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Dark Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
16
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Dark and rich, this Dark Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream is the perfect centerpiece for your Halloween party. Chocolate lovers will instantly fall in love with this dark chocolate cake!

PIN IT FOR LATER!

There is just something about a layered cake that always impresses! Looking for more? Check out this Pistachio Pudding Cake or this perfect Carrot Cake.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream with candy eyes on the outside for Halloween.

I’m not very good at the whole holiday thing.

I think I didn’t realize my shortcomings until Pinterest came around. Don’t get me wrong. I love Pinterest. I think it has definitely helped me in many ways, and I’m constantly inspired when I spend time browsing everyone’s pins. But it also makes me realize just how bad I am at holidays.

Halloween Cake Ideas - Dark Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream with chocolate spiders on top.

I’ve tried before. Spiders and ghosts and monster brains – oh, my! But it’s just not my strong point. While others have been brainstorming and posting cute Halloween ideas for parties and gifts for the past month, I’ve been stuck on comfort foods and soups.

Slice of Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Nutella Buttercream on a white plate.

At the beginning of October, I decided that I was ok with it. I didn’t need any recipes specifically made for Halloween. I’d let the creative people take care of that.

But then I decided I was up for the challenge.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream

As I was trying to decide what to make, I came across a container of dark cocoa powder in my cupboard, and I instantly knew what I wanted to make. The ultimate chocolate cake. Deep and dark and perfect for Halloween.

The beauty of this cake, though, is that it doesn’t have to be just for Halloween. The cake is a very rich, dark chocolate cake that will leave chocoholics with a smile on their face. I didn’t want to do a straight up chocolate frosting, and I decided that a Nutella buttercream would be perfect with the dark chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream with a slice taken from the cake.

The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

Now, this isn’t your typical chocolate layer cake. This cake is the most moist chocolate cake you will ever have. Not even kidding. I originally was going to just make a 2 layer cake, but for some reason, it just didn’t feel right. This cake was screaming to be made into a full 4 layer cake. It’s totally over the top and rich and decadent, and a little slice goes a long way, but it’s all totally worth it. And totally holiday worthy.

Because of the nature of this cake recipe, don’t be alarmed if the cakes fall a little bit in the middle, because they probably will. This isn’t a light and fluffy cake, but an extremely moist cake. But don’t fret – you’ll level off the cakes and you can use the scraps to decorate the outside of the cake. Since I’m such a horrible cake decorator, I love having tricks like this up my sleeve because then no one can tell that you didn’t frost the cake perfectly!

Slice of perfect Dark Chocolate Cake Recipe with Nutella Buttercream with a fork full of cake.

Perfect Halloween Cakes

This is the perfect cake for Halloween because it is so deep and dark. I originally bought the eyes to put on my spiders, but they were just too big and didn’t look right, and at the last minute, I decided to put them randomly over the outside of the cake. And I think that ended up being my favorite part! Most grocery stores sell the little eyes these days, and they are an easy way to decorate when you are decorating challenged.

Now I’m ready for Halloween!

Partly eaten slice of the Best Chocolate Cake Recipe.

More Can’t Miss Chocolate Dessert Recipes:

Almond Joy Candy Bar Filled Chocolate Bundt Cake
Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream
Italian Chocolate-Almond Flourless Cake
Double Chocolate Bundt Cake
Chocolate Pound Cake

Tools Used to Make this Chocolate Layer Cake Recipe

  • This cake is 4 layers, so you’ll need 4 cake pans. These cake pans come in a 2 pack and are fairly inexpensive.
  • You should be able to find the candy eyes at your local store, but you can also order them online as well.
  • I always think cakes are easiest to decorate using an offset spatula.

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Slice of the perfect Dark Chocolate Cake Recipe with Nutella Buttercream.

Dark Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream

5 from 16 votes
Author: Deborah Harroun
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 20 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Print Pin
Dark and rich, this Dark Chocolate Cake with Nutella Buttercream is the perfect centerpiece for your Halloween party. Chocolate lovers will instantly fall in love with this dark chocolate cake!

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate Cake

  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups dark cocoa powder
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 4 cups sugar
  • 1 cup butter melted
  • 2 cups milk
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups boiling water

Nutella Buttercream

  • 1 1/2 cups butter
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup Nutella
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder

Chocolate Spiders (optional)

  • semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Arrange an oven rack in the reheat the oven to 350ºF.  Spray 4 9-inch round baking pans with nonstick cooking spray.  Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper, then lightly spray the paper with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  • In the bowl of a mixer, mix together the sugar and the butter.  Add in the milk, eggs and vanilla, and mix until combined.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Pour in the boiling water and gently mix until combined.  The batter will be thin.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the 4 pans.  Bake in until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.  (Don’t be alarmed if your cakes puff up and then fall in the center.  They will probably fall a little, but you will even the cakes out and can use the scraps to decorate the cake.)
  • Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the outside of the pan and turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.  Remove the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes. 
  • At this point, you can wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and refrigerate them or freeze them, which will make decorating the cake easier, or you can proceed to assembling the cake as long as they are cooled completely.
  • To make the buttercream, cream the butter in a mixer until smooth and creamy.  Add in the powdered sugar, a little at a time, until fully incorporated.  Mix in the Nutella, vanilla and salt and beat until light and fluffy.  Add as much cream as needed to make the frosting a spreading consistency, adding a teaspoon at a time.  If making the spiders and the spiderweb, transfer 1/2 cup of the frosting to another bowl and mix in the 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder.
  • To make the spider legs, place some chocolate chips in a ziplock bag.  Microwave on 50% power in 15 second increments until the chocolate chips have melted.  Cut a small corner off the bag, and pipe out legs in the shape of a 7 onto a piece of waxed paper on a baking sheet.  Transfer to the freezer until you are ready to decorate the cake.
  • To assemble the cake: Level each of the cake layers, reserving the scraps.  Place one layer on a cake stand or serving plate.  Top with some of the buttercream and spread in an even layer to the edged.  Top with another cake layer, then more buttercream.  Repeat with another cake layer, more buttercream, and then the final cake layer.  Spread a thin layer of frosting over the outside of the cake.  Refrigerate the cake for 10-15 minutes.
  • While the cake is in the refrigerator, take the reserved scraps of cake and crumble them as best as you can.  The cake is very moist, so if the scraps aren’t crumbling, you can put them on a baking sheet and place them in a 250ºF oven to dry them out a bit, which will help.
  • Use the remainder of the frosting to go over the cake, making sure it is covered evenly.
  • Take the reserved 1/2 cup of frosting and place it in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.  Starting in the center of the cake, make a spiral for the spider web.  Using a toothpick, starting at the center, gently pull out through the frosting to pull the lines of the darker buttercream, forming the spider web.  With the remaining buttercream, pipe out the heads and bodies of the spiders.  (Make sure you don’t make more spiders than you have legs, though.)  Remove the chocolate legs from the freezer and place 8 legs on each spider.
  • Take the cake crumbs and gently press them into the outside of the cake. 

Recipe Notes:

Spiders inspired by the Cooking Channel
Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1slice, Calories: 617kcal (31%), Carbohydrates: 86g (29%), Protein: 6g (12%), Fat: 31g (48%), Saturated Fat: 18g (113%), Cholesterol: 100mg (33%), Sodium: 242mg (11%), Fiber: 3g (13%), Sugar: 66g (73%)
Keywords: chocolate cake, halloween dessert, layer cake

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Recipe Rating




5 Star Reviews

Great Recipe

My neighbor need 1 Tbsp of Nutella and her boyfriend bought a 20 oz jar! She knows I bake and asked if I would use it. Yes and I was on the search for a recipe and found this one and so excited to make it cause I had never tasted Nutella. It is truly the best chocolate cake I have ever baked. I used smaller pans so my 4 layers were very thick. (I knew that ahead of time). I had to bake them for 40 min due to size, they did not fall in the center and were very level, I didn’t have to add cream to the frosting and only had enough frosting for 3 layers. Mine was a bit naked also but I took the 4th layer, crumbled that and added to the sides of the cake. This will be my go to chocolate cake and I am going to try different frostings on it. Great Recipe!
Laurel

Amazing

i just made it… it come out amazing.
Alessandra

Awesome Cake

This is an awesome cake! I made it and shared with several friends. They all raved about how good this cake is, even those who said they don’t like dark chocolate. I followed the recipe as written, except for the decorations. Great recipe! Thanks for posting it.
Debbie

Loved This Cake

I made this today for our 15 year wedding anniversary. My husband and son LOVED this cake! Seriously, one of the best and most impressive looking cakes I have ever made. Minus spiders and eyeballs…since it is April. Hahaha. THANK YOU!
Paojava

Comments

  2. Siska says

    If i don’t have challenge butter, since it’s impossible to look for it in my country, is it okay if i used any regular butter?
    The cake is so tempting..

    Thx

    Reply

  4. Anna says

    Does the butter in the recipe is like completely melted or more softened like? I have never used melted butter in cake recipes but i’m dying for this cake lol

    Reply

  5. Memoria says

    I have never heard or seen Challenge butter. I’ll look out for it from here on out. I use the same chocolate cake recipe! Also, I’ve tried a Nutella buttercream recipe very similar to yours, but everyone found it too sweet because Nutella is already sweet, and 3 cups of powdered sugar proved to be overkill. I plan to try out this buttercream again with half the sugar to see how it turns out. Anyway, gorgeous photos! they are so clear!

    Reply

  11. Lisa says

    What a cute cake!! I don’t usually make butter based cakes because I love how oil keeps cakes nice and moist but that looks so good, I’ll have to try it. I won’t have time to make this in time for Halloween so I’m bummed that I won’t be able to use this theme but I surely will make it for another occasion. Thanks!!

    Reply

  12. Sandra says

    OH MY! I have a tried and true chocolate cake recipe that I rarely stray from, but I have to try this recipe. It looks amazing. I recently ordered 2 copies of your Red Velvet Lovers cookbook (one for me and one for my daughter in law). It shipped today and I’m excited to get them!

    Reply

      • Sandra says

        5 stars
        Received my copies of Red Velvel Lovers Cookbook and can’t wait to give the recipes a try. Hard to decide which one will be first.

        I made this incredibly moist and decident chocolate cake for a fundraiser, raising $300. It was AMAZING! It got so many compliments, both the taste and design. Thank you so much!