Mocha Cake with Hazelnut Buttercream Frosting

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

A dark, moist, coffee flavored chocolate cake paired with the nutty sweetness of a hazelnut buttercream frosting.

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Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 12

Calories 730 kcal

Author Kristin

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup room temperature butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup Morena Pure Cane Sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup coffee

Frosting Ingredients

• 3/4 cup room temperature butter
• 5 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar-free Hazelnut Coffee Mate
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 7 tablespoons Nutella

Instructions

Directions for the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Combine flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking soda in a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, beat butter until smooth. Gradually add both sugars, beating until combined.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat after each addition. Then, mix in the vanilla extract.
4. 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.
5. 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:

1. Beat butter until smooth, adding vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar and Hazelnut Coffee Mate and blending until smooth.
2. Add Nutella and blend until well combined.
3. Level one of the cakes and cover the top with frosting. Place the other half on top and frost the rest of the cake.
4. Sprinkle instant coffee on top if desired for taste and decoration.

Nutrition Facts

Mocha Cake with Hazelnut Buttercream Frosting

Amount Per Serving

Calories 730 Calories from Fat 261

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 29g 45%

Saturated Fat 19g 95%

Cholesterol 107mg 36%

Sodium 532mg 22%

Potassium 248mg 7%

Total Carbohydrates 115g 38%

Dietary Fiber 3g 12%

Sugars 90g

Protein 6g 12%

Vitamin A 16.6%

Vitamin C 0.1%

Calcium 7.8%

Iron 15.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Enjoy!

 

 

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