This bakery-style secret cake recipe from Amycakes Bakery is fudgy, moist, and dense with a rich chocolate flavor. It’s almost brownie-like with a thick and fudgy chocolate ganache filling. It’s delicious on its own, or perfect with a glass of milk, scoop of ice cream, or cup of coffee. 1x batch yields one 6" three-layer cake and a 2x batch yields one8" three-layer cake cut out with cake rings using the Cut and Stack Method. Or choose a different pan size by visiting Double-Batches and Cake Pan Options: Everything You Need to Know.
Servings 8generous slices
Prep Time 25 minutesmins
Cook Time 26 minutesmins
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
170 grams (1 ¼ cups + 2 Tablespoons)All-Purpose FlourI use Gold Medal
1 ½teaspoonsBaking Powder
1teaspoonBaking Soda
¾teaspoonSalt
2 Tablespoons Instant Clearjel or 3TablespoonsChocolate Instant Pudding Mixa food starch used in commercial baking that you can use at home, see Note #1
26 grams (¼cup)Unsweetened Cocoa PowderI use Hershey's
100 grams (½cup)Sugar
113 grams (½cup packed)Brown Sugar
Wet Ingredients
2largeEggs
¾cupButtermilk
¼cupbrewed Coffee
¼ cup + 1Tablespoon(s)Vegetable Oil
3TablespoonsDark Corn Syrupor use light corn syrup
1 ½teaspoonsVanilla Extract
Chocolate Butter Mixture
¾ stick(s) (3ounces)Salted Butter
43 grams (¼cup)Semi-Sweet Chocolate ChipsI use Nestle
Chocolate Ganache
½cupHeavy Cream
172 grams (1cup)Semi-Sweet Chocolate ChipsI use Nestle
¼cupChocolate Jimmy Sprinklesor use mini chocolate chips, cocoa powder or chocolate flakes
Instructions
Make Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 1" tall ¼ sheet pan with parchment paper, then spray the bottom (on top of the parchment) and sides of the pan with cooking spray. Or choose a different cake pan(s) using the chart in my post about Half-Batches and Cake Pans.
Using a sifter or fine mesh strainer, sift the first sevenDry Ingredients into a large bowl, then add brown sugar. Whisk until well blended. If you see any large brown sugar clumps, break them up and blend them in with your fingers.
Combine Wet Ingredients in a separate large bowl and whisk until smooth and well-blended.
Melt saltedbutter in the microwave (or over the stove) until just melted. Avoid overcooking. Add semi-sweetchocolate chips and whisk until melted and smooth (Whisk for 30 seconds to 1 minute--the heat from the melted butter plus the whisking will melt the chips).
Pour Wet Ingredients into Dry Ingredients and whisk until incorporated. Pour Chocolate Butter Mixture over batter and whisk until smooth and lump-free. (A few teeny brown sugar lumps are ok and will dissolve as it bakes).
Pour batter into the prepared ¼ sheet pan and smooth out batter until even (an offset icing spatula works well for this). The batter will be about ¼ inch from the top of a 1" tall sheet pan.
Allow pan to set for 5-10 minutes before putting it in the oven. This will give time for the instant clearjel (or instant pudding mix) to thicken the cake batter before it bakes, allowing for a better rise.
Bake in the middle or top rack (avoid bottom rack) of a preheated 325-degree oven for 16 minutes. Without opening the oven, turn the temperature down to 300 degrees and bake for another 8-10 minutes. Check the cake at this point. See if it is done by lightly touching the top of the cake--try to avoid moving the cake pan or baking rack, which could cause an underdone cake to sink. If jiggly at all to your touch, bake for another 1-5 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick or small paring knife comes out clean when quickly stuck in the cake. A few moist crumbs on your knife are fine, but they shouldn't look wet.
Allow cake to cool completely. To make a sheet cake, follow the Baker's Shortcut (Note #4), or choose your round cake size using the Cut and Stack method (Note #2). Leave the cake in the sheet pan, and using a slight sawing motion, cut the cooled cake into your desired cake size with cake rings (You can use a knife and the cake rings as a guide for any halve pieces that you cut.) Brush lightly with simple syrup (optional, Note #3).
Wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap and freeze cake in the pan for 2 hours or overnight. (You can even bake the cake up to a week ahead of time and freeze). The cake will be much easier to layer if it is cold or frozen. To wrap the cake, place another sheet of parchment on top of the cake (this will prevent the plastic wrap from sticking to the cake), and wrap the whole pan with plastic wrap. (I pull the plastic wrap out and place the pan on top of it. Then I wrap 2-3 ways horizontally and one way vertically so that there are two layers of wrap on all sides of the pan including the bottom).
Make Ganache Filling
Combine heavy cream and semi-sweet chocolate chips in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 30-second increments, stirring for 30 seconds to one minute in between each heat. (It should only take two to three heats in the microwave. Lots of whisking will melt your chocolate faster and prevent the chocolate chips from overcooking in the microwave.
Once all the chocolate chips are melted and your ganache is shiny and smooth, place it in the fridge to cool. Stir occasionally until it is has cooled to a very thick and fudgy consistency. Once it is the right thickness, remove it from the fridge until you are ready to fill and layer your cake. (If your ganache gets too cold, it will be too thick to spread. Simply reheat in the microwave at 5-10 second increments, stirring frequently, until it is the right consistency.)
Layer, Decorate, and Serve
The easiest way to layer the cake is to layer the cake from frozen the day before you plan to serve it. If serving the cake the same day you are layering it, use refrigerated cake layers instead of frozen.
Reserve ½ cup chocolate ganache for drizzling down the sides of the cake (optional). Use your two half-circles of cake to make the bottom cake layer (fill in with scraps if needed to make a level surface). Fill your three cake layers with 2 layers of fudgy chocolate ganache, and frost on the outside with the prepared fluffy chocolate buttercream. An offset icing spatula (I use the small and medium size on all my cakes) helps with this. I recommend frosting a thin crumb coat of buttercream on the outside of the cake which will catch all the crumby edges, then allow it to set up in the freezer for about 10 minutes until the buttercream is firm. Then spread another layer of buttercream over your crumb coat. (I just lightly ice my cakes on the 2nd coat and smooth it with a bench scraper, as I don't mind cake showing through as long as the sides are smooth, but there is enough buttercream for you to fully-ice it.)
While your crumb coat is setting up in the freezer, make easy cake truffles with some or all your cake scraps! (I decorated the cake with eight truffles in my video, and there were several left over). Simply squish together room-temperature cake scraps until it becomes a smooth dough. Divide the cake truffle dough into 1" pieces and roll into balls. Press chocolate jimmies into the sides of the balls (The dough is thick so you have to press the sprinkles into the balls to get them to stick instead of just rolling them). Refrigerate until ready to use.
Microwave the reserved ganache until thin, and drizzle down the sides of the cake using a spoon or squeeze bottle. There is enough fluffy chocolate buttercream to frost a row of rosettes around the top of the cake using a pastry bag and 1M star tip (or get creative with a different design!). Top the cake with easy cake truffles if desired.
You can let the cake set up in the fridge, but remove it from the fridge 1-3 hours before serving so it can come back to room temperature. This cake has the best texture at room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
Read my article Instant Clearjel: a Magical Little-Known Bakery Ingredient to see why I think this ingredient is worth having in your pantry. Instant Clearjel must always be whisked thoroughly with other dry ingredients before added to wet ingredients to avoid clumping. (Make sure what you purchase is labeled as "Instant." Cooktyle Clearjel is a different product that does not work the same in cakes). Instant Pudding mix contains instant clearjel (modified cornstarch) as the second ingredient, which is why it works similarly.
When baking cakes in a sheet pan, the cake bakes more evenly (flatter on top and with no dark edges), and you get to choose your cake size after baking! With a 1x recipe in a ¼ sheet pan you can make a 6" 3-layer cake (2 full rounds, one pieced round from two half-circles) or several little cakelets. In a 2x batch in a ½ Sheet Pan you can make a three-layer 8" cake (two full rounds, one pieced round from two half-circles), an extra tall six-layer 6" cake (5 full rounds, one pieced round from two half-circles), TWO 3-layer 6" cakes (eat one now and freeze one for later. :) Or have a baking party with a friend and you each get a cake!) or several little Cakelets using a 4" cake ring or 3" or 2" round cookie cutters.
Simple Syrup is optional, but I use it to seal in the moisture for cakes that will be refrigerated or frozen. While the cake cools, make a simple syrup by combining 1 T water and 1 T sugar in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until the sugar is dissolved after whisking, about 20-30 seconds. You can also make a larger batch of this (1 part sugar to 1 part water) and keep it in the fridge if you're doing a lot of cake baking. Always cut the cake with cake rings before brushing the cake brush simple syrup, to avoid the cake being too sticky when cut.
BAKER'S SHORTCUT: 1). Make a sheet cake instead! While the cake bakes, make the ganache and the chocolate buttercream. Don't refrigerate the ganache, but allow it to cool at room temperature until it is about the thickness of yogurt and easily spreadable. Reserve ½ cup ganache for drizzling if desired. 2). Once the cake is fully cooled, keep the cake in the pan and spread the thickened ganache on top of the cake. The ganache should be thin enough that it doesn't damage the cake as you spread it. Set the pan in the freezer for 10 minutes so the ganache can set up. 3). Spread the fluffy buttercream on top of the set-up ganache. Drizzle with some reserved ganache, if desired. Serve cake slices out of the pan and enjoy at room temperature.
RECIPE UPDATES: 9-16-21: The original recipe made an 8" cake in a ½ sheet pan. All my recipes now start with small batches, so it now makes a 6" cake in a ¼ sheet pan. Press the "2x" if you'd like to double the recipe for an 8" cake in a ½ sheet pan.