Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting

One slice of layered chocolate cake with a chocolate mascarpone frosting on a white and green plate.

4.95 from 18 votes

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting

It's chocolatey and delicious but simple enough to make in one night, this Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mascarpone Whipped Cream is my new go-to chocolate cake. The layers of dark chocolate cake are soaked with a brown sugar milk syrup before being stacked up with soft and fluffy chocolate mascarpone frosting.

Prep Time25

Cook Time45

Chilling1 30

Total Time2 40

Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Dessert

Cuisine: German

Keyword: cake, Chocolate, mascarpone

Servings:

Calories: 474kcal

Equipment

Stand Mixer
7" Metal Cake Pan

Ingredients

Cake

150 grams all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
35 grams cocoa powder natural or dutch processed
175 grams granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs room temperature
125 grams butter very soft
100 grams sour cream room temperature
2 shots espresso

ChocolateMascarpone Whipped Cream

226 grams mascarpone 8 ounces, cold
100 grams dark brown sugar
60 grams cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
300 milliliters heavy cream cold, more as needed

Brown Sugar Milk Soak

60 grams brown sugar
120 milliliters milk

Instructions

Chocolate Cake Batter

Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the middle of the oven.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Then sift in the cocoa powder and whisk to combine.
Add in the sugar, eggs, butter, sour cream, vanilla, and espresso. Use the paddle attachment to mix the batter first on low speed for 10 seconds and then medium high for another 10 seconds until just fully mixed.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Spray the cake pan with your baking spray and then pour in the chocolate batter.
Smooth out the cake with a rubber spatula.

Bake the Cake

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.
When the cake is finished baking, check it by sticking a toothpick into the center of one section of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is fully baked.
Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool for 10 minutes before removing the spring form.
After 10 minutes, run a knife between the cake and the edge of the pan, then remove the springform.
Allow the cake to cool completely before assembling.

Chocolate Mascarpone Whipped Cream

In a medium mixing bowl, add in the cold mascarpone, brown sugar, half of the cocoa powder (sifted) vanilla, and salt.
Use the paddle attachment to cream the mascarpone with the brown sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes until the sugar has fully dissolved. If using a hand mixer, the regular beater attachments will work.
Turn off the mixer and pour in the cold heavy cream along with the second half of the cocoa powder (sifted).
Switch to the whisk attachment and whip on medium speed until medium stiff peaks form. Do not over whip it, it's better to under whip rather than over whip. If you over whip it, pour in a little extra heavy cream and use a rubber spatula to fold it in.
Set aside until ready to assemble.

Brown Sugar Milk Soak

In a medium pot, add in the brown sugar and milk.
Place over medium low heat and whisk until most of the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and keep stirring until all the sugar has dissolved.

Assemble

* If you want to fully frost the outside of the cake, level off the domed top first.
Slice the cake into 3 layers with a serrated knife.
Brush the top of the bottom layer with the brown sugar milk syrup until no more will sink in.
Scoop one third of the mascarpone frosting onto the bottom layer of cake and use the back of a spoon or rubber spatula to spread it out. Stop about 1/4" from the edge of the cake.
Layer the middle layer of cake over the frosting and press down gently.
Repeat the syrup and frosting layers on the middle layer of cake.
Flip the top layer of cake over and brush the bottom of it with more of the syrup.
Flip the layer back over and place it soak side down onto the frosting layer.
Scoop the remaining frosting onto the top of the cake and use the back of a spoon to make loose swoops on top.
*If you want to fully frost the cake, make 1.5 times the frosting. Once layered, place the fridge in the cake for at least an hour to let it firm up before frosting the sides of the cake.
If time leave the cake to firm up slightly for an hour before slicing but it can be sliced and served immediately.

Notes

Tips for making a simple chocolate layer cake

If you want to make a full 9" cake, multiply all the cake ingredients by 1.5 aka instead of 2 eggs, use 3. This cake can be easily scaled so you could also double it and make two thinner 9" cakes.
This cake is a great base for so many flavors so don't be afraid to play around with fillings, frostings, and soaks but I do love how simple and elegant this one is.
I made a version of this cake where I left the cocoa out of the mascarpone frosting and then decided to dust the top of the cake with a layer of cocoa to give it a bit of a tiramisu vibe and it was DELICIOUS! If I did that again, I would make the soak with espresso and brown sugar to really emphasize the flavor combo.
Make sure all the ingredients for the cake are at room temperature - this will help get a smooth and fluffy cake batter.
I'm not usually one to worry about sifting, but sifting the cocoa powder will ensure it all dissolves evenly into the batter without over mixing the cake.
Use a baking spray with flour in it to spray the bottom of your cake pan, try not to spray the sides as it can make the cake rise oddly. Alternatively, grease the pan with soft butter and line the bottom with a round sheet of parchment paper.
When making the brown sugar and milk syrup, be very cautious. Over cooking it will cause the milk to curdle. To be safe, I usually take it off the heat just before I think all of the sugar has dissolved and then keep stirring to dissolve any remaining sugar.
Be careful not to over whip the mascarpone frosting. It can easily split if you do, so it's better to stop when it is still soft and if needed, whip a little more by hand just before assembling.
I prefer to soak and assemble the cake on the day it is baked, I find the syrup soaks in better to the layers and it is easy to cut into three layers when the cake has just cooled to room temperature.
Once sliced, wrap leftover slices in plastic and keep them in the fridge for up to a week. This cake somehow gets better after a day or two.
If you want to keep the remaining cake unsliced but store it, press a piece of plastic wrap to the cut sides and place it in the fridge. If possible store it with a large mixing bowl upside down on top of the cake.

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