Chocolate Tuxedo Cake is a perfect meeting of dark chocolate cake, light vanilla frosting, and an only lightly sweetened dark chocolate drip. These three parts come together to create a rich, smooth, classy, and still surprisingly light dessert. You just might find your fancy little pinky finger popping out with every bite of tuxedo cake.
Black Cocoa
Black cocoa is the secret to the deep, dark chocolate of this elegant cake. It’s highly Dutch-processed to reduce acidity and create smooth, dark, non-bitter chocolate. Think Oreo cookie. The taste of an Oreo is somewhat different from other types of chocolate. but oh so yummy! So the combination of black cocoa and regular baking cocoa in Chocolate Tuxedo Cake creates an ultimate chocolate cake experience.
Black cocoa is nearly impossible find in the grocery store, but easy to buy online. I generally use Wincrest Black Cocoa, but King Arthur also makes a great product. These packages are a little larger than the cocoa at the grocery store. No problem! Once you’re hooked on black cocoa, you’ll find yourself subbing black cocoa for regular cocoa in all sorts of recipes. Just remember this substitution affects the acidity of your recipe (and therefore how it rises, how much leavening is needed, etc). Start by just subbing a portion of the cocoa.
Vanilla Ermine Frosting
Check out this post on Vanilla Ermine Frosting for more detail on creating this silky smooth, creamy frosting. This frosting’s subtlety sets off the deep chocolate flavor (and color) of the cake!
Dark Chocolate Ganache Drip
The final touch that makes this cake what it is: the Dark Chocolate Ganache Drip! The drip is made of dark chocolate, but appears slightly lighter due to the added cream that transforms the chocolate into ganache. The sweetness of the drip is muted, which highlights the chocolate flavor. It also creates a flavor bomb when paired with the sweeter cake and creamy frosting. And the contrasting colors of the dark cake, light frosting, and chocolate drip are candy for the eyes!
Chocolate Tuxedo Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups cocoa
- 1/4 cups black cocoa (or sub additional regular cocoa)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cups vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup coffee (hot or warm)
Vanilla Ermine Frosting
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups butter (softened)
Dark Chocolate Ganache Drip
- 4 ounces dark chocolate bark (70% cocoa or preference) (roughly chopped)
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoons whipping cream
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or just a large bowl if you're using a hand mixer), combine flour, sugar, cocoa, black cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low until fully blended.
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla.
- With mixer on, pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix gently until smooth.
- Slowly pour in hot/warm coffee while mixer continues.
- Pour an even amount of batter into three prepared cake pans (wax/parchment and shortening or other method as preferred). Bake at 300°F for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool for about 5 minutes after removing from the oven. Run a plastic knife quickly around the edges of each cake pan to help release the cake.
- Turn first cake layer onto a parchment covered plate. Cut off any dome to create a level cake layer. Do this with the second cake layer and stack parchment/cake on top of first layer. Do the same with the third layer and cover cake with cake carrier lid until cool. Then refrigerate until ready to frost.
- Frost and fill cake with Vanilla Ermine Frosting.
- Drip Dark Chocolate Ganache Drip down sides of cake and pour over top. (The easiest way to apply drip to a cake is with a squeeze bottle, but a spoon or baggie with a small corner cut off can also work. I recommend testing the consistency of the drip on the sides of the bowl before putting it on the cake. Allow to cool further if too thin. Add extra cream if too thick.)
Vanilla Ermine Frosting
- Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan until smooth and without lumps. (Lumps that show up now will show in the finished product.)
- Place the saucepan over medium heat and slowly stir in milk and extract as the mixture heats.
- Continue to stir almost continuously until the milk custard reaches a thick pudding consistency.
- Remove the mixture from heat and either press plastic wrap onto the surface of the milk custard or continue to stir every few minutes while cooling to prevent a film from forming.
- This mixture must be slightly cooler than room temperature to move to the next step. Allow to cool on the counter and then refrigerate until ready to use (up to three days). If leaving in the refrigerator for a lengthy amount of time, allow to warm up on the countertop until cool (not cold) for about an hour before moving to the next step.
- Place slightly softened butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until very light in color and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to whip, adding the milk custard mixture to the butter by tablespoons until fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times during this process and finish with a final quick whip.
Dark Chocolate Ganache Drip
- Heat cream in the microwave or on stovetop until hot, but not boiling.
- Pour cream over chopped chocolate in a bowl and allow to rest for about a minute.
- Whisk gently or stir until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy.
- The drip is ready to use once cooled to slightly warm or room temperature.
