Kahlua Chocolate Cake

If you love coffee and chocolate, you must try this Kahlua Chocolate Cake! A rich chocolate cake, soaked with a Kahlua syrup and topped with Kahlua whipped cream. It makes for an impressive yet simple dessert, with coffee and chocolate in every bite.

I got the idea for this cake one evening while enjoying some Tiramisu. Tiramisu consists of ladyfingers dipped in espresso (sometimes spiked with a liqueur), and layered with a lightly sweetened mascarpone cream. I’m familiar with poke cakes, where you literally poke small holes all over a warm cake with a wooden skewer, then pour over a condensed milk mixture. For this cake, I knew I wanted it to be chocolate but I didn’t want to use condensed milk. So, similar to tiramisu, I used both espresso and Kahlua (coffee liqueur) in a simple syrup which I then poured on the cake. To amp up the Kahlua flavor even more I made a Kahlua whipped cream. Once the cake was completely cool I piped on the cream and garnished it with some shaved dark chocolate. Pure adult decadence!

Ingredients for Kahlua Chocolate Cake:

• Kahlua
• Espresso powder. You can also use regular instant coffee but the coffee flavor won’t be as pronounced.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Heavy cream
• Granulated sugar
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda & baking powder
• 1 large egg
• Vegetable oil
• Salt
• Buttermilk (see note below)
• Vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar
• Dark chocolate for grating

Make your own buttermilk:

If you don’t have buttermilk, it’s easy to make your own. Simply measure a scant 1 cup of regular milk and add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Leave it to sit on the counter for 10 minutes, then it’s ready to use.

How to make Kahlua Chocolate Cake:

First, make the chocolate cake. This cake is great because it all comes together in one bowl, and vegetable oil replaces the butter.

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While the cake is baking, make the Kahlua simple syrup. Do not skip the syrup! It makes the cake ultra moist and flavorful. Equal amounts of sugar and water plus espresso powder are put in a small saucepan and brought to a gentle boil. After one minute, the sugar should be completely dissolved. Once done, take the syrup off the heat and stir in the Kahlua. Set aside until needed.

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Once the cake is done baking, place it on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Set a timer, as you don’t want it cooling for any longer before you pour the syrup over it. After the 10 minutes, invert the cake onto a serving platter or plate (if you have one with sides this is ideal, but not essential). Using a wooden (bamboo) skewer, poke holes all over the cake. Then pour the syrup over the warm cake. Set cake aside to cool completely.

Once the cake is cool, and right before serving, make the Kahlua whipped cream: in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of stand mixer, beat the heavy cream, powdered sugar and Kahlua on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Pipe or spread cream onto the top of the cake and garnish with shaved dark chocolate.