ingredients to the try ones, then will suddenly appear thin after you pour in the coffee. Rest assured that it will bake up A-OK if you follow the ratios listed.

Mix up the middle. If you’d like a little freshness to complement the chocolate cake and exterior frosting, try substituting the center buttercream layer with a fruit jam or compote.

Sub in an alternate icing. If chocolate on chocolate isn’t your top choice, use another flavor like caramel, almond, or coconut-pecan (for some German chocolate vibes). Feel free to trade in canned frosting, if desired.

Decorate like a pro. Whether you stick with Ina’s fully-chocolate recipe or take a store-bought shortcut for the frosting, it can be helpful to have some context about how much frosting you need. When you’re assembling a layer cake, estimate about ½ cup frosting per layer, then you’ll need another 1 to 1 ½ cups to fully ice the sides. For this cake (or cupcake) recipe, aim for about 2 to 2 ½ cups of frosting total for a generous coating.

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