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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Daneez.. says
Hey !! Can I use wheat flour instead of all- purpose flour?
And what about milk is it necessary to add buttermilk??
Erren says
Hi, I’ve never swapped white flour for wheat so I wouldn’t know how to direct you on that. You can swap the buttermilk for milk. It just may not be as moist.
Sarah says
About how many cupcakes would you say this recipe makes? Based on an 8 slice volume.
Erren says
Hi Sarah, it would be around 12 cupcakes, but it really depends on many factors like pan size, cupcake paper size and how much you fill them. Please remember to adjust the cooking time approximately 20 minutes.
dayner cole says
So Good! Cant wait to make this for my class mates thanks so much!
Erren says
I hope you like it! 😊
Kathy says
I don’t know if I did something wrong but it never made two 8 inch layers. Nonetheless, it was delicious and the icing was amazing. Best chocolate icing ever – This will be my go to chocolate icing from hereon out.
Erren says
Hi Kathy, I’m so sorry the cake didn’t work for you. I wish I could help troubleshoot, but I’m glad you liked the icing!
Kathy says
The cake was delicious and I loved it and will for sure make it again. I found that I could not get two 8 inch cakes out of the batter. Will be trying again 🙂
Kasia says
Nice and easy to follow – that’s the way aha aha I like it 😀
Lubna says
I’m thinking To make this cake today .can I use double cream instead of sour cream?
Erren says
Hi Lubna, sorry for the late reply. Double cream would probably work well. Let me know if you ended up making them!
Carrie says
Hey there! This cake looks delicious, I can’t wait to try this recipe. Am I right in assuming that you used unsalted butter for the cake and the frosting?
Erren says
Hi Carrie, I always just state ‘butter’ because it’s a matter of taste. I know most people only bake with unsalted, but I always use salted (that said, I live in the UK and salted butter isn’t terrible salty. I know back home in the states, there are brands that are really salty so, again it’s a matter of taste.
Cecilia says
Qué rica! !!!
Erren says
Muchas gracias!
Hailey says
Hi Erren, I made this for my friend’s birthday on Saturday. It was just amazing! My roses didn’t come out as good as your’s, but it was still beautiful! Thanks for the recipe!
Erren says
Hi Hailey, Yay! Thanks so much! Hope your friend enjoyed it just as much as you did!
Linda Morris says
This cake looks so yummy. I love to make cakes. Could you please tell me what you mean by dark chocolate, bittersweet, semi-sweet?
Erren says
Hi Linda, it just means you can use any of the types of chocolate listed.