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This Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Layer Cake is made with a moist chocolate Kahlua cake covered in Kahlua coffee frosting! It’s seriously so good – you won’t want to share!
Table of Contents
Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Layer Cake
So this past weekend the hubs and I went and looked at some houses. We’ve been considering moving within the area for a while now, but haven’t found the right thing. We’d been looking around on our own and since we haven’t had any luck, we decided to try working with a real estate agent that the hubs knows.
Well we were out looking at some homes Sunday afternoon and it started getting a little late. We knew it could go later, so we brought everything for my evening progesterone shot (for our IVF treatment) with us just in case.
As luck would have it, 6 PM came rolling around and we got the privilege of not only doing our shot while out and about for the first time, but in a new house that was still under construction. We were looking at the house with our real estate agent and the sales person when we excused ourselves to shut ourselves into a room filled with nails, dust, wood and cardboard and try to give me a safe and sanitary shot in the rear/hip. A bit comical actually!
Fortunately the shot went well. 🙂 Our real estate agent knows about our IVF, so it was fine. But still not something you do everyday!
Something I would like to do everyday, however, is eat this cake. Oh my goodness, the flavors! I can’t even handle how good it all is together. You take a bite and your eyes basically roll back into your head because you just can’t deal any other way.
The chocolate cake is richly chocolatey and enhanced by coffee in the batter and 1/2 a cup of Kahlua. Plus, it’s pretty easy to put together. You don’t even need to bust out your mixer if you don’t want to. Just one bowl and a whisk will do the job!
The frosting is a variation of my buttercream with some Kahlua and espresso. Again, the flavor is perfection! And it’s also nice and straight forward to make. You’ve got your butter and shortening (you can always use butter to replace the shortening if you prefer – read why I use it in this post – Vanilla Buttercream Frosting) and powdered sugar first. They form the base of the frosting and to that you add the Kahlua and espresso. You’ll want to heat up the Kahlua a bit and then dissolve the espresso in it and use that to flavor the frosting and thin it out to the right frosting consistency.
Once you’ve got your cakes and frosting, whip the cake together and dig in as fast as you can! This cake is full of moisture, so soft and flavorful – it’s truly delicious! If you have any love for coffee, Kahlua and chocolate, it’s a must try!
Watch How To Make It
SHOP THE RECIPE
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Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Layer Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Total Time: 57 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Kahlua Coffee Chocolate Layer Cake is made with a moist chocolate Kahlua cake covered in Kahlua coffee frosting! It’s seriously so good – you won’t want to share!
Ingredients
CHOCOLATE KAHLUA CAKE
- 2 cups (260g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (414g) sugar
- 3/4 cup (85g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1 cup (240ml) vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (120ml) Kahlua
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (180ml) hot coffee
KAHLUA COFFEE FROSTING
- 7 tbsp (75ml) Kahlua
- 3 tbsp instant espresso powder
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (236g) shortening
- 10 1/4 cups (1208g) powdered sugar
- Chocolate jimmie sprinkles
Instructions
1. Prepare three 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 300°F (148°C).
2. Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and combine.
3. Add the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, Kahlua and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Add the coffee to the cake batter and mix well. Batter will be very thin.
5. Divide the batter evenly between cake pans and bake for 32-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
6. Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.
7. To make the frosting, heat the Kahlua until it just begins to boil, then add the espresso. Stir until dissolved.
8. In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and shortening until smooth.
9. Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
10. Add about half of the Kahlua mixture and mix until smooth.
11. Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
12. Add additional Kahlua mixture until the frosting is the right consistency. If needed, refer to my tutorial on how to get the right frosting consistency.
13. To build the cake, cut the domes off the top of each cake so they are flat.
14. Put the first cake layer on a serving plate and top with 1 cup of frosting. Spread into an even layer.
15. Add the second layer of cake, another cup of frosting and then top the cake with the final layer of cake.
16. Frost the outside of the cake. Use my tutorial for frosting a smooth cake, if desired. Use an icing smoother/decorating comb tool like this one to add a pattern on the sides of the cake.
17. Press some sprinkles into the bottom of the sides of the cake.
18. Pipe some swirls around the top edge of the cake (I use Ateco icing tip #844) and add a few additional sprinkles, then serve.
19. Store the cake in an air tight container. Cake is best for 2-3 days.
Notes
If you’d like a non-alcoholic version of this cake, I’d suggest referring to this chocolate cake. It’s the one that was altered to make this cake and there are several changes that had to be made for the Kahlua cake. You can use regular cocoa and coffee instead of water, like is used in this cake. For the frosting, replace the Kahlua with water and add an additional tablespoon or two of espresso powder, depending on how strong of a coffee flavor you want.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 1089
- Sugar: 121 g
- Sodium: 528.9 mg
- Fat: 56.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 141.1 g
- Protein: 5.8 g
- Cholesterol: 94.1 mg
Enjoy!
I made this this week for a going away party for a colleague (medical field). It was a HUGE hit, everyone loved it. Moist, and fabulous for sure!!! The cake is wonderfully easy to work with once cooled (I froze the layers for a couple of hours before frosting and assembling.
Awesome! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Hi ya
I’m baking my husband a giant birthday cupcake today. I only have a 50ml mini bottle of Kahlua 🫣 Would I be able to add more water to the coffee? I really like the idea of coffee where your non alcoholic doesn’t have the coffee.
I look forward to your reply.
TIA Dèé
You can replace some Kahlua with additional milk or coffee, if that’s what you mean.
I changed the lard for cream cheese. Husbands comment was this is one of the top cakes! Not sure why some aren’t able to bake within the time noted. The cake turned out moist. This is a hit!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
The cake itself is fantastic and really moist. The frosting on the other hand is so sweet I can hardly taste the kahlua and coffee. If I add more kahlua then I have to add more sugar which defeats the purpose.
You can reduce the amount of powdered sugar you add, just keep in mind that the frosting will be thinner.
Could you do this cake in a 9×13 pan ?
Yes, it would probably break around 40 minutes, give or take. And you could likely cut the frosting in half.
Hi! Would you have this in a 6inch recipe?
I would cut the recipe in half, for a cake that’s about 3 1/2 to 4 inches tall. If you want a super tall cake, you could leave it as is.
Is that correct: Only baking soda…not baking powder??
Yes, it’s correct.
Is there a substitute for shortening?
Yes, just use additional butter.
If i make the kahlua coffee cake want to make for son birthday
Recipe said to add coffee
? Is it the espresso instant or in water? ? If hot or cold
I brewed actual coffee, but instant espresso would be fine too. I add it hot.
Can I freeze this cake?
I don’t typically recommend freezing full cakes, but you could certainly try it. Just wrap it well and thaw it in the fridge, so that you don’t get too much condensation forming when it thaws.
In the essence of time, I wonder if you could doctor up a devils food box cake mix, adding Kahlua, and then make the frosting from scratch? If so, would you use 2 cake mixes?
You could certainly try it. I’m guessing 2 cake mixes would be fine.
Made this cake yesterday. There is NO WAY this cake gets done in 35 minutes at the temperature mentioned. It took 1 hour and 10 minutes for me! After that much time there is no flavour of kahlua in the cake at all! Very disappointed. Was misled by the all the 5 star ratings.
There’s simply no way this cake should take that long to bake. Did you put all the batter in one cake pan? I know people ask about doing that sometimes. That’s the only way I can imagine it would’ve taken that long and I would never recommend baking it that way.
Have you tried adding anything in the layers for texture and crunch?
Not with this particular cake, but you certainly could.
Any changes if I want to make this in a 9×13???
You should be able to cut the frosting recipe in half or so.
I have tried this recipe 3 times and every time the cakes come out like pudding. I don’t know what I am doing wrong.. the sides are cooked but the middles are raw. I have increased the dry ingredients and also tired to increase the cooking temp. But neither seemed to work. Any suggestions ?