What’s your go-to birthday cake? I’m taking a wild guess and crossing my fingers that it’s the best chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting.
My dream cake? Literally any cake someone else bakes for me, amen. Though if they happen to bake an angel food cake topped with mountains of fresh raspberry whipped cream that would be the dream of dreams. Bakers know not to be choosers when it comes to their own birthday cakes. Any cake we didn’t make is the birthday cake of our dreams and we thank you.
Let’s talk about your birthday cake…. or your son’s, or your wife’s, or your second cousin’s, or your neighbor down the way – EVERYONE needs cake and heck, in this year of our Lord 2021, let’s make it an unbelievable chocolate on chocolate masterpiece with a smear of peanut butter for good measure.
At the start of the year The Kitchn recreated my version of Everybody’s Birthday Cake – a simple yellow cake that can be made as a 9×13-inch sheet cake, 2 9-inch layers, or cupcakes and I thought – it’s high time for a chocolate version of Everybody’s Birthday Cake. And where there is a chocolate cake recipe, let there be at least a hint of peanut butter.
Ready to grease your cake pans, friends? There’s always a birthday to celebrate – let’s go big!
Now, you might need a few other things on this cake journey. I’ve got you covered.
• How to Frost A Cake– it is, after all, a lifeskill.
• Of course there’s a vanilla version of that’s just as wonderful as a sheet cake as it is a layer cake. Everybody’s Birthday Cake: Vanilla with Chocolate Buttercream
• Maybe you don’t need a whole dang cake but you still want to treat yourself to something melty. Single Molten Chocolate Cake
• And trust me when I tell you that you can coax 12 Frosted Cupcakes from One Stick of Butter. It’s magic.
I’ve made more chocolate cakes than I know how to count and my favorite of all – the recipe I always flip to in my little handwritten recipe stack is – Hershey’s Black Magic Cake. It’s tender and flavorful, light but sturdy, bakes up beautifully in a sheet pan or bundt pan and I find it to be my ideal chocolate cake. This recipe is based on that Hershey classic.
Here’s what you’ll need for the best chocolate birthday cake:
• buttermilk or any kind of buttermilk substitution or dairy substitute you prefer which helps to make the cake extra tender.
• cocoa powder- Hershey’s natural for best results with this cake.
• oil and eggs for richness.
• granulated sugar
• coffee (or espresso powder in warm water) to add a depth of flavor to the chocolate and balance the sweetness.
• all-purpose flour (though you could make this a gluten-free chocolate cake with a gluten-free flour blend also works well), baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
No need for a mixer with this recipe (another bonus!), just a few bowls and a whisk.
First whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, salt and leavening, cocoa powder and sugar.
In a separate bow whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, coffee and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients.
Whisk well to incorporate.
Chocolate cake in amazingly simple and forgiving, just make sure no sneaky flour lumps remain.
We’ll bake the cake layers until deeply chocolate browned and a skewer inserted in the cakes comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
While the cake bakes and cools, make the frosting.
Here’s where things get truly irresistible.
The chocolate frosting we’ll use for this decadent chocolate cake is a variation of my Perfect Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
I don’t use the word ‘perfect’ frivolously – it really is that good. The secret? A mixture of Chocolate Ovaltine and whipped cream that whips this buttercream to super smooth. I know it’s odd but don’t skip the special sauce.
Start by creaming together well-softened butter, cocoa powder, and salt.
The butter and chocolate mixture will feel very thick, almost gnarly, just beat until it’s well incorporated.
Add peanut butter to combine. Yep. Yep. It’s all good news.
Beat in the powdered sugar and a few splashes of milk until smooth but still thick.
Now add the cream and Ovaltine mixture, just enough to whip the buttercream to super fluffy and smooth.
Allow the cake layers to cool to room temperature (no joke) before frosting the cake.
Spoon a generous amount onto the center of the bottom layer and spread to the edges in a thin layer or thick layer with an offset spatula.
Top with the second layer of cake, top side down and frost the edges and sides.
Sprinkle with chocolate jimmies and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to set before serving.
Can you even believe how gooey moist this is? No matter whose birthday it is, it’s a BEYOND moment having a slice of this cake on your plate.
This cake bakes either a 9×13-inch sheet cake, 2 9-inch rounds, a bundt pan, or about 24 cupcakes. Any way you want to cake!
I hope this chocolate monster makes it way to a birthday table of someone you love. It really is such a special treat, just like every new year we get in the world.
Happy Birthday to you and yours!
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Everybody’s Birthday Cake – Chocolate Peanut Butter
Description
A perfectly decadent chocolate birthday cake with chocolate peanut butter buttercream.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 3/4-cup (222 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (75 grams) Hershey’s cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup strong black coffee
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (100 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cups (500 grams) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup Rich Chocolate Ovaltine powder
Instructions
- Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and set aside. (Grease and flour a sheet pan or tube pan or line muffin tin with cupcake papers if using.)
- In a large bowl stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large measuring cup whisk together eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla.
- Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until smooth and flossy, about 2 minutes. Batter will be thin – that’s right.
- Divide batter between the prepared pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes (18 minutes or so for cupcakes) (35-45 minutes for a bundt cake) or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before running a butterknife around the edges and inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, cream together butter, cocoa powder and salt. Butter mixture will be very thick. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in peanut butter.
- Add powdered sugar. Turn mixer on low and mix in powdered sugar while adding milk and vanilla extract. As the sugar incorporates, raise the speed of the mixer to beat the frosting. Beat until smooth, about 1 minute.
- In a 2 cup measuring glass, stir together heavy cream and Ovaltine. Turn mixer speed to medium and pour half of the cream mixture into frosting in a slow, steady stream. Stop the mixer scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add remaining cream mixture or until you’ve reached your desired consistency. Beat until soft and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Frost the cake or store the frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. Bring to room temperature before frosting cakes and cupcakes. There’s a tutorial here on Joy the Baker about frosting a cake if you need it. Happy Birthday!
Photos with my dear Jon Melendez.
Eliza
I have a very important question. My husband insists chocolate cake with white frosting reigns supreme. He is wrong. However, we have been married 5 years and I have never made him his preferred cake combo. He is being named teacher of the year in a couple of weeks (he doesn’t know it!), so it’s finally time to make him some dang vanilla frosting for his chocolate cake. I’m not a huge fan of vanilla buttercream. I like that the frosting in this recipe uses whipped cream to cut the buttercream a bit. Is there a good method for a non-chocolate version of this frosting recipe?
Joy the Baker
I would say that for a non chocolate frosting that isn’t too sweet you should look to a swiss or italian buttercream. They’re a bit more labor intensive but make for a really refined frosting for cakes!
Katy
SO yummy!
★★★★★
Gloria
Hello,
I haven’t made this Cake yet and before I do I would like to know what substitute can I use instead of the 1 cup of peanut butter.
Abby Mallett
Hi Gloria! Feel free to sub in any nut butter you prefer, whether that’s almond or cashew or what have you!
Nancy Carlson
I saw this recipe and thought it looked so good. But realized I’ve been making this exact recipe for years. It is the same as Ina’s Beatty cake. So good. Just the frosting is different.
Melissa
Hi! How many people does this cake serve? Thanks!
Joy the Baker - Founder
8-12
Sam
I am no expert at making cakes but this cake turned out amazingly. It is so moist and yummy and so quick and easy to get into the oven. This will definitely be my go-to chocolate cake recipe and I can’t recommend it enough. Thanks, Joy!!
★★★★★
Laura
Question: what can I substitute the 1 cup of coffee with? And is the coffee hot or room temp? Thanks
Joy the Baker - Founder
You can use water instead! Warm or room temperature will be fine!
Amy
unreal! i used gluten-free flour and also non-dairy buttermilk (almond yog/milk) in the cake. wish i could use the ovaltine but not GF so i dumped in more cocoa. total delight! bookmarking this for annual bday celebrations!
★★★★★
Bonnie
I really want to make this, but since we have a nut allergy in our family I can’t use peanut butter. Would you suggest replacing peanut butter with butter? I’m not a baker so I’m not sure if that would work or not. Thank you for recipe and thank you for guidance.
joythebaker
You can just skip the peanut butter!
Carolyn
Best ever JtB recipe!! Literally my favorite cake
★★★★★
Tina
Hi Joy, is there anything you would substitute for coffee in this recipe? I want to make it for my 3 year-olds birthday and I don’t think caffeine cooks out when you bake it?
Beverly Hayes
I use Pero or Roma as coffee substitutes. They are made with Barley and other grains and dissolve in water. Their flavor is very close to coffee. :)
Susan Smith
Use decaffeinated coffee. But chocolate also contains caffeine so maybe you’d be better off with a different cake!
Maria
This sounds amazing! Could I use coconut cream instead of cream?
Joy the Baker - Founder
Yes absolutely!
Amy
The frosting on this was AMAZING. Definitely found our go-to birthday cake!
Erin
As I’m watching this cake spill over the sides of the pan and develop a giant sink hole in the middle— I’m realizing I probably should have adjusted it for high altitude (I’m in MT— so far from New Orleans!) Do you have any suggestions for baking this cake at high altitude?
★★★
Dolly
As someone cooking this in England – can I ask if the oven temperature is fan assisted or non fan assisted?
Thank you xx
joythebaker
non fan assisted!
Angela
Can you explain what the 1x 2x 3x scale at the top of the recipe should be used for? Can’t wait to make this! Thank you!
Abby Mallett
Angela, I realize this is a very late reply but if you wanted to double or triple the recipe because, say, you were making a tiered wedding cake or multiple cakes, that’s what those buttons help you do. I hope that helps (many… many months later)!