Moist Chocolate Cake With Ganache Frosting

Saturday, January 30, 2021
Easy Chocolate Cake recipe with Ganache Frosting makes an extremely moist chocolate cake with a rich chocolate frosting. This Chocolate Cake is a favorite in our house for Valentines Day, Easter, and Birthdays! 

A slice of Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting on a white plate with the whole cake in the background on a white cake stand.

What could possibly be a sexier dessert for Valentines Day then a moist slice of Chocolate Cake with rich ganache frosting?  When I think of a dessert for my love on Valentines Day this is it! 

It also happens to be a highly requested Birthday Cake in our house. 

This cake is guaranteed to leave the one you love swooning and asking for more. Once you make this cake I promise you will never buy or look at another box cake mix the same.

It is wonderfully moist with a lovely rich chocolate flavor and easy to make. The ganache is best made with a chocolate you would eat plain, whether you prefer a dark chocolate or semi sweet. 

I find one of the biggest mistakes when making a ganache is using a chocolate that you would not eat plain. It's important to use a good quality chocolate.

2 Buttered cake pans lined with parchment paper.

Butter 2 (8") round cake pans, line with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper.

Cake Pans dusted with cocoa powder.

Dust pans with cocoa powder and tap out any excess cocoa.

Flour, Sugar, Cocoa Powder, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Salt in a stainless steel mixing bowl with a paddle attachment.

In a mixing bowl mix until well combined:
  • 1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour or All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 cups Granulated Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon Salt
(This can easily be made with out a mixer by hand also.)

From scratch Chocolate Cake mix being mixed together in a mixing bowl.

Turn mixer on low and mix until blended.

Buttermilk, Melted Butter, Vanilla, and Eggs in a glass measuring cup.

Mix together:
  • 1/2 cup Melted Butter
  • 1 cup Buttermilk or Milk
  • 2 whole Eggs
  • 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract 
Stir until well blended.

Dump buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients and stir on low until almost incorporated.

Hot Coffee being poured into Chocolate Cake Batter.

Add 1 cup Very Hot Coffee and mix until just blended. 

Scrape the sides of bowl as needed.

Chocolate Cake Batter divided between 2 cake pans.

Divide batter evenly between both pans and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

A small saucepan with melted butter, heavy cream and sugar.



Meanwhile for the Ganache combine in a small sauce pan :
  • 2 tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
  • 1/4 cup Butter 
Heat over low heat until butter is melted and cream is hot. 

Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon Vanilla.

Hot Cream mixture being poured over chocolate chips in a stainless steel mixing bowl.

Pour cream mixture over 24 ounces of Good Quality Chocolate.

Melted Chocolate Ganache in a stainless steel mixing bowl.

Allow to sit for 5 minutes and then stir until smooth. 

Allow ganache to cool for 1-2 hours or until thick enough to frost the cake with. (For a lighter ganache beat in mixer on medium speed with a whisk attachment until desired consistency is reached. 

(Watch ganache closely in the mixer as it will set a lot quicker.)


Chocolate Cake cooling in cake pan.

Allow cake to cool in pan and then move to a wire cooling rack until room temperature.

Moist Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting with a slice missing on a white cake platter with a strawberry on top.

Frost Chocolate Cake with Ganache. Enjoy with fresh strawberries, raspberries or your favorite ice cream.

Other favorite Birthday Cake ideas are:


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American
Yield: 12
Author: Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
Moist Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting

Moist Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting

oist Chocolate Cake recipe from Scratch with Ganache Frosting is a favorite Birthday Cake in our house from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.
Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 35 Mininactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 3 Hour

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake
  • 1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour or All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 cups Granulated Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, plus more for dusting pans
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 cup Butter, Melted, plus extra for greasing pans
  • 1 cup Buttermilk or Milk
  • 2 whole Eggs
  • 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup Coffee, Very Hot or Hot Water if you don't like coffee
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
  • 2 tablespoons Granulated Sugar
  • 1 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
  • 1/4 cup Butter
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 24 ounces Chocolate, Semi-sweet Or Dark that you would eat plain

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. Grease 2 (8"x2") cake pans with butter. Line with parchment paper, and butter parchment paper. Dust with extra cocoa powder, and shake off any excess.
Chocolate Cake
  1. Place all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low, until ingredients are fully incorporated.
  2. Place melted butter, buttermilk or milk, eggs, and vanilla into a small bowl and mix with a fork, until fully incorporated. Butter will conglomerate a little bit from the cold buttermilk. This is great, do not worry.
  3. Dump wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix on medium low until almost incorporated about 45 seconds. Slowly poor in hot coffee with mixer on medium low. Mix until fully incorporated.
  4. Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
  5. Cool in cake pan until room temperature. Remove from pan, and finish cooling on a cooling rack.
Ganache Frosting
  1. Combine granulated sugar, heavy cream, and butter in a small saucepan over low heat, until butter is melted and mixture is hot.
  2. Remove from heat, and add vanilla.
  3. Place chocolate in a medium sized bowl, and pour cream mixture over the top. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes, and then stir until smooth.
  4. Allow ganache to cool for 1-2 hours until desired consistency is reach to frost the cake. (Watch ganache closely as it will eventually harden like chocolate. Ganache can always be remelted over the top of a double boiler if this occurs.)
Assemble Chocolate Cake
  1. Frost cake when cool with ganache and ganache has reached a spreadable thick consistency.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

785.51

Fat (grams)

42.55

Sat. Fat (grams)

26.19

Carbs (grams)

91.18

Fiber (grams)

3.56

Net carbs

87.62

Sugar (grams)

65.74

Protein (grams)

10.61

Sodium (milligrams)

579.89

Cholesterol (grams)

114.58

The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this important to you, please verify with your favorite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.

Did you make this recipe?
Tag @serenabakessimplyfromscratch on instagram and hashtag it #SerenaBakesSimplyFromScratch
A slice of the Best Chocolate Cake on a white plate with text at the top Best Chocolate Cake.

20 comments

  1. Just beautiful! I am impressed by how smooth you get your ganache on the cake.

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  2. You have my heart! lol It looks sooo good! Happy Valentine's Day! I hope my hubby bakes this cake!
    Hugs,
    Marie

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  3. This cake looks absolutely stunning! Thanks for sharing :)

    Happy Blogging!
    Happy Valley Chow

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  4. This ultimate moist chocolate cake Serena. Happy Valentine's Day.

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  5. This looks absolutely fantastic! Found you and your lovely blog through Foodgawker - looking forward to following from now on :)

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  6. Yumm! This cake looks so appealing! Loved the photography

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  7. Yum, this sounds amazing!!

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  8. its 12am here.ur tempting me vth these cliks.wonderful cliks dear..

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  9. Hello! Super indulgent and gorgeous looking. That cake sounds divine - seriously salivating here :P

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  10. I made this cake last night, to celebrate my 5 years of service with my job. Everyone at my job thought it was SINFULLY GOOD!. It came out very moist but the cook time on the recipe need to be adjusted. I don't think it included the amount of time it took for the frosting to get to the right consistency. That took about 4 hours.
    Otherwise, for my first time baking a homemade chocolate cake it came out better than expected. Thank you so much for sharing. I can't wait to try some of your other recipes.

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  11. Looks so chocolaty and delicious! :)
    http://www.rita-bose-cooking.com/

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  12. This cake looks absolutely stunning. It looks moist but not excessvely fudgy. I made a chocolate cake 2 days ago. It tasted great but it came out very brownie-like. I want to make another one with the visual texture of this cake. Any advice? By the way, does the coffee taste in the cake? I know I have the option of using hot water and also the strength of the coffee determines a lot but I was just curious.

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    Replies
    1. This cake is chocolaty and moist but not heavy. The coffee more intensifies the chocolate flavor. I hope u enjoy!
      Serena

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    2. Thanks a lot Serena :-)

      Cheers!!!!

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  13. hi serena,,just wondering with the proportion of the coffee you used with the hot water..

    thanks a lot.

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  14. OMG!! Serena, I can never ice a cake the way you did!! what a decadent cake...perfect for the chocoholic in me!!

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  15. Looks very good. can't wait yo make it. Thank you.

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  16. This is such an amazing cake. I made it eggless, and it turns are great. My family loves this cake with eggless version.

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  17. I rarely leave comments but felt compelled with this cake! Definitely one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever made and eaten! Very easy to make as well! This cake is remarkably moist with great texture. This recipe is a keeper for years to come. Thank you!

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  18. What! Yum! Made this for my husbands birthday this weekend and it was a huge hit! Only had 9 inch pans so I baked for 5 min less. Used semi sweet chocolate chips and my ganache was so so smooth. I was worried the batter was too watery but it turned out beautiful and moist. Yes make it!

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