Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

5.0 from 2 votes

If you’re looking for the perfect made-from-scratch birthday cake (or any occasion cake) look no further! This is a rich chocolate cake studded with mini chocolate chips and covered with light and creamy chocolate icing. Guests are always shocked when I tell them that I made this cake from scratch in less than 2 hours – it really is that beautiful and delicious!

Ingredients

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp instant coffee – I use decaf because it provides the bitterness to balance the sweetness of the cake without passing any extra energy to my kiddos!
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk, room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs, room temperature and whisked
• 1/2 cup avocado oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp milk
• pinch of salt

How to Make Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, instant coffee and salt.

Divide the mini chocolate chips into 3/4 cup and 1/4 cup portions. Remove a couple of scoops of the dry mixture (about 1/4 cup) and toss with the 3/4 cup portion of chocolate chips. This dry coating will prevent the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the cake.

Combine the wet ingredients: milk, sour cream, eggs, oil and vanilla extract.

Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture until the batter is smooth.

Fold in the coated 3/4 cup portion of mini chocolate chips until fully dispersed into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between two 8 inch cake pans (or 3 pans for thinner layers) lined with parchment paper discs. I usually find it is about 800 g batter in each cake pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Once the cake is fully baked, I like to turn off the oven, crack the door open, and let the cake sit for an additional 5 minutes to make sure the cake fully sets.

Set the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to come to room temperature before removing from the pans.

While the cakes cool, prepare your icing by mixing together the cream cheese, butter, confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt and milk until smooth and fluffy. I like to use a hand mixer on medium speed. It is very important that the cream cheese and butter are softened enough to mix easily! If the butter and cream cheese are not fully softened, mix them together first until combined and then add in the other ingredients.

Once the cakes are cool and out of the baking pans, stack them on top of each other with a layer of frosting between and cover the outside of the cake with frosting. Decorate the cake with the reserved portion of mini chocolate chips.

5.0 from 2 votes