This dreamy chocolate cake is rich, soft, and ultra moist, thanks to the cream cheese in the batter!
It has a wonderful velvety texture and just the right amount of chocolate- it isn't overly rich but is guaranteed to satisfy your chocolate cravings.
You are going to love this recipe!
Using Cream Cheese in Cake Batter
If you've never tried a cake recipe with cream cheese in the batter, you are missing out!
Cream cheese pound cakes, like our chocolate cream cheese pound cake, have been really popular for years.
However, we recently started experimenting with using cream cheese in our layer cakes as well (Lemon Velvet Cake and Almond Cream Cheese Cake), and have fallen in love with the results!
The cream cheese adds a richness and softness- and uniquely "creamy" texture to the cake. The layers are still fluffy and have a fine crumb- try it, you will love it!
How to Make Chocolate Velvet Cake
You can find the full, printable recipe for this delicious chocolate cake further down in this post, but here is a quick rundown of our steps!
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour three (8x2 inch) round pans
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Whisk for 30 seconds to blend and set aside.
- Cream Butter, Cream Cheese, & Sugar: In the bowl of your mixer, add the softened butter and softened cream cheese. Mix until smooth. Gradually add the sugar. Mix on low speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add Eggs: Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- Alternating Dry and Wet Ingredients: With the mixer on low speed, add about half of the flour mixture. Mix until combined.
- Add the milk and vanilla. Blend on low speed, then add the remaining flour mixture. Increase the mixing speed slightly and mix until blended and smooth. Do not over mix.
- Time to Bake! Add the batter to the prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 23 minutes. The cake layers are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Cool the pans on cooling rack 5 to 10 minutes then turn out.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
We frosted and filled our chocolate velvet cake with a luscious chocolate cream cheese frosting- one of our favorites!
This simple recipe combines butter, softened cream cheese, confectioners sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and vanilla.
It makes a great filling and frosting, and it's great for piping borders and small decorations too! As with any cream cheese frosting recipe, it is a bit on the softer side.
If it seems a little soft, just pop the bowl of frosting or piping bag in the refrigerator for a few minutes to thicken up the consistency a bit.
Our Chocolate Buttercream is another easy and delicious option for a chocolate frosting!
Can Chocolate Velvet Cake Layers be Frozen?
Yes they can! We freeze our cake layers all the time- when wrapped in plastic wrap and foil, they will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Use this to your advantage and bake ahead whenever you can!
When baking in advance, we like to wrap our freshly baked cake layers while they are still slightly warm. We wrap them each individually, placing each layer on it's own foil-wrapped cake cardboard and then wrap with plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil.
(If baking well in advance, label the foil with the name of cake and date.)
When it's time to decorate the cake, remove the cake layers from the freezer and keep them wrapped at room temperature on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes or so until there is condensation on the foil.
At this point you can unwrap and continue to thaw to desired temperature. (Some bakers like to assemble their cakes while the layers are still partially frozen as they are easier to handle and less fragile.)
Assembling & Decorating the Cake
- Time to put our chocolate velvet cake together! Place the first cake layer on your cake base or pedestal. Spread with a layer of chocolate cream cheese frosting.
- Repeat for the next two cake layers.
- Next, apply a thin crumb coat of the frosting. At this point, I like to chill the cake in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm everything up before applying the final coat of frosting.
- This is an optional step but I think it makes decorating easier!
- Apply the second coat of frosting and decorate however you like. For today's cake, I smoothed over my second coat of frosting with a bench scraper to smooth it before combing it with a cake comb to add the lines around the sides.
- After cleaning up the top edge of the cake with my offset spatula, I added a ruffle border to the top and bottom of the cake using a petal tip 104.
- Ruffle/petal tips are very easy to work with. Just use an up and down motion as you apply pressure to the piping bag. The small end of the opening should be facing out for a thin edge to your ruffle.
- I also added a few polka dots to the top of the cake with a small round tip 3.
More Chocolate Cakes to Try!
We have so many favorite chocolate cakes to share with you! Here are just a few of our favorites but you can find our full collection in this roundup: 50+ of the Best Chocolate Cake Recipes!
Chocolate Sour Cream Cake- Doctored Mix
Chocolate Velvet Cake
This heavenly chocolate cake has a velvety soft, creamy texture from the cream cheese in the batter! It is fluffy and moist with a fine crumb and just the right amount of chocolate!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 (8oz) (226g) package cream cheese softened
- 2 sticks (1cup) (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups (228g) cake flour — See Notes below for substitution
- 1 cup (82g) unsweetened cocoa powder sifted (measure then sift)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240g) milk
For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 sticks (1 cup) (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 6 to 6 ½ cups (690g to 747g) powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (20g) cocoa lightly spoon into cup and level
- 2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (total weight 452g) I use full fat cream cheese.
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (8x2) round pans
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Whisk for 30 seconds to blend and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the softened butter and softened cream cheese. Mix until smooth. Gradually add the sugar. Mix on low speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- With the mixer on low speed, add about half of the flour mixture. Mix until combined.
- Add the milk and vanilla. Blend on low speed, then add the remaining flour mixture. Increase the mixing speed slightly and mix until blended and smooth. Do not over mix.
- Add the batter to the prepared pans and bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 23 minutes. The cake layers are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Cool the pans on cooling rack 5 to 10 minutes then turn out.
For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
- Add cocoa and mix until blended.
- Cut the cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated.
- Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended.
- Increase mixing speed to medium and beat until fluffy, don't over beat. If beaten too long it will become very soft. If this happens, just refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still very cool. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
- Will frost a 3 layer 8 or 9 inch cake.
Assembling the Cake
I like to fill the cake layers, frost a thin coat (crumb coat) of frosting and then chill the cake in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm it up before applying the final coat of frosting. (You can refrigerate the bowl of frosting during this time also if it is getting soft).
After applying my final coat of frosting, I went over it with a bench scraper (or spatula) and then combed it with a cake comb. Remove the excess frosting around the top edge of the cake with a spatula. I then applied top and bottom borders with a petal/ruffle tip 104 as well as a few dots on top with a tip 3.
Notes
1. Substitution for Cake Flour: (Using all purpose flour (plain in UK) to make Cake Flour) For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 2 cups of flour so you will measure out 2 cups of all purpose flour, remove 4 Tablespoons and replace with 4 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend
2. Makes 8 cups batter
3. Works well for cupcakes, they will bake with just a slight dome. For standard size cupcakes bake at 350 degrees F for 18 to 20 minutes
My Cake School Cake Recipes and Cake Decorating Tutorials
Don’t miss our full collection of favorite recipes in our Cake Recipes section! Our most favorite cake and frosting recipes are there, and we are constantly adding more.
Also, if you are interested in learning more about cake decorating, we also have a Free Cake Tutorials section, as well as a Free Cake Videos!
We have so many fun techniques to share for all skill levels of cake decorating. We hope that you enjoy scrolling through!
In my previous question I should have said do I need to drop the temp to 300F?
Hi Rachel, Since you are using 9x2 inch pans you can bake the 8 cups of batter in 2 pans at 325 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes our clean or with just a few crumbs attached. You can use 3 (9x2) inch pans but your layers will be a bit thin. You would still bake at 325 degrees but for less time.
Thank you so much!
Can I use a 9 x 13 inch pan to make this cake? Will layers will be as high as three 8 in pans?
Please reply. Thank you
Jean
Hi Jean, the cake baked in 3 (8x2) inch pans will be taller. The cake including the filling and frosting be be approximately 5 inches tall. The recipe baked in a 9x12 sheet pan is baked at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, keep an eye on it as all oven bake differently. It will be approximately
2 1/2 inches high.
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