R + G’s Prolific Oven Chocolate Mocha Cake Dupe
Ingredients
Sour cream chocolate cake
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 stick unsalted butter
2¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2¼ cup sifted cake flour
1 cup sour cream
1 cup boiling water
Instant coffee grounds
Mocha cream cheese icing
2 cups powdered sugar
3 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
Instant coffee
Coffee extract
Original Source
My brother and his wife wrote this recipe, inspired by a cake from a Bay Area bakery. Unfortunatly, this bakery shut down a few years ago, but my family used to order this cake for birthdays, and we sometimes had it with friends as well.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º. Butter and lightly flour (3) 8 inch circular layer pans, or (2) 9 inch pans. (Easy removal: butter pans, line pan bottoms with parchment paper, butter top of paper and lightly flour, shake out excess flour.
Sift flour once, measure; set aside.
Melt unsweetened chocolate in small microwave-safe bowl; stirring at 30 second intervals until melted (no longer than one minute. You can also use the double-boiler method for best results. Stir until smooth, set aside to cool.
Cream butter until smooth in large bowl. Add brown sugar, instant coffee grounds, and eggs. Beat in vanilla extract and chocolate, then baking soda and salt.
Add flour alternately with sour cream, beating until smooth. Pour in boiling water next, stirring with spoon until blended (batter will be very thin).
Pour into prepared pans.
Bake about 20-25 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean
While cakes bake, make the icing(s)
Cool in pans approximately 10-15 minutes. Remove from pans and place on racks to cool completely.
Once cooled, slice dome off cake to be bottom layer and then ice. Stack second layer and then completely ice sides and top of cake. (If three layers, slice dome off layer two and ice top before placing on layer three.)
Chef's Notes
Make cake first and let it cool completely
For icing: Mix butter, cream cheese, instant coffee, and coffee extract. Gradually add powdered sugar, mix until smooth
*The easiest way to bring eggs to room temperature is to place them in a bowl of very warm water for about 5 minutes.
Make sure to use cake flour specifically!
If the cakes come out domed, trim the cake that is to be the bottom layer so the top layer will sit flat on it.
You could probably pulse the instant coffee in a spice grinder if you the chunkier pieces in the icing bother you.
Optional: make the chocolate icing from the Prolific Oven Chocolate Orange Almond Cake Dupe to decorate the top of the cake.
Other Dessert Recipes
Basic Butter Piecrust
Buttery Shortbread Tart Shell
Candied Yams with Marshmallows
Caramel Sauce
Chocolate Cherry Dream Cookies
Classic Pastry Cream
Cream Cheese Icing
Deep, Dark Chocolate Cake
Golden Lemon Squares
Heidi's Black Belt Blondies
Hot Fudge Sauce
Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Jan’s Famous Cream Cheese Brownies
Lemon Tea Cakes
Punch-in-the-Eye Cookies
Strawberry Cookies with White Chocolate Chunks
