I don’t know what’s happening to me, but lately I have been craving chocolate cake like crazy! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it’s just strange to me because normally I am NOT a fan of chocolate cake. At all! But instead of questioning myself and fighting the cravings, I decided to listen to my body and give it what it wanted – chocolate cake!
Personally, I’m a huge fan of pumpkin and eat it year-round. I especially enjoy the chocolate-pumpkin combination, because the flavors compliment each other so well. However, I know that not everyone is as big of a fan of pumpkin as I am, so if pumpkin isn’t your thing, no need to worry – you can easily adapt this cake to make it pumpkin-free!
The first step to making this cake is to bake the cakes and let them cool. Here’s my little tip for you: cut a round piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of each round pan, and then spray the parchment paper with non-stick spray. This way, the cake won’t stick to the bottom of the pans, and it’ll make removing the cakes so much easier!
Before you start assembling the cake, you have to wait for the cakes to cool completely. Once you remove them from the oven, allow them to cool for about 30-40 minutes in their pans, and then remove them from their pans and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once the cakes are completely cooled, it’s time to get started making the frosting. Personally, I used Melanie’s Medleys pumpkin-flavored cream cheese to make the icing and filling, but if you don’t have pumpkin cream cheese on hand, you can easily just mix canned pumpkin with plain cream cheese.
If pumpkin isn’t your thing, here are a few variations of icing you can make:
- Plain cheesecake icing: 8 ounces plain cream cheese + ½ cup (1 stick) butter + 3 cups powdered sugar + 1 TBSP vanilla + 2 TBSP milk (or liquid)
- Chocolate cheesecake icing: 8 ounces plain cream cheese + ½ cup (1 stick) butter + ½ cup cocoa powder + 2-3 cups powdered sugar + 2 TBSP milk (or liquid) + 1 tsp. vanilla
- Peanut butter icing: 8 ounces plain cream cheese + ½ cup (1 stick) butter + ½ cup peanut butter + 2-3 cups powdered sugar + 2-3 TBSP milk (or liquid) + 1 tsp. cinnamon
Once you make your frosting and the cakes are cooled, it’s time to start assembling! Flip one of the cakes upside down, place it on a serving plate, and spread about 1/3 of the icing (just eye-ball it) evenly on top. Next, place the other cake on top, and spread about 1/3 of the icing evenly on top. Use the remaining icing to cover the sides of the cake, smoothing it out as best as you can.
I felt like the cake looked a little plain to me even after it was frosted, so I decided to spice it up a bit by drizzling some melted chocolate chips on top. Let’s just say that didn’t go as planned. When I went to go “drizzle” the chocolate on top, it all came off my spatula at the same time in a big giant blob. So plan B was to just spread the melted chocolate on the top and make it look like that’s what the plan was the whole time.
It definitely wasn’t the prettiest-looking cake around, so I decided to line the edges with some chocolate chips and call it a day. As long as it tastes good, who cares what it looks like, right? 🙂
Next, it’s time to cut the cake and dish yourself out a nice big slice!
Call my crazy, but I like to dissect my cake as I eat it: I’ll take a bite of just the cake, and then a bite of just the frosting, and then I’ll take a bite of everything combined together. And I can definitely say that I was pleased with the flavors of this cake!
It’s moist, chewy, not-too-sweet, and full of flavor! The definition of a perfect cake, in my opinion.
Now it’s your turn to bake this cake! Which flavor combination will you try? Chocolate pumpkin, chocolate cheesecake, or chocolate peanut butter?!
Chocolate Layer Cake with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup coconut sugar or additional ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup brewed coffee
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ¾ cup flour
- 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. baking powder
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 TBSP pumpkin puree*
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 TBSP unsweetened almond milk or enough to reach desired consistency
Chocolate Topping (Optional)
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- 2 TBSP coconut oil or butter
- ½ tsp. vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut parchment paper in a circle to fit on the bottoms of two 8″ round cake pans. Spray the parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray.
- Make cake: in a large mixing bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients together using an electric mixer. Slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until everything is well-combined.
- Pour the cake batter evenly among the two round pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Rotate the cakes halfway through baking.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for about 30 minutes in their pans.
- After, flip the pans upside down onto a cooling rack to remove cakes from the pans. Peel the parchment papers off of the cakes. Allow to cool on the cooling racks until completely cooled, about 30-40 minutes.
- Once cakes are cooled, make the frosting: in a large mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and softened butter with an electric mixer. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add the canned pumpkin (or cocoa powder/peanut butter if making a variation), vanilla, and powdered sugar, and continue mixing. Add more powdered sugar or milk until desired texture is reached.
- Place one of the cakes upside down onto a serving dish. Spread about 1/3 of the frosting evenly over top. Top with the remaining cake.
- Spread the remaining icing on top of the cake and around the sides, smoothing out as best as you can.
- If making the chocolate coating: place chocolate chips and coconut oil/butter in a small microwavable bowl and microwave in 20-second increments (stirring after each one) until melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla, and then drizzle (or spread) the melted chocolate over top of the cake.
Notes
Peanut Butter – replace the pumpkin with ½ cup peanut butter and reduce the cinnamon to 1 tsp.
Plain – do not add the pumpkin or cinnamon, and increase the vanilla to 1 TBSP
