Name: Black Cocoa Cake with a Spooky Cat Design
Prep time: 1 h 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 ⅔ cup (200 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled; ½ cup (50 grams) black cocoa powder; 1 cup (215 grams) granulated sugar; 2 tsp espresso powder; 1 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp kosher salt; ⅔ cup (145 grams) canola oil; 3 full eggs at room temperature; ¼ cup (45 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar; ⅓ cup (80 grams) buttermilk, room temperature; 4 T (55 grams) full fat greek yogurt or sour cream; 1 T vanilla extract; ⅔ cup (150 grams) water, very hot (nearly boiling); 2 and ½ sticks (283 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 cup (110 grams) black cocoa powder; ⅔ cup (60 grams) natural cocoa powder; 5 cups (650 grams) powdered sugar; ⅓ cup (75 grams) heavy cream, room temperature; 1 T vanilla extract; 3-4 drops of black food gel; Pinch of salt (more or less to taste); Optional but helpful: A few tablespoons of milk to help thin the frosting

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This stunning black cocoa cake is not only visually striking but also brings a smooth, intense chocolate flavor. The batter comes together easily in just a few mixing bowls—no need for a stand mixer until you make the luxurious buttercream. And how cute is this little black cat?! But if cake decorating isn't your thing, you can easily skip the design and simply coat these layers with your frosting.

Jump to:

📋 Dark Chocolate Cake Ingredients
Best Results: Baking in Grams
Recipe Substitutions and Variations
📖 Steps for Baking this Moist Black Velvet Cake
Tools Needed for Making this Cake Design
Biggest Secret for Creating a True Black Frosting: Time
Creating Smooth, Spreadable Frosting
💡 Most Important Advice for Piping with a Shag Tip
🐈‍⬛ Instructions for Making the Frosting Recipe and Stacking this Black Cat Cake
💭 Cake Storage and Serving Instructions
Tips for Perfecting this Black Cocoa Cake
More Related Recipes
Black Cocoa Cake with a Spooky Cat Design

Whether you're celebrating Halloween or just love a dark, moody dessert, this crowd-pleaser is sure to impress! Serve it alongside these homemade pumpkin sugar cookies with buttercream for a fun Halloween pairing.

And the black cocoa powder in this cake has been such an MVP for me in baking. So much so that I have put it in black velvet cupcakes, homemade black frosting, and chewy black cookies. If you didn't know, it's also the key ingredient in Oreo cookies that gives them their distinctive (read: amazing) and rich chocolate flavor.

People will be so impressed when they discover that there’s literally NO food gel coloring in the black layer cake, either, and the frosting just has three drops to give it that luscious dark color!

📋 Dark Chocolate Cake Ingredients

In the recipe card below, you'll find all the ingredients you need for making this moist cake. I highlight a few of the key ones and why they're important.

Ultra Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder - Also known as alkalized cocoa powder, this dark cocoa powder has been treated with an alkalizing agent. As a result, compared to regular cocoa powder, it has a smoother, milder flavor with less bitterness. This ingredient is also less readily available in grocery stores; I've ordered mine online and use the Wincrest brand.
Espresso powder - Enhances chocolate flavor (optional).
Canola or vegetable oil (or another flavorless oil) - Oil helps keep these layers moist for days and also neutral in flavor.
Buttermilk - Buttermilk is a common ingredient in chocolate cake recipes because it helps tenderize and moisten the cake. It adds moisture and tang as well as helping the cake rise.
Hot water - Hot coffee or hot water are often used in chocolate cake recipes because they intensify chocolate flavor.

Best Results: Baking in Grams

If you’re not already, use a kitchen scale for accuracy in baking.

While I include cups and grams in my recipe cards, weighing your ingredients and writing or following a recipe using a standard metric like grams ensures consistency.

I highly recommend investing $30 or less in a kitchen scale.

Recipe Substitutions and Variations

Alternative to black cocoa powder - If you’re unable to get your hands on this ingredient, check out this chocolate cake with strawberry filling.

For it, I just buy the Hershey’s ultra dark powder at the grocery store, and you could sub it into this recipe or go with that one.

Ditch the cake decorating - Also, if you don't feel like decorating a cake like a cat, don't!

Instead of creating the design here, simply pipe and spread black buttercream all around your cake. This recipe will give you enough frosting (and some extra) to do that.

📖 Steps for Baking this Moist Black Velvet Cake

Preheat your oven to 350°F and dive into the steps below.

Cake pans coated with cocoa powder for a chocolate cake.

Step 1: Line three six-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.

Alternatively, you can generously butter the pans and coat with cocoa powder or use non-stick baking spray.

Unlike some recipes for vanilla or light-colored cakes, we don't flour the pans for this chocolate cake recipe. The white flour would contrast with the dark brown color of the layers, so cocoa powder is necessary.

Dry ingredients for black cocoa cake in a bowl.

Step 2: To a large bowl, add and whisk together all-purpose flour, brown sugar and granulated sugar, dutch processed cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and kosher salt. Set aside.

Bowl of light-colored wet ingredients for cake batter.

Step 3: In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together your vanilla extract, eggs, greek yogurt or sour cream, buttermilk, and oil.

Step 4: Pour your hot water into the bowl of dry ingredients (flour mixture) so your cocoa powder can bloom. Mix until fully combined. Then pour bowl of other ingredients to this one and mix again until all ingredients are fully incorporated.

Step 5: Evenly divide and pour batter into your prepared cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the center of the cake bounces back at the touch of your finger.

Three layers of black cake, cooling on wire racks.

Step 6: For best results, let the cake layers cool in pans for about 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

Tools Needed for Making this Cake Design

Four piping bags and at least three open circle piping tips.
A large shag cake tip (like tip 234 from Wilton) OR as an alternative, you can use an open star tip for a different texture on your cake
An offset spatula to spread frosting onto the cake’s top
Stand and/or hand mixer for making your frosting
A few smaller bowls for mixing your frosting: One for your black, one for your green (the eyes), and one for the gray nose. I recommend leaving a little while frosting aside so you can add it as you go. It’s nearly impossible to turn black frosting white, so having white on reserve is a good and safe move!
A cake stand or turntable for decorating While not totally necessary, it really helps to have a flat, steady surface where you can place your cake and rotate it as decorate it and cover its sides and top.
A cake circle for your cake. This will help you lift and transport it once baked and frosted.
Wax or parchment paper - You’ll pipe the cat ears onto this paper and freeze it so you can later affix it to your cake.
Food gels to dye your cat’s fur. I like Wilton food gel, though here I used Americolor's super black food coloring.

Up-close image of piping tips used to decorate this cat cake.

Biggest Secret for Creating a True Black Frosting: Time

To save yourself energy of whipping your frosting and melting it until it’s black, I make my frosting on one day and apply to the cake the next.

Letting it rest overnight at room temperature helps give the dark color time to deepen.

Check out my blog post on black frosting with black cocoa powder for a deep dive into making this buttercream.

Creating Smooth, Spreadable Frosting

This black buttercream is thick!

To ease the decorating process, I recommend setting aside a half cup of room temperature milk and pouring a little bit into your bowl of black frosting as you go before loading it into your piping bag.

If you’re having trouble moving the frosting with a spatula in the bowl, it will also be difficult to pipe.

Milk will help loosen the texture into a spreadable consistency.

💡 Most Important Advice for Piping with a Shag Tip

The most important thing about piping with a grass tip: You must press your tip against the cake and make sure buttercream has connected with the cake before pulling it away.

Action shot of piping black fur onto a black velvet cake with a large grass piping tip.

Action shot of piping black fur onto a black velvet cake.

It’s an easy and forgiving decorating style to learn. Just be sure you’re pressing the tip against your cake to create this effect.

🐈‍⬛ Instructions for Making the Frosting Recipe and Stacking this Black Cat Cake

Mixing bowl of butter and powdered sugar to make almond frosting.

Step 1: Make Buttercream:
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, heavy cream, and salt for 2-3 minutes.

Step 2: Prepare White Frosting:
Set aside ⅓ cup of the white frosting for the eyes and nose.

Step 3: Color the Frosting:
Add cocoa powders and black food gel to the remaining frosting, mixing until charcoal gray. To darken, melt small amounts of frosting (about ¼ cup) for 5 seconds, then mix back in.

Rest frosting overnight at room temperature to deepen the color.

Step 4: Color the Details: Dye a few spoonfuls of white frosting green for eyes.

Mix another small portion of white frosting with black for a gray nose.

Three layers of black cocoa cake stacked onto one another.

Step 5: Assemble the Cake: Spread black frosting onto a cake circle to secure the first cake layer. Stack and frost each one.

Overhead image of stacked black velvet cake layers.

Step 6: Applying Frosting: Spread a thin layer of black buttercream on the top of the cake.

Using a cooke cutter as an outline on a cake to pipe eyes onto it.

Step 7: Outline the Face: Use toothpicks or small cookie cutters for a guide to fill in the eyes and nose.

Step 8: Pipe the face: With your round open piping tips, create the green eyes and gray nose onto the cake.

A black nose gets lost in the overall design later so this contrast is good.

Smoothing out black cocoa cake details with a small offset spatula.

Step 9: Clean up the design: As needed, smooth out frosting with your smaller spatula.

Piping black frosting to make cat eats for this Halloween cake.

Step 10: Prepare the Ears: Pipe two black buttercream triangles onto wax paper and freeze.

Action shot of piping black buttercream onto this black velvet cake.

Step 9: Pipe the Fur: With a large grass piping tip, start from the base and work upwards, pressing and pulling away to create fur. Work around the eyes and nose.

Overhead image of the finished black cat cake.

Step 10: Finish the Black Cocoa Cake: Attach the frozen ears, and pipe a gray line for the mouth.

💭 Cake Storage and Serving Instructions

Serving and refrigerating - This cake will remain most fresh if stored in the refrigerator for no more than five days.

If possible, bring out the cake about 30 minutes before serving so that it can reach room temperature. This will make it more moist, giving it the best flavor and texture.

Freezing - This cake will freeze pretty well for 3 months. Store slices in wax or parchment paper in an airtight container.

Tips for Perfecting this Black Cocoa Cake

Let cake layers cool before assembling cake. If the layers are still warm when you pipe frosting onto them, the black buttercream will melt.
For a more flavorful dessert, eat cake the next day. The added time allows the flavors to "marinate" together longer.

Slice of black cocoa cake with a spooky green cat eye on top!

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Black Cocoa Cake with a Spooky Cat Design