Name: One-bowl chocolate cake with chocolate mascarpone frosting
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 8 people
Ingredients: 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; 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste; 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 (melted); 60 g | 2oz dark chocolate (chopped); 80 ml | 1/3 cup double (heavy cream); 1 tbsp unsalted butter; 1 tbsp runny honey; sprinkles (chocolate shavings (optional))

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Are you looking for an easy one-bowl 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

End of September to beginning of November is birthday central in my family. There’s four birthdays including my own, spaced only slightly apart, two Libras and two Scorpios.

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’ which sounds all witchy and Halloween-y. This cake would be perfect for Halloween paired with some spooky decorations!

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.

What goes in one-bowl chocolate cake

This cake uses the usual suspects: flour, sugar, eggs and cocoa powder. But it also 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.

If you really don’t want to use coffee, you can replace with coffee essence like Camp syrup or with hot water. I have also used Guinness instead of coffee with great success!

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 cake frosting

This cake is so rich it could be eaten on its own. 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 this one-bowl chocolate cake

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!

Step 1. Mix the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla together in a large bowl or a measuring jug.

Step 2. 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.

Step 3. 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.

Step 4. 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 level the tops slightly before assembling the layer cake.

How to make the chocolate mascarpone frosting

This makes a generous amount of frosting so you could cover the cake with frosting if you like.

Step 1. 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.

Step 2. Add the melted chocolate and whisk together until the frosting is glossy, smooth and holds peaks. Make sure to lick the whisk;)

How to assemble this chocolate cake

Step 1. 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.

Step 2. Pipe more frosting over the top of the cake and drizzle with chocolate sauce. Add sprinkles or chocolate shavings to decorate and serve immediately.

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

Have you made my one-bowl chocolate cake?

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