Chocolate Brownie Cake
My family has been eating this Chocolate Brownie Cake for years. It’s so good! We would request it for birthdays & a family friend would make it for us. Eventually, she got busy/moved away so she gave us the recipe so we could make it for ourselves! Thank goodness for that!
I’ve been sitting here trying to think about how to describe this cake. Honestly, it’s a cake of its own. I’ve never had one like it. It’s not like a chocolate cake & the frosting isn’t like chocolate frosting. This cake is not like a brownie though the batter is incredibly thick like brownie batter. It’s just…a Chocolate Brownie Cake. You have to try it to know what it tastes like but if you’re a fan of the major cakes like vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet, then I think you’d like this cake too.
I’m going to walk you through making this cake as best as I can. I was a #badblogger and didn’t take many photos as I made it because I was totally in the moment. And I also never knew if my tweaks were going to solve the problems the cake was having so I didn’t want to take so many pictures each time if it didn’t work. Then, I pretty sure the third try was going to be a charm aaaannnddd I forgot to take step-by-step photos. Oh well! We’ll make do with what we have!
Disclaimer: I made a couple of small tweaks to the recipe but nothing major so this recipe is not my own but I don’t have the original source.
Tell me the problems you had with it
I’m sure you’re wondering what the problems were with this yummy Chocolate Brownie Cake. There were 2: it was dry and it would sink in the middle. Almost like a sinkhole in the middle of the cake. I tried minor tweaks during the second bake but no luck. Then it hit me. It was way over baking. It wasn’t that the batter was dry & lacking liquid. The sinkhole? Way too much baking soda. Fixed those 2 things & voila! Problem solved and this cake is a total gem.
It is (and I know people hate this word but I have no other word for it) moist, the crumb isn’t tight at all so it can fall apart really easily but it just melts in your mouth.
The frosting is pretty sweet so definitely add in the salt that’s in the recipe. The frosting sets up after a day or two and it makes it even better and adds a little texture to the cake.
Make Ahead?
Absolutely! The cake is even better on day 2 because the frosting starts setting up a little bit so I would totally suggest making this Chocolate Brownie Cake the day before you need it. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated either. Just keep it covered on the counter.
Let’s dive in!
All ingredients should be at room temperature. So plan to set out the butter, eggs, sour cream, and buttermilk an hour before you start baking. Here’s a quick solution to getting your butter & eggs softened fast.
Sift the dry ingredients. Yes, it’s a pain but it produces a really light, soft, and moist cake so it’s worth it. If you don’t, it just won’t be as light & you may have clumps of flour or cocoa powder too that doesn’t get mixed in/broken up because it is a think batter.
After sifting everything, you should combine the buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla. I make a DIY buttermilk because I don’t use it that often so to save myself another bowl to clean, I use a big measuring cup to make the buttermilk & then just add the sour cream & vanilla when it’s time and whisk it all together.
Now all that’s left is to add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture into the butter/sugar mixture.
Don’t be alarmed, the batter will be thick. I use an ice cream scoop to get the batter into the pans so that way I can assure that there is an even amount of batter in the pans.
The Pans
The recipe calls for 3 8-inch pans but if you don’t have that (I didn’t), then you can use 2 9-inch pans. The cake batter won’t be a problem with 2 pans but there will be a lot of frosting (great if you’re a frosting lover!). I use all of the frosting on the 2 layers but you don’t have to if you don’t want as much.
The Frosting
It’s really straightforward & super simple. Beat the butter, cream cheese, and cocoa powder together until fluffy. Then add the buttermilk, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and mix until it’s a nice frosting consistency.
Putting the Chocolate Brownie Cake together
I’m sure you don’t need an explanation on how to put a cake together but if you did, then I’d tell you this:
Flip one of the cake layers onto your cake plate so that way the top of the cake is touching the cake plate. It creates a smooth layer for the next cake to sit on. Put some frosting on the bottom cake and frost it all the way to the edge of the cake but don’t go over the edges yet. You’ll need to eyeball how much icing to use. Put the second cake layer on top. Put the rest of the frosting on top of the cake. Yes, all of it (unless you’re doing 2 layers & don’t want as much then just use about ¾ of what’s left in the bowl). Start pushing the frosting over the edges of the cake and frost the sides. Then smooth out the top of the cake with frosting & voila!
Make it a little bit cuter
You can totally leave the cake frosted as is. I’m sure it looks great! But if you want to make things a little bit cuter, you can do one of two easy things. The first is to “draw” swoops into the frosting with the spatula to create thick swoops. To me it gives it even more of a homemade look. The other thing you can do is what I did which was to take an offset spatula and create little indent/swoops all the way around. Don’t press too hard and just use the end of the offset spatula. This works best if the frosting is on the thick side. Mine wasn’t super thick in these photos because I was a little heavy handed on the milk. Oops. I think it still looks good though!
I think that’s all you need to know to make this Chocolate Brownie Cake. The recipe is below. It’s a pretty easy & straightforward cake. If you do have any questions, comment below & I’ll answer them ASAP for you. And if you do make this cake, please comment below & tell me what you thought!
Happy Baking!
Love,
P.S. I have two other desserts here on Living Life with Meredith: chocolate chip cheesecake bars & brownies. Yum!
Chocolate Brownie Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Frosting
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°. For best results, line the cake pans with parchment paper & grease the pans.
- Cream the butter & sugar together until fluffy on medium-high, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs & mix on medium-low thoroughly, for about 1 minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder together.
- In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk the buttermilk, sour cream, and vanilla together.
- On low speed, add some of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture, then some of buttermilk mixture, alternating two times until everything is all mixed in.
- Pour evenly into your cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. The time will depend on the size of your pans. For me, 2 9-inch pans takes 32 minutes to cook. It's done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting:
- Combine the butter, cream cheese, and cocoa powder on low speed until combined.
- Once combined (and cocoa powder won't go everywhere), turn the mixer up to medium-high and mix until light & fluffy.
- Reduce to low and add the powdered sugar and milk in a couple of increments. (I did it in 3-4 increments.) Then add the vanila and salt, beat until smooth.
- Frost the cooled cake. Enjoy!
Notes
