Hot Chocolate Cake

Have you ever wanted to EAT hot chocolate? And I’m not talking about scooping powdered hot cocoa mix into your mouth.. that’s weird.. I hope you’ve never done that.

I’m talking about infusing the flavor of hot chocolate into everything, because why shouldn’t we have our hot chocolate and be able to eat it too? :)

And that’s how the hot chocolate cake was born in my kitchen and devoured in one day.

The stand out ingredient in this cake is International Delight’s new Dark Hot Chocolate. It gives this cake a rich hot chocolate flavor, and it helps make the cake extra moist! Whenever we have the chance to try a new product, you know it’s good when it disappears within a day or two!

Not only did we try the hot chocolate in the cake, but it was phenomenal when heated in the microwave and enjoyed like traditional hot chocolate but, here’s the kicker.. it’s also really good just cold straight out of the fridge!!

You can bake with it and you can drink it.. reminds me of the Julia Child quote, “I enjoy cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food,” haha, very fitting!

There is another thing you will love about this recipe.. the base of the chocolate cake starts with a box of chocolate cake mix! Things just got easier, woohooo!!

We switched around a few ingredients to give the box mix some extra homemade love. Typically cake mixes call for 3 eggs, we did 3 eggs plus an additional egg yolk. The extra yolk makes the cake moist and a little bit more dense and rich, instead of light and fluffy. Plus we substituted the water in the recipe for the International Delight Dark Hot Chocolate.

Layer by layer we have.. hot chocolate cake, marshmallow buttercream, chocolate ganache, hot chocolate cake, marshmallow buttercream, chocolate ganache and toasted marshmallows. This cake really is easy to assemble. You don’t have to worry about the buttercream being even and smooth because you’ll cover it in chocolate ganache. The cake should have an oozing-ness to it, with marshmallow buttercream and ganache peaking through.

Top the whole thing with marshmallows, and here comes my favorite part.. get out the kitchen torch and toast them!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Hot Chocolate Cake

By: Beth

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 servings

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Don't just drink your hot chocolate – bake with it! I love the rich chocolate flavor of this cake.

Ingredients

Cake

• ▢ 3 large eggs
• ▢ 1 large egg yolk
• ▢ 1 ⅓ cups International Delight Dark Hot Chocolate
• ▢ ½ cup oil
• ▢ Chocolate cake mix

Chocolate Ganache

• ▢ ½ cup heavy cream
• ▢ ¾ cup milk chocolate chips

Marshmallow Buttercream

• ▢ 2 sticks butter, room temperature (1 cup)
• ▢ 1 ½ containers marshmallow fluff, 7oz each
• ▢ ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ Mini marshmallows to top the cake

Instructions 

Cake

• Preheat the oven according to the directions on the box.
• Using butter, grease the bottom and sides of two 8 inch round cake pans or springform pans and line the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper. To ensure even baking, place a bake even strip around the pan. You can make your own homemade bake even strip by cutting a towel or shirt to fit the size of your pan. Get the fabric really wet, then squeeze out the dripping water but do not squeeze it too dry. Secure the fabric around the pan with a safety pin.
• In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, egg yolk, International Delight Hot Chocolate, and oil.
• Slowly add in the chocolate cake mix and beat using an electric mixer until all of the cake mix is incorporated.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pans, using a spatula to evenly spread it. Put an even amount of cake batter in each pan.
• Bake for 28-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Once the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the cake from the pan. If using a springform pan, remove the sides and bottom. Allow the cake to cool completely on a cooling rack. Once cool, remove the parchment paper round from the bottom of the cake. If you need to level the top of your cake, do so now using either a cake lever or knife. Make sure the cake is completely cooled, then wrap the cake in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. This cake is good for up to one week like this.

Chocolate Ganache

• Place chocolate chips in a medium heat-proof bowl.
• In a small pot over low heat, heat the heavy cream until boiling.
• Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate chips. Allow the mixture to stand for 1-2 minutes.
• Use a spatula to stir the mixture until smooth.
• Allow the ganache to come to room temperature before adding it to the cake.

Marshmallow Buttercream

• In a mixing bowl, beat the butter using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in the marshmallow fluff and vanilla extract, gently mix by hand with a spatula.
• Begin to add the powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time, mixing by hand first, then with the electric mixer.
• To assemble the cake
• Spread a small amount of buttercream on an 8 inch round cardboard cake circle.
• Place your first layer of cake on top of the cardboard.
• Put buttercream on top of the first layer and spread it smooth with an offset spatula. Decide how much or how little frosting you want in-between each layer. You want the frosting to be visible on the sides.
• Using a spoon, drizzle the room temperature chocolate ganache over the buttercream, allowing it to drip down the sides of the cake.
• Place the second layer of cake on top of the previous layers.
• Add more buttercream, smoothing it with a spatula.
• Drizzle on more chocolate ganache, allowing it to fall down the sides. Also cover the center of the cake with ganache.
• Add a few handfuls of mini marshmallows to the top of the cake.
• Use a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallows.
• Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 404kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 179mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 705IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition Disclosure

All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.

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