Chocolate and coffee go together like ice cream and cake, am I right? Speaking of CAKE, you must check out this Mocha Cake with Hazelnut Buttercream Frosting that Thing 1 made. It was to die for! Truly! I am drooling all over my keyboard right now just thinking about it!
What made this cake so special, aside from the fact that it was just an AMAZING combination of flavors, was that we were using a different kind of sugar. This sugar is a Morena sugar, which means that it does not undergo the conventional refining processes used for regular white sugar that effectively remove the complexity and flavor from raw sugar cane.
The product is known as Zulka Pure Cane Sugar, and it is also a non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) product, which means that it has been grown and produced according to a set of established best practices for GMO avoidance. I first tried it in my coffee, using the same amount I would usually use with regular white sugar. It tasted great! It had the same sweetness as regular sugar, but there was definitely something a bit different to it, kind of honey-like overtones. It is hard to describe, but if you try it, you will understand what I mean!
I decided that we should try the Zulka sugar in a cake, to see how that worked out. So, I asked my resident baker, Thing 1, to whip something up! He came up with this mocha cake. Below is his post and his recipe!
Hi, Thing 1 here! Though I don't drink coffee very often, just the smell of it is enough to give me a little boost of energy. If you combine the aroma of coffee with a craving for chocolate cake, you'll find yourself wanting both! And what better to go with chocolate coffee than the sweet nutty flavor of Nutella! The cake tasted delicious, and you can brew whatever type of coffee you want to create different levels of flavors and intensity.
The cake was easy to make, although the batter seemed a little on the thin side before it was baked. The coffee made it a bit soupy, but while baking for 40 minutes, the cake puffed right up! The combination of the creamy, sweet frosting and the slight bitterness of the coffee in the cake was like heaven to the taste buds. If you want an even bolder coffee taste, you can sprinkle instant coffee on top of the cake for an added boost! No doubt you'll have plenty of energy after you eat a slice of this! 🙂
For disclosure purposes, a sample of Zulka Pure Cane Sugar was provided to Thing 1 and me free of charge. We were not compensated to write about the product, and all opinions are our own.
Mocha Cake with Hazelnut Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- ¾ cup room temperature butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup Morena Pure Cane Sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup coffee
Frosting Ingredients
- ¾ cup room temperature butter
- 5 cups confectioner's sugar
- ½ cup sugar-free Hazelnut Coffee Mate
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 7 tablespoons Nutella
Instructions
Directions for the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325ºF. Combine flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking soda in a large bowl.2 ½ cups flour, ¾ cup cocoa powder, ¾ teaspoons salt, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- In a separate bowl, beat butter until smooth. Gradually add both sugars, beating until combined.¾ cup room temperature butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup Morena Pure Cane Sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time, and beat after each addition. Then, mix in the vanilla extract.3 eggs, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture and buttermilk into the wet ingredients, each in 2 or 3 parts. Mix well after each addition. Slowly add the coffee and mix until batter is smooth.¾ cup buttermilk, 1 cup coffee
- Bake in two 9 inch rounded pans for 40 minutes, removing when a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool for 15-20 minutes before removing from pan.
Directions for the frosting:
- Beat butter until smooth, adding vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar and Hazelnut Coffee Mate and blending until smooth.¾ cup room temperature butter, 5 cups confectioner's sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ cup sugar-free Hazelnut Coffee Mate
- Add Nutella and blend until well combined.7 tablespoons Nutella
- Level one of the cakes and cover the top with frosting. Place the other half on top and frost the rest of the cake.
- Sprinkle instant coffee on top if desired for taste and decoration.
Nutrition
Morgan
Oh man! Just made this only I cut the recipe in half and did it in a 9x9... you know, to cut back on the amount of temptation lol! This is sooooo yummy!
Kristin
Yay! So glad you liked it!
Verna Buchanan
In your photo, it appears that the bottom cake is frosted with Nutella, not the hazelnut frosting. Then the top cake is either frosted with frosting, or Nutella and then frosting. Do you remember if this is correct?
Kristin
Hello! So the darker strips that you are seeing that potentially resemble Nutella are actually just darker areas of the cake. I made the cake in the morning and did the photoshoot in the afternoon, and by then the area of the cake in contact with the frosting had become a little darker. Hopefully that makes sense! This cake is one of my favorites...and now I am craving a big piece of it, haha! 🙂
shehreen
hi what inch pans did you use?
Kristin King
They were 9 inch round pans. So sorry I did not include that in the recipe! Thanks for pointing it out, I have fixed it!
Ronda@kitchenDreaming.com
Oh my! This looks excellent. I was just looking at cake books at the library with my daughter so this is a welcome find! Thanks for sharing!
Jason
Does it have to be sugar free coffe mate?
Kristin King
No, it does not have to be sugar-free! We used that just because we had it in the house. The key is to use the hazelnut flavor! 🙂
Jason
You use a actual cup of coffee? Any particular kind? Does it matter if it's hot or cold?
Kristin King
Yes, we used an actual cup of coffee! It was room temperature when we used it. 🙂
Marion@Life Tastes Good
you are speaking my language, Kristin! Hazelnut buttercream are you kidding me?!! That has to be a match made in heaven! pinned!!
Kristin King
Thanks, Marion! It was super-delicious, if I do say so myself! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!