“That Chocolate Cake” has been my family’s favorite chocolate cake for decades. We make it for many of our family birthdays and I made it recently as we remembered the birthday of my late step-father who especially loved this recipe. We found his handwritten notes about the frosting. He said to make sure the frosting cools to the thickness of mayonnaise, and suggested using a hot knife to spread the frosting for a glossy finish.
“That Chocolate Cake” is an old classic, rich 2-layer cake recipe from Scharffen Berger Chocolate. The official name of the cake is is actually “That Chocolate Cake” and that’s the name my family uses as well. We all know which cake we’re talking about.
This is a dead-easy cake recipe that you whip up in a stand mixer, but the unique step is adding boiling water at the end. It makes a surprisingly soupy cake batter, but it bakes up beautifully. Over the years, I’ve experimented with some variations. It’s often my base layer for a Baked Alaska. Sometimes I make it without frosting and instead dust it with powdered sugar, or use a different frosting altogether. I’ve also experimented with some of the ingredients like swapping coconut sugar for white sugar, oatmilk or coconut milk for the regular milk, and even vegan heavy cream. I hope it becomes a classic for your family too.
“That Chocolate Cake”
Ingredients
For the Cake
- unsalted butter, flour, and parchment paper for the pans
- 2 cups granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup whole milk, oatmilk, or coconut milk
- 1 cup boiling water
For the Frosting
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1 cup heavy cream (or vegan heavy cream)
- 5 ounces 99% unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (or high quality cultured vegan butter) cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon vanilla