Rich Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Fudge Icing – You can’t go wrong with this classic party cake. This cake is perfect for anything from birthdays to weddings. Every bite will bring a taste of nostalgia.
I made this for a friend’s birthday last week. It was the third cake I made in about 5 days and to be honest, it was the last thing I felt like doing, but she’s having a rough time right now and I wanted to do something special. I have to say that I really came through because it came out just beautiful and she just loved it.
Nevermind how beautiful it turned out for a second and let me tell you that when my son tried it, he actually did a little dance because he said a cake that good deserves a dance! The cake itself is rich, moist & fluffy and the icing is velvety smooth with the perfect amount of sweetness. Once you try it, you’ll be making it again and again.
For those of you who want to know how I did the decorating – To pipe the roses on top, I used a large Wilton 2D Tip (pictured below). If you’re in the US, you can one like mine here from Amazon You’ll find it under Decorating Products & Ingredients. If you’re in the UK, click here).
JUST A HEADS UP – THE AMAZON LINK ABOVE IS AN AFFILIATE LINK, WHICH MEANS I MAKE A SMALL COMMISSION IF YOU MAKE A PURCHASE.
I just swirled them from the middle out. Nothing really fancy. If you want to practice, do them on the bottom layer (pictured below) before stacking the cakes. That way you can get the hang of it before you start the top of the cake. You can see in the photo, it took a while for me to figure out how to do it. If you need more time, just scrape it off and do it again!
Once the bottom layer was done, I just smoothed the icing in a thin layer all over the cake.
For the sides, I used a normal leaf tip that I just ran in long strips. It was super simple. It took very little time, but I did chill the icing in the fridge (as well as the iced cake) before I piped on the decoration. I did that because it was a warm day, the icing was a little soft and I wanted it to hold its shape.
I have to admit that cutting it kinda hurt, but the taste of it took the pain away pretty quickly!
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Ingredients
- ⅔ cup butter, at room temperature
- 1⅓ cups sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
For the frosting:
- ½ cup butter, at room temperature
- 6 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- ⅔ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans.
- Beat the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well until combined.
- Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt.
- Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.
- Bake the cakes for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool for 20 minutes before taking them out of the pan. Let them cool completely on a rack before frosting.
For the frosting:
- Melt the butter and chocolate in a small pan on over a low heat stirring gently until melted.
- Once completely melted, remove from the heat and let cool.
- Add the cocoa, vanilla extract and 1 cup of the powdered sugar.
- Beat in the sour cream and another cup of the sugar until smooth.
- Add more sugar a little at a time if needed until you reach the desired consistency.
Nutrition
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The Baking ChocolaTess says
What a beautiful cake! Perfect for a wintertime celebration!
Thanks for sharing this mouthwatering cake recipe.
The Baking ChocolaTess
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you so much, and for your awesome feedback ChocolaTESS!
Sherry Oakes says
This is the most perfect birthday cake ever. Absolutey delicious and addictive. I didn’t decorate it, just set it ablaze with birthday candles. It is a showstopper!
Erren says
Wonderful, Sherry! Glad you enjoyed it! 😊
MasterCakes says
Made this for a birthday. Easy to make, delicious moist cake, easy to work with icing. Made a great impression when the cake was cut and the layers revealed. A hit all around. MasterCakes
Erren's Kitchen says
Ah, thank you so much for your feedback!