Real chocolate and cocoa are responsible for this cake’s strong chocolate flavor. A chocolate lover’s dream comes true when those two ingredients are combined! It is well known that coffee enhances and complements chocolate. This is particularly true if you use premium chocolate with a higher percentage of cacao.
Additionally, even if the recipe you’re working with calls for brewed coffee but not precisely, adding a little or a tablespoon of espresso powder will still improve the flavor of the chocolate.
Espresso Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- 2 cups (256g) of all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups (300g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter softened
- Four large eggs
- 8 oz freshly brewed espresso
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (180g) buttermilk
Café Buttercream
- 1 1/4 cups (2.5 sticks; 287g) room temperature softened unsalted butter
- espresso powder, two and a half tablespoons, plus additional to taste
- 5 cups (560g) sugar confectioners’ sifted (sift before measuring)
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) of whole milk or heavy cream
- Pure vanilla extract, two tablespoons
- optional 1/8 teaspoon salt, garnished with chocolate-covered espresso beans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Prepare two 8-inch round baking pans.
- Chop the chocolate and melt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
- Whisk brown sugar, butter, eggs, espresso, and vanilla extract for 3 minutes. (Or about a minute with a hand-held mixer or stand mixer)
- Gradually add the melted chocolate and continue whisking for an additional minute.
- Stir flour mixture into creamed mixture and then add buttermilk.
- Pour into prepared pans.
- Bake for 33 to 38 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out somewhat clean(not wet). Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cakes.
Invert onto wire racks; cool completely.
Ganache
- Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Observe to a low boil because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot.
- Pour hot cream over the chopped chocolate.
- Let sit for a few minutes, then whisk until smooth.
Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring it over a cake.
Frosting and assembling the espresso Chocolate chip cake
Just enough coffee buttercream is produced to fill the cake, gently frost the outside, and pipe a simple border around the top. Although they make for a tasty garnish, chocolate-covered coffee beans are optional. Alternatively, you might decorate the cake with chocolate sprinkles, chocolate chips, or chocolate curls.
Advice: Chocolate Chip Espresso Cake Recipe
Use Ingredients at Room Temperature:
All refrigerated components should be at ambient temperature to ensure a similar cake batter. Simply put, features that are too cold won’t correctly mix to create a smooth, light cake crumb.
Similarly, let your freshly prepared coffee get to room temperature, then you’ll see that there would be a slight separation of the fat (butter). The completed cake was excellent. However, you ensured that everything was at ambient temperature for the desired effects.
As apparent as it may seem:
Following a recipe exactly is essential. Nevertheless, many people fail to do so. We alter recipes by lowering the sugar content, substituting all-purpose flour for cake flour, baking soda for powder, and whole eggs for just the whites, among other things. If you don’t need a different flavor or texture, don’t waste your time, money, or effort by deviating from the recipe.
Miniature chocolate chips
Use small chocolate chips as you advise for chocolate chip loaf cake and white chocolate scones. Why? So that each mouthful will have a small chocolate pocket. More mini.