Chocolate gateau – a sinfully delicious chocolate cake layered with a chocolate-heavy cream filling.
Gateau Cake

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.
What can I tell you about this gateau?
- It is my favorite chocolate cake.
- I have been making this cake for at least 8 years now, not only for us but most of the time for other people, so I bake it about 7 or 8 times every year; there is no other one that I get to bake so often. I don’t even have to check the recipe anymore; it is the only cake recipe I know by heart.
- The chocolate gateau looks really impressive; one would think you’d have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and use some fancy ingredients to make it, but don’t worry, making this particular cake is a “piece of cake”, everything is stirred in no time, and the filling must be one of the easiest I know.
- And the taste is just amazing: chocolate, a dense moist cake sandwiched with this wonderful, luscious cream filling.

Table of contents
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 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, only the kind of chocolate you would enjoy eating as it is as well. There is so much of it in the filling that you will definitely be able to taste the chocolate itself, so it has to be something good.
- This is not a sponsored post, but I still recommend using Lindt dark chocolate 70% cocoa and Milka (German); they are the two sorts I use most of the time. Usually, I would go for dark Lindt and milk Milka. (Amazon affiliate links)
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.
Steps:
- 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, 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 the electric mixer like 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 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, some chopped pistachios, and some 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.

Expert Tips
- Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it guarantees for best results (Amazon affiliate link).
- 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 get cold on a wire rack, wrap them tightly in plastic foil to prevent them from drying out, and keep them refrigerated until the next day.
- If it’s not too warm, you can keep them at room temperature until the next day as well; 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.

More chocolate cakes?

Chocolate Gateau
Chocolate gateau – a sinfully delicious chocolate cake layered with a chocolate-double cream filling. Making an impressive gateau is easier than you think!
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Servings: 10
Calories: 572kcal
Equipment
- 2 springforms or cake pans of 20 cm/8-inch diameter
Ingredients
- Chocolate cream filling:
- 500 ml heavy cream 17 fl.oz/ 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 7.4 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.
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 180 degrees Celsius/ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 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.
- 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 very low speed.
- 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.
- 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.
Notes
- Always use a digital kitchen scale in baking; it ensures the best results (Amazon affiliate link).
- For a genuine taste, I recommend using German/European style chocolate (Milka, Lindt – German, Belgian or Swiss chocolate) (All Amazon affiliate links).
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 572kcal | Carbohydrates: 76g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 495mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 53g
Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @adinabeck or tag #WhereIsMySpoon!
Myaha
Thursday 29th of December 2022
It's 4am and here I am browsing recipes even though I don't have the required tools and ingredients to make it. Looks very yummy. Bookmarked for now. Hopefully I can taste it in the future.
Thanks for the recipe!
Adina
Friday 30th of December 2022
Thank you for the comment, I hope you get to bake the cake soon.
Megan M
Sunday 25th of December 2022
**Do NOT make this gateau!!!**
Whatever you do- don't make this gateau. If you do, then the people you serve it to will insist on you making it all the time. And you'll already be too busy from spending all your time making it for yourself. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
100/10. Can't wait to make it again. Thank you ❤❤❤
Adina
Monday 26th of December 2022
Hi Megan. Thank you so much for the nice feedback. I have the same problem with this cake, everybody insists I bake it, so I rarely have the chance to bake other chocolate cakes.
Chef Ruthy🤗
Sunday 6th of November 2022
Is very yummy, moist and very easy to make.
I reduced my sugar quantity because am taking care of elderly people. Thank you so much. Looking forward is trying out more of ur recipes🤗
Magdalena
Saturday 12th of November 2022
@Adina, Hi Adina. I just finished the cake. Not tasted yet , it’s for my son -in law birthday . I made a mistake and added 200 g of both chocolates in double cream. O boy, that was rock hard next day, so I checked the recipe. Boiled another 500ml of cream and mixed it in. Now I have soo much leftovers, but it worked perfectly.
Adina
Sunday 6th of November 2022
I am happy to hear it! Thank you.
Laurel
Monday 24th of October 2022
I did not chill cream/chocolate mixture overnight. I made it only 3 hours in advance and whipped it in a chilled mixing bowl with a chilled whisk attachment until fluffy. I also added Kirsch-soaked cherries in center layers before adding cream. It was great! I also only baked mine for about 28 minutes and it was perfect.
Sarah
Monday 2nd of May 2022
Hi, I was wondering how far ahead you could make this? Ive been asked to make one but I’m away the weekend that it’s needed so would have to make it 3 days before. Would it last fully assembled in a fridge for that length of time?
Sarah
Wednesday 4th of May 2022
@Adina, thanks for your help!
Adina
Tuesday 3rd of May 2022
Hi Sarah. The cake itself will keep in the fridge for 3 days (well covered in aluminum foil), but the frosting is made with heavy cream, and I can't recommend keeping that for 3 days. You could make the cake and use chocolate buttercream instead of my filling; buttercream keeps better.