This super moist chocolate cake is filled with hazelnut praline whipped cream and covered in chocolate whipped cream frosting.
How to make the chocolate cake:
This chocolate cake recipe is super easy! All you need to do is mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together! No creaming the butter and sugar necessary, everything is ready and into the oven in 10 minutes and the result is a super rich and moist chocolate cake.
It’s perfect to enjoy on it’s own or with your favorite frosting. I mean look how good it looks:
You can pair this chocolate cake with ANY frosting and flavors you prefer. I decided to go with a hazelnut praline whipped cream filling because I love the combination of chocolate and hazelnuts! Then I frosted the whole cake with chocolate whipped cream frosting and decorated the top with extra pieces of hazelnut praline to add some crunch.
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Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Praline Whipped Cream Filling
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake (Three 6-inch cakes)
- 1¾ cup all purpose flour - 210 grams
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder - 75 grams
- ¾ cup granulated sugar - 150 grams
- ½ cup brown sugar - 100 grams
- 1¾ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 eggs - at room temperature
- ½ cup melted unsalted butter, cooled - 113 grams
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup brewed coffee - warm
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Hazelnut praline whipped cream filling
- 1¼ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
- 4 tbsp powdered sugar
- 4 oz mascarpone cheese - soft, 113 grams
- ⅓ cup hazelnut praline - recipe link in notes
Chocolate whipped cream frosting
- 1¼ cup heavy whipping cream, cold
- 4 oz mascarpone cheese - soft, 113 grams
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Chocolate cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line and grease three 6 inch cake pans. If you only have two pans, you can make this cake in batches.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugars and mix them together.
- Using a whisk attachment, start mixing on low and add in the eggs. After the eggs are mixed in, slowly add the buttermilk and vanilla extract while mixing on low.
- Then add melted butter and coffee. After they are incorporated, start mixing on high for one minute, until the batter is light in color. Scrape the bottom with a spatula to make sure everything is properly mixed in.
- Divide the batter between three cake pans and bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean. Make sure not to overbake this cake or it'll lose it's moisture.
- Take out the cakes from the oven, let them rest in the pans for 10 minutes, then gently take them out of the pans and let them cool down on a wire rack completely. You can also make the cakes a few days ahead. Just wrap them in two layers of plastic wrap and freeze them until ready to use.
Hazelnut Praline whipped cream Filling
- Prepare the hazelnut praline paste if you haven't already. You can find the hazelnut praline paste recipe here.
- It's better to prepare the filling and frosting right before you are going to use them. Add heavy cream and powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl and whip on high until you reach soft peaks. Then add in praline and whip for a few seconds until it's mixed in.
- Add the mascarpone cheese and whip until stiff peaks form. Mascarpone is added to help the whipped cream stabilize and easier to work with.
Chocolate whipped cream Frosting
- Add heavy cream, powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and whip on high until it reaches soft peaks.
- Add the mascarpone cheese and whip until stiff peaks form. Don't overbeat the cream or it'll curdle.
Assembly
- Even out the cake tops if they are dome shaped, using a sharp serrated knife.
- Place one layer of cake on a cake turntable or a cake stand. Top with a layer of hazelnut praline filling. Repeat with the second layer (don't use all of the filling, we will use some of it for the crumb coat). Top with the third layer.
- Lightly cover the top and sides of cake with some more hazelnut filling. Smooth out the sides with a bench scraper or a spatula. Refrigerate or freeze the cake until the crumb coat is set. (I usually freeze my cake for about 20-30 minutes.)
- Then cover the cake in chocolate whipped cream frosting and top with leftover hazelnut caramel pieces.
- This cake is delicious to enjoy right away and even better the next day!
