Mocha Cream Cake

Did you know that Germans drink more coffee than beer? Coffee is part of our breakfast, keeps us upbeat and alert throughout the day, and is also an important part of our “coffee & cake” tradition in the afternoon. So, making a Mocha Cake is kind of a no-brainer for Germans!

A lot of Espresso goes into this cake and if you are sensitive to caffeine like I am, you might want to use decaf. The same applies if you share this with children and don’t want them to be hyper after having a slice. But if that is no concern for you, just do as you prefer and enjoy the kick of energy you might get.

French Buttercream

Usually, French buttercream isn’t very difficult to make but in my video, it was way too liquid because it is so hot in the house, especially when I am filming with all the lamps pointing at me (5 studio lamps!). I put it into the fridge for a bit but if I’d have it in there for too long, it could have caused problems, too. So, having it too warm or too cold when preparing the french buttercream can be a struggle but you should know that it is fixable. There are plenty of instructions and videos on how to save french buttercream. In case it happens to you, just look it up somewhere.

Chocolate Mocha Beans

These cute little things that look like coffee beans are actually made from chocolate. I got them on amazon and I think they were sent to me from California. So keep that in mind if you order them in the middle of summer. They do their very best to ship them cooled but there is only so much they can do when prime drops them off at your front door without notifying you. So, some of them melted before I found them, luckily most of them were still good.

Decoration of the Mocha Cake

In the video, I spontaneously decided to use the leftover buttercream and mix it with some whipped cream to cover the sides. I think that’s in general a good idea. I also added some chocolate sprinkles on the sides which is nice and tasted good but looked a bit messy with the dripped chocolate grenache. Maybe leave the sprinkles out?

1/7 cups, 3/7 cups?

I know, that is an odd thing to put into a recipe but I don’t make these things up. It is the result of converting grams to cups and I didn’t invent the US customary system, so please don’t blame me, blame the British or so. I always recommend getting a kitchen scale (about $10) and go with my metric quantities. The result will be much more predictable, especially when you bake a cake.

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Mocha Cream Cake

Barbara

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Afternoon Coffee, Cake, Dessert, Sweets

Cuisine German

Servings 12

Equipment

Cake Pan 24 or 26 cm / 9½ to 10 inch (https://amzn.to/3ksZD0b)

adjustable Cake Ring (https://amzn.to/3yi6MVX)

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 6 Eggs room temperature
• 300 g Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 430 g Flour
• 3 tsp Baking Powder
• 20 g Cocoa
• 250 ml Milk
• 200 ml Oil neutrual taste
• 180 ml Espresse, cooled maybe decaf

French Buttercream

• 6 Eggs room temperature
• 200 g Sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 500 g Butter soft
• 2 tbsp Instant Espresso Powder
• 2 tsp Cocoa

Cream Filling and Cover

• 400 g Whipping Cream
• 2 sachets Stabilizer
• 50 g sugar optional, to make it sweeter
• 1 Dark Chocolate chopped
• 3 tsp Instant Espresso Powder

Additionally Needed

• some Espresso, cooled to soak cake base
• some Irish Cream optional, for cake base

Chocolate Granache & Decoration

• 200 g chocolate
• 300 g Cream to melt chocolate for grenache
• 200 g Whipping Cream for decoration
• 12 Mocha Chocolate Beans for decoration, optional
• some Whipping Cream if needed additional to cover the cake

Instructions

 

Making the Base Cake

• Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
• Whisk the eggs with the pinch of Salt and the Sugar until really foamy – about 10 minutes.
• Slowly add the Oil, Milk, and Espresso while mixing.
• In a different bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and cocoa and put it through a sieve.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Grease a baking pan (size above) and fill the batter in.
• Bake for about 60 minutes – if necessary, cover the cake with aluminum if it gets to dark at the end.
• Let the cake cool completely and cut twice so you have three cake layers.

Make the French Buttercream

• Over hot water, whisk the eggs with the salt and sugar and keep whisking for 10 minutes.
• Pour the mix into a high bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until nice and foamy.
• In a different bowl, whisk the butter until fluffy and then slowly add the egg-mix, the espresso, and the cocoa powder.
• Fill into a piping bag with a wide, round opening or tip.

The Cream

• Whisk the Cream while adding the stabilizer. Optional, add a little sugar.
• Whisk in the espresso powder at the end.
• Chop the chocolate and fold it into the cream.
• Fill into a piping bag with a wide opening, round or tip.

Assembling the Cake

• On a plate or pan that is a little larger than your cake, put some espresso and optional some Irish Cream. The bottom should be just covered, don't use too much.
• Put the first cake layer in that pan to soak the liquid.
• With the dry side down and the soaked side up, place the layer onto a cake plate.
• Put a thick rim of French Buttercream around the rim, then use the whipping cream for another round inside and again the Buttercream until the layer is covered with Filling.
• Use the second layer and soak as described before, put it on top of the first layer and repeat the previous step.
• Put the third layer on top and cover the cake with the remaining cream.
• Put into the fridge and let set.

Decorate

• Whip some more cream and fill into a piping bag with a star tip.
• Use additional cream or use leftover from the filling and mix the buttercream with the whipped cream, then cover the cake with it. Chill it in the fridge.
• Heat the 300 g / 1¼ cups cream and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate and cream have combined.
• Pour the chocolate grenache over the cake and let it drip on the sides.
• Set 12 swirls of whipped cream on top of the cake and add a chocolate mocha bean on top.
• Cool in the fridge, serve cooled.

Keyword baking, Cake, chocolate, sweet, vegetarian

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