Recipes and Photos by Jamie Plain
For our “Best Of” issue, chocolate and coffee just felt like the obvious choice (because honestly, is there anything better?). They’re comforting, classic, and kind of impossible to beat. This chocolate espresso cake brings them together in the best way, with rich cocoa flavor and just enough coffee to deepen every bite without overpowering it. It’s the kind of dessert that feels a little indulgent but still easy to love. Simple, cozy, and really, really good.
And because we fully support your coffee habit, we’re also including a homemade latte recipe so you can go all in. Sipping a latte while baking a chocolate espresso cake just seems “right.”
Chocolate Espresso Layer Cake with Whipped Espresso Ganache
CAKE LAYERS:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup dark cocoa powder (Dutch process if you can)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp espresso powder
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup oil (vegetable or canola)
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup very hot strong coffee
WHIPPED ESPRESSO GANACHE:
16 oz good dark chocolate (60–70%), chopped
2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
Directions:
Make ganache:
1. Heat cream until steaming, not boiling.
2. Stir in espresso powder.
3. Pour over chocolate.
4. Let sit 2 min. Stir until glossy.
5. Add vanilla + salt. Cover and refrigerate 2–3 hours until peanut-butter thick.
Prepare and bake cake while ganache is cooling:
1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and line two 8″ pans.
3. Whisk dry ingredients.
4. Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla.Mix.
5. Slowly stream in the hot coffee. Batter will be thin.
6. Divide into pans. Bake 30–35 min until center is set. Cool completely.
7. Optional (for stronger coffee “punch”): When your cake layers are cool, mix together 1/2 cup strong coffee, 1 tsp sugar, and 1/2tsp espresso powder in a small bowl, then brush this mixture over your cake layers. You can also chop your layers in half to create a four-layer cake if you prefer the ganache flavor.
Whip ganache:
1. Beat with mixer 2-4 minutes. It will continue to thicken until it reaches a fluffy frosting consistency. Stop when it holds swoops and do not over-whip.
Assemble the cake:
1. Spread a thick ganache layer between the cake layers and then cover the whole cake in your whipped ganache. Use the back of a spoon or offset spatula to create “swoops.”
2. Optional: top with espresso dust (mix 1tsp cocoa, 1/2tsp espresso powder), chocolate covered espresso beans, or chocolate curls.
Honey Brown Sugar Latte
Ingredients:
Double shot of espresso, OR if you do not have an espresso machine 2 tsp of instant espresso mixed with 3 oz water.
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp honey
milk of choice (I used oat)
Ice Directions:
1. Use a milk whisk to mix the espresso (or instant espresso + water) with brown sugar and honey until frothy and doubled in size.
2. Top with ice and milk of choice. Enjoy! OL
