Black Magic Cake
, Updated Apr 29, 2025
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Black Magic Cake – a.k.a the BEST ever Chocolate Cake!! This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe, rich, moist, delicious and perfect for birthdays and celebrations. Add my intensely chocolatey mascarpone frosting to make this the BEST chocolate cake ever!
You will also love my Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
This one-bowl chocolate cake is always requested for birthday celebrations as it tastes and looks so spectacular. You can bet there’s never a single crumb left once the candles have been blown out 😉
The recipe comes from an 80s cookbook I bought in a charity shop and has an exciting name: “Black Magic Cake“’” or “Hershey’s Black Magic Cake“. It was originally created as a way to use Hershey’s Cocoa Powder and it truly lives up to its name!
The only magic here is how incredibly easy it is to bake, easy enough for kids and novice bakers. It requires no mixer and only one bowl – but more on that later.
Black Magic Cake Ingredients
- This simple chocolate cake uses flour, sugar, eggs and cocoa powder. It relies on vegetable oil instead of butter, buttermilk and strong coffee.
- Not everyone is a fan of coffee, but I guarantee that you can’t actually taste the coffee in the cake, it simply enhances the chocolate flavour.
- Buttermilk is really easy to find these days. But if you don’t have any you can still make this cake – simply add 1 tsp of lemon juice to milk, mix and let it stand for a few minutes. The milk will sour and look a bit curdled but don’t be put off – it works a treat.
Best Chocolate Frosting Notes & Tips
Black Magic Cake is so rich and moist it could be eaten as is, but it pairs incredibly well with most frostings including:
- American buttercream: Made with butter and icing sugar, plus any flavourings you want to add. I find it a bit too sweet for this cake, but perfect if you are making cupcakes.
- Italian or Swiss buttercream: Made with egg whites, sugar and butter and a bit more tricky to make. Delicious, silky and perfect for piping. Not my first choice for this simple cake, especially if you are new to baking.
- Chocolate ganache: Made with chocolate and cream. Relatively simple to make but incredibly rich. As the cake is also quite rich, I find it a bit OTT.
- Nutella frosting: Easy and delicious and a great choice here.
- Chocolate mascarpone frosting: BINGO! We have found a winner. This frosting is so easy, tastes sensational and pipes beautifully. Plus it only needs one bowl and a stand or hand mixer. See below for the recipe!
How to Make Black Magic Cake
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
As you will see I lost my head and used one bowl and a measuring jug when I made this recipe video. You don’t need to do that, just read on!
Make the cake
- Mix the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla together in a large bowl or a measuring jug.
- Sift all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, raising agents and salt) over the wet ingredients in the bowl or pour the wet ingredients over the dry if you have used a measuring jug.
- Mix well, scraping over the bottom and sides of the bowl and making sure no dry pockets of flour remain. The batter will be quite runny – this is normal.
- Divide the batter between greased and lined tins. I used three 15cm (6in) tins to create a taller cake, but you could also use two 20cm (8in) tins if you prefer. Bake for 35 minutes and cool completely before frosting. You might need to use a leveler to level the tops before assembling the layer cake.
Make the chocolate mascarpone frosting
- Whisk icing sugar, mascarpone, ground cinnamon and instant espresso powder together in a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in your stand mixer) on low speed to combine. Increase the speed so that the frosting is well mixed.
- Add the melted chocolate and whisk together until the frosting is glossy, smooth and holds peaks. Make sure to lick the whisk;)
Assemble your chocolate cake
- Transfer the frosting into a piping bag. Pipe a generous amount of frosting over the bottom cake layer and top with the second. Repeat and top with the final layer, smooth side up.
- Pipe more frosting over the top of the cake and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Add sprinkles or chocolate shavings to decorate and serve immediately.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- How long will this chocolate cake keep? The unfrosted layers can be baked up to three days in advance and kept wrapped at room temperature. The cake will feel rather damp and sticky – this is as it should be – so keep the layers separated by greaseproof paper if you are stacking together.
- The frosted cake will last for 2-3 days in the fridge without any ill effects, not that I have ever had any leftovers! Bring back to room temperature before serving.
- I haven’t tried freezing this cake but I have a feeling it would do fine in the freezer. Let me know if you do!
More recipes for chocolate lovers
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Black Magic Cake
Black Magic Cake is THE BEST Chocolate cake ever! This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe, rich, moist, delicious and perfect for birthdays and celebrations. Add my intensely chocolatey mascarpone frosting to make this the BEST chocolate cake ever!
Video
Ingredients
For the cake
- 200 g | 7oz plain flour
- 340 g | 12oz sugar
- 75 g | 3oz cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 225 ml | 8 fl oz strong black coffee
- 225 ml | 8 fl oz buttermilk or milk soured with 1 tsp lemon juice
- 100 ml | 4 fl oz vegetable oil or coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
For the frosting
- 450 g | 1lb mascarpone cheese full fat
- 100 g | 3 1/2 oz icing sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp instant espresso coffee powder
- 200 g | 7oz dark chocolate melted
For the chocolate sauce
- 60 g | 2oz dark chocolate chopped
- 80 ml | ⅓ cup cream double / heavy cream
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp runny honey
To decorate
- sprinkles chocolate shavings (optional)
Instructions
Make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Spray 3x15cm (6in) tins with cake release and line the bottoms with baking paper. Alternatively use 2x20cm (8in) tins.
- Mix the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla together in a large bowl or a measuring jug.2 large eggs, 225 ml | 8 fl oz strong black coffee, 225 ml | 8 fl oz buttermilk , 100 ml | 4 fl oz vegetable oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- Sift all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, raising agents and salt) over the wet ingredients in the bowl or pour the wet ingredients over the dry if you have used a measuring jug.200 g | 7oz plain flour, 340 g | 12oz sugar, 75 g | 3oz cocoa powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
- Mix well, scraping over the bottom and sides of the bowl and making sure no dry pockets of flour remain. The batter will be quite runny – this is normal.
- Divide the batter between greased and lined tins and bake for 35 minutes
- Cool in the tins for 10 minutes then carefully turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting. You might need to level the tops slightly before assembling the layer cake.
Chocolate mascarpone frosting
- Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and microwave for 30 second bursts, stirring, until melted and smooth. Set aside.
- Whisk icing sugar, mascarpone, ground cinnamon and instant espresso powder together in a large bowl using a hand mixer (or in your stand mixer) on low speed to combine. Increase the speed so that the frosting is well mixed.450 g | 1lb mascarpone cheese, 100 g | 3 1/2 oz icing sugar, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp instant espresso coffee powder, 200 g | 7oz dark chocolate
- Add the melted chocolate and whisk together until the frosting is glossy, smooth and holds peaks.
Chocolate sauce
- Make this just before you assemble the cake. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and set it over a bowl of barely simmering water (double boiler method). Stir until completely melted and smooth.80 ml | ⅓ cup cream, 1 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 tbsp runny honey, 60 g | 2oz dark chocolate
Assemble the cake
- Transfer the frosting into a piping bag. Pipe a generous amount of frosting over the bottom cake layer and top with the second. Repeat and top with the final layer, smooth side up.
- Pipe more frosting over the top of the cake and drizzle with chocolate sauce.
- Add sprinkles or chocolate shavings to decorate and serve immediately.sprinkles
Notes
- If you don’t have any buttermilk, add 1 tsp of lemon juice to whole milk, mix and let it stand for a few minutes.
- If you don’t like coffee you can use coffee essence or hot water instead and leave it out of the frosting.
- The unfrosted layers can be baked up to three days in advance and kept wrapped at room temperature. The cake will feel rather damp and sticky – this is as it should be – so keep the layers separated by greaseproof paper if you are stacking together.
- The frosted cake will last for 2-3 days in the fridge without any ill effects, not that I have ever had any leftovers! Bring back to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 972kcal | Carbohydrates: 100g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 60g | Saturated Fat: 38g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 695mg | Potassium: 530mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 66g | Vitamin A: 1095IU | Calcium: 194mg | Iron: 6.6mg
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
the chocolate cake looks amazing it’s my sons 40th birthday May 7th 2026 going to have a go at it as a birthday cake for him!! think I’d better have a practice run first tho!! lol, feeling nervous, but I do love baking, and my lemon drizzle cake is gorgeous ( so I’m told) xx
Hi Maria – I think you will do great!!
Made this for my husband´s birthday. Very delicious, moist and great looking-cake which was easy to make.
The ingredients weren’t very complicated which I appreciated.
Subtracting one star because I ended up with too much frosting and chocolate sauce which is a waste 🙁 I could have easily done with only 250 grams mascarpone and maybe half the chocolate sauce.
I was a bit sceptical as the batter was super wet and they didn’t rise as much as I expected. However the cakes had a good texture, although I would have liked a more chocolatey taste. The mascapone icing was exceptional – really smooth, not too sweet and utterly delicious and the ganache added a touch more indulgence. Will definitely make again.
Would it matter if you only have one cake tin and bake one layer at a time? Can you keep it in the fridge while one bakes or is it preferred to cook both layers together?
Hi Jen, ideally the batter needs to go in the oven soon after it is mixed. I think you might get away with baking one layer at a time if you bake them one after the other (clean the cake pan tho). Keep the cake at room temperature not in the fridge where it will dry out