S’mores Cake. Chocolate Cake, filled with Marshmallow Frosting, and covered in Chocolate Fudge Frosting.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cake, smores
Prep Time 3 hourshours10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Total Time 3 hourshours40 minutesminutes
Servings 12people
Calories 460kcal
Author Camila
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
1 1/2cupsall-purpose flour(183 grams, 6.4 oz)
1/2cupunsweetened cocoa powder(62 grams, 2.1 oz)
1 1/2teaspoonbaking powder
1teaspoonbaking soda
3/4teaspoonfine sea salt
2eggs
1 1/3cupssugar(266 grams, 9.3 oz)
1/4cupcanola oil59 ml
2/3cupmilk157 ml
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
2/3cuphot brewed coffee (read notes)157 ml
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
2/3cupdark chocolatechopped (113 grams, 4 oz)
3cupspowdered sugar(382 grams, 13.5 oz)
2tablespoonscocoa powder
1cupunsalted buttersoftened (226 grams, 8 oz)
1teaspoonvanilla extract
3-4tablespoonsmilk
Marshmallow Frosting
2egg whites
100gramsgranulated sugar(1/2 cup, 3.5 oz.)
1/4teaspooncream of tartar
1/8teaspoonfine sea salt
1teaspoonvanilla extract
To assemble
1cupgraham cracker crumbs(121 grams, 4.3 oz, about 8 crackers)
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
This recipe makes for 4-6” round cakes.
Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Butter 4-6" cake pans and place a parchment paper circle in the bottom of pans. Butter parchment. Set aside.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder, if using it instead of coffee. Set aside.
Whisk eggs together in a large bowl for about 30 seconds.
Add sugar and keep whisking for about 1 minute, until brightened in color.
Add oil to the bowl. Whisk until combined.
Add milk and vanilla extract.
Pour dry ingredients over wet mixture.
Fold with a spatula slowly, until ingredients are just combined.
If you see big clumps of cocoa powder, you can use the whisk to try to smooth the batter out.
Once batter is incorporated, pour hot coffee in the bowl. Whisk until combined.
Batter will be thin and runny. It’s ok! Totally fine!
Pour evenly onto baking pans.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 10-20 min. After the 10 minute mark, keep checking regularly, because you don’t want to burn your cakes or overbake them. Remove them from the oven once a toothpick comes our clean once inserted in the cake.
Once you remove it from the oven, wait 10 minutes, flip cakes onto a cookie cooling rack and let cakes cool.
Once cool, wrap each layer individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. I like to leave my layers in the fridge for quite a bit so they can firm up and make it easier to assemble and decorate the cake. Specially an oil based cake such as this one, which is a super moist and fluffy cake.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Start by melting the chopped dark chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Make sure to chop the chocolate finely, so it’s easier to melt it.
Let it cool until it isn’t warm to the touch any longer.
While the chocolate cools down, you can gather the rest of the ingredients.
Sift powdered sugar and cocoa powder together. Set aside.
Place butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Cream butter for about 2 minutes on medium speed.
Turn mixer off, add sifted powdered sugar and cocoa powder to the bowl.
Turn mixer on low to combine the ingredients together.
Once they are combined, you can turn the speed up. Cream on medium high for about 30 seconds.
Add melted chocolate, mix until combined.
Add vanilla, milk and cream frosting on medium high for 45 seconds.
Check for consistency. If frosting is too thick and dry, add a bit more milk, about 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing in between.
If the mixture is too runny, there might be two options. You may either add some more sifted powdered sugar. Or it may be the case that your butter or chocolate were too warm when you made the frosting, or your kitchen might be too warm. In this situation, you want to cover your frosting bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for a few minutes, about 10 or so. Cream frosting again, and check for the consistency.
Marshmallow Frosting
Mix all ingredients, except for the vanilla extract together in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water over medium heat.
Whisk mixture while it sits in the double boiler.
Keep whisking over simmering water until it reaches 140F.
That way the egg whites will be in a safe temperature to be consumed.
Move bowl to the mixer.
Whip with the whisk attachment for about 5 minutes on high speed.
Add vanilla and mix to combine.
To assemble
Brush each layer of the cake with simple syrup.
For each layer, simply pipe a ring of the Chocolate Fudge Frosting on the edge of the cake, so the Marshmallow Frosting that is going in the filling won’t slip out and drip to the sides. Fill each layer with Marshmallow Frosting.
Cover the cake with the Chocolate Fudge Frosting.
Spread some Graham Cracker crumbs on the sides of the cake.
Top with some of the Chocolate Fudge Frosting and then the Marshmallow Frosting on top.
Use a blow torch to toast the Marshmallow Frosting.
Storage
Store this cake in the fridge, covered for up to 5 days. You may freeze the Chocolate Fudge Frosting for up to 2 months, in case you have leftovers of it. Don't freeze the marshmallow frosting, because since it's a meringue, it will be unstable and collapse after a while.
Notes
Notes: If you don’t want to use coffee in the cake batter, you can use boiling water. Just mix 1 teaspoon of espresso powder in with the dry ingredients or skip it all together.