Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Frosting
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You have to try this chocolate cake with vanilla frosting for your next birthday party! Think super moist chocolate cake layers covered in the best vanilla buttercream. So easy to make and absolutely delicious!
After making my vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, I had to try making the opposite – chocolate cake with vanilla frosting! This chocolate cake with white frosting uses my tried and tested chocolate cake recipe that I use in my dairy-free chocolate cake recipe.
The vanilla buttercream is super easy to make and you only need 4 ingredients to whip it up. Add a few birthday candles and ta-da! The perfect birthday cake for both chocolate lovers and vanilla lovers!
Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Frosting
- This is an oil-based chocolate cake, so it’s super moist and fluffy! Plus using oil instead of butter means we don’t need to pull out the stand mixer to make the cake.
- The vanilla buttercream is perfect for frosting and decorating your cake, plus it’s really simple to make.
- You only need 12 simple ingredients to make this chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, nothing super fancy here!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour: I’m using all-purpose flour here, make sure to weigh out your flour properly so the cake isn’t too dense or dry!
- Cocoa Powder: you can use dutch processed cocoa powder or natural cocoa powder.
- Oil: you want to use a neutral oil like canola oil or sunflower oil, we want something that doesn’t have a strong flavor.
- Milk: you can use regular milk or dairy-free milk.
- Butter: feel free to use dairy-free butter or regular butter for the frosting!
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°Fahrenheit and spray two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, then line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Step 3: Add the eggs, vanilla extract, oil and milk. Pour in the hot water and mix until smooth.
Step 4: Divide the cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
Step 5: Let the cakes cool for 20 minutes, then remove them from the cake pans and place them on a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Step 6: Once the cakes are completely cooled, make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter, vanilla extract, salt and ¼ cup of icing sugar together. Add in ¼ cup of confectioners’ sugar at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
Step 7: Frost your cake and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- I always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh out your flour and cocoa powder! It’s so easy to add too much if you’re using measuring cups, and that’s going to make your cake dry and dense.
- Don’t have a kitchen scale? Make sure to use the scoop and level method to weigh out both the flour and cocoa powder!
- If your frosting is too thick, add ½ tablespoon of milk at a time. If it’s too thin, you can add ¼ cup of icing sugar at a time until it’s thick enough to frost your cake.
- Make sure the cake layers are completely cooled before you add the frosting, otherwise, it’s just going to melt right off!
- This vanilla frosting recipe makes enough buttercream to frost and decorate the cake. If you don’t need that much buttercream, then just make ⅔ of the recipe or freeze any leftover frosting.
Storage Instructions
Keep the frosted cake covered at room temperature for 3-4 days.
To freeze the cake layers, tightly wrap them in plastic wrap and then foil once they’ve cooled completely. Freeze in ziploc bags for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature.
To freeze the buttercream, store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge then whip with a handheld mixer or stand mixer before using.
More Recipes You’ll Love
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cup (250 g) granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup (64.5 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (225 ml) water, hot
- ½ cup (107.5 ml) canola oil (or sunflower oil)
- ½ cup (125 ml) milk, (regular or vegan)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1½ cup (315 g) butter, softened, (regular or vegan)
- 3-3½ cup (330 g) icing sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two 8 inch round cake pans. Spray the inside with cooking spray, then cut round pieces of parchment paper so that they fit in the bottom of each pan (do not skip the parchment paper lining!)
- Whisk flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda together in a large bowl.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla, oil, and milk. Pour in the hot water and mix until smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes, then run a butter knife around the outside of the cake to loosen it from the pan and flip upside down onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make the buttercream. In the bowl of a standing mixer or handheld mixer, beat butter, vanilla extract, salt, and ¼ cup of icing sugar. Slowly add in ¼ cup of powdered sugar at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. If the buttercream is too thick, you can add ½ tablespoon of milk in at a time, thinning it out as much as you'd like. If buttercream is too thin, add in more powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time.
- Once the cakes have cooled completely, frost them and enjoy!
Video
Notes
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.