Chocolate gateau - this is a sinfully delicious chocolate cake layered with a chocolate-heavy cream filling.
Making a chocolate gateau cake is easier than you might think. It looks impressive, but the cakes are easy to make (the best chocolate cakes ever, by the way), and the filling is made with only heavy cream and two sorts of chocolate.
Reader comment - Sunny: "Back here again and (you can refer to my comment back in 2018 as proof) this is really the best chocolate cake ever!! Going to be baking this for maybe the 5th time - for me, that’s a lot - for my dad’s birthday this week".
It is also my favorite chocolate cake, together with this Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Jump to recipe
Ingredients for the cake
Coffee: You will not taste the coffee instead, but it's a key ingredient. When added to the batter, coffee boosts the chocolate taste of baked goods.
Cocoa powder: Make sure it is the unsweetened kind used for baking and not drinking cocoa.
Buttermilk: It helps leaven the cake, makes it tender, and adds flavor.
Oil: I am a big fan of baking cakes with oil; it makes them incredibly moist and helps keep them fresh for a bit longer.
Ingredients for the filling
Chocolate: Buy good brands to make the filling, and only the kind of chocolate you would enjoy eating. There is so much of it in the filling that you can taste the chocolate itself, so it has to be something good.
How to make a chocolate gateau?
How to make chocolate cream?
You will have to make the filling one day in advance, as it needs time to set in the fridge.
- Chop the chocolate very finely (1).
- Pour the heavy cream into a small pot, slowly bring it to a boil, take off the heat, and add the chocolate to the cream.
- Stir slowly until the chocolate has melted (2).
- Place a piece of plastic foil directly over the cream (so that it doesn't form a “skin”), let the mixture get cold, and then place it in the fridge until the next day (3).
- When ready to use (the next day), whisk the cream mixture until stiff with an electric mixer, just as you would normally whisk heavy cream.
How to make the cake layers?
- Preparations: Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 360°F. Butter and flour 2 springforms or cake pans of 20 cm/8-inch diameter.
- Brew one cup of strong coffee.
- Mix and sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl (4).
- Combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract, preferably in a jug or in another bowl (5).
- Pour this mixture slowly over the dry ingredients, whisking with an electric mixer at a very low speed (7).
- Add the hot coffee and stir with a spatula very shortly until the ingredients are just combined. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl.
- Divide the mixture into two equal parts (I use the scale to make sure I divide the mixture evenly) and pour into the two prepared forms (8).
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out relatively clean. It can still be a bit wet, but it should not be covered in chocolate.
- Cool in the pan for a while, then transfer the chocolate cakes to wire racks and let cool completely.
How to assemble the chocolate gateau?
- Cut each cake into two equal slices (9).
- Whisk the chocolate-heavy cream mixture until stiff with the electric mixer like you typically whisk the cream (10).
- Place one cake layer on a platter. Add some chocolate cream, the second cake layer, and so on (11).
- Cover with the remaining chocolate cream; you should use about half of it for layering the cake and half for covering the whole cake (See Expert Tips to learn about the parchment paper you see in the picture).
- Decorate the cake to your liking. I used dried strawberries and meringues crushed between my fingers, chopped pistachios, and hazelnut brittle.
This recipe is part of the Harry Potter series; my interpretation of the chocolate gateau Ron Wesley stuffs his face with in the 6th book of the series. Try Harry's Pumpkin Pasties or Hagrid's Rock Cakes, too.
Tips
Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees the best results (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
Don't be tempted to add sugar to the filling, even if you might think it could be sweeter. The cake itself is sweet enough so that the filling should not be sweeter than it already is.
Make in advance: Both chocolate cream and chocolate gateau can be made one day in advance.
- Let the cakes cool on a wire rack, wrap them tightly in plastic foil to prevent them from drying out, and refrigerate them until the next day.
- If it's not too warm, you can also keep them at room temperature until the next day; just make sure you wrap them well.
Parchment paper: Use two pieces of parchment paper to cover the serving platter to keep it clean while filling and decorating the chocolate gateau.
- Cut two pieces of paper and place them on the platter, overlapping them a little. Once you've finished filling and decoration, pull them out carefully and gently so that the cake stays put on the platter. This saves you the more difficult task of transferring the cake to a clean platter.
Chocolate Gateau
Equipment
- 2 springforms or cake pans of 20 cm/8-inch diameter
Ingredients
Chocolate cream filling:
- 500 ml heavy cream 2 cups
- 100 g milk chocolate 3.5 oz, Note 2
- 100 g dark chocolate 70 - 75 % cocoa 3.5 oz
Chocolate cake:
- 210 g all-purpose flour 7.5 oz/ 1 ¾ cups
- 400 g granulated sugar 14 oz/ 2 cups
- 85 g unsweetened cocoa powder 3 oz/ ¾ cups
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 250 ml buttermilk 8.5 fl.oz/ 1 cup
- 120 ml vegetable oil 4 oz/ ½ cup
- 2 eggs large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 250 ml hot coffee 8.5 fl.oz/ 1 cup
Decoration (optional, you can decorate as you like):
- dried strawberries
- meringues
- chopped pistachios
Instructions
Chocolate cream filling:
- Start one day in advance by making the filling.
- Ganache: Chop the chocolate very finely. Pour the heavy cream into a small pot, carefully bring to a boil, take off the heat, and add the chocolate to the cream. Stir slowly until the chocolate has melted. Place a piece of plastic foil directly over the chocolate cream (so that it doesn't form a "skin"), let the mixture cool completely, then place it in the fridge until the next day.100 g milk chocolate/ 3.5 oz + 100 g dark chocolate 70 - 75 % cocoa/ 3.5 oz + 500 ml heavy cream/ 2 cups
Chocolate cake:
- You could bake the cakes one day in advance as well. Let them cool completely, then wrap them tightly in plastic foil to prevent them from drying out.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Butter and flour 2 springforms or cake pans of 20 cm/8-inch diameter. Brew one cup of strong coffee.
- Dry ingredients: In a large bowl, mix and sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.210 g all-purpose flour/ 1¾ cups + 400 g granulated sugar/ 2 cups + 85 g unsweetened cocoa powder/ ¾ cup + 2 teaspoons baking soda + 1 teaspoons baking powder + ½ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients: Combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract, preferably in a jug or another bowl. Slowly pour this mixture over the dry ingredients, whisking with an electric mixer at a very low speed.250 ml buttermilk/ 1 cup + 120 ml vegetable oil/ ½ cup + 2 eggs + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Combine: Add the hot coffee and stir with a spatula very shortly until the ingredients are just combined. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl as well in the process. Divide the mixture into two equal parts (I use the scale to make sure I divide the mixture evenly) and pour it into the two prepared forms.250 ml hot coffee/ 1 cup
- Bake for about 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out relatively clean, it can still be a bit wet, but it should not be covered in chocolate. Let cool in the pan for a while, then transfer the cakes to wire racks and let cool completely.
Assemble the chocolate gateau:
- Cut cakes: When the cakes are completely cooled, cut each one into two equal slices.
- Whip the chocolate-heavy cream mixture until stiff with the electric mixer like you would typically whisk heavy cream.
- Assemble the cake: Place one cake layer on a cake platter. Add some of the chocolate cream, then the second cake layer, cream, third cake layer, cream again, last cake layer. Cover the cake with the remaining chocolate cream, you should use about half of it for layering the cake and half of it for covering the whole cake.
- Decorate the cake to your liking. I used dried strawberries and meringues crushed between my fingers, some chopped pistachios, and some hazelnut brittle.dried strawberries + meringues + chopped pistachios
Notes
- Measurements: Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it ensures the best results (Amazon affiliate link).
- Chocolate: For a genuine taste, I recommend using German/European style chocolate (Milka, Lindt – German, Belgian, or Swiss chocolate).
Aisha says
Tried this today and one of the tins decided to leak! So annoying. Had to put it all in one tin becayse i had no other and wasnt sure if i could delay it by going out for half an hour to buy one.
The outsides were burnt which i cut off. The bit underneath was spongey and the inside tasted battery/gooey. Dont think its meant to taste like this. It was baking for so long as well.
Gonna make it all over again with the extra tin. Wondering if there should literally be no chocolate on the skewer at all? Also will the chocolate cream keep for 3/4 days
Adina says
Hi Aisha. Sorry to hear it didn't work this time, I hope it works the next time. The cake should not be spongey and battery. As mentioned in the recipe card, the skewer will still be kind of wet but there should not be completely covered in chocolate. If the outsides were burnt, and the cake overbaked, then it could be that your oven runs too hot; that can happen. Perhaps it is better to sligtly reduce the heat the next time, and, if necessary then, slightly increase the baking time, while checking. The chocolate cream should be ok for about 3 days; I never had it for longer than that.
Aisha says
Thank you for the response. Looking forward to trying again today. When you say wet, do you mean wet with no chocolate, or does this mean some chocolate on the skewer is okay?
Adina says
Hi. It will look a bit dirty but not wet/dripping.
Barbara in NW Indiana says
This was made today for our family October birthdays. The not too rich and less sweet flavor were appreciated. This more than satisfied all of our chocolate cake cravings. How can this cake be so heavy yet not too rich?
I set the timer for 40 minutes and baked at 350F. Next time I will decrease the baking time 5-10 minutes.
I will also double the chocolate-heavy cream mixture. There was enough to frost in between the layers but not the top and just 2/3 of the side. (A quick heavy cream, confectioners sugar and cocoa mix filled in the rest.) With a double recipe I'll be able to generously cover the top and the rest of the outside PLUS have some left for piping.
Best chocolate layer cake I've ever made or had. Thank you!
Adina says
Thank you so much for the feedback and the rating, Barbara. I am so happy you liked it; it is our favorite chocolate cake too.