Chocolate Cafe Au Lait Cake
Devil’s food cake loaded with chocolate chips, walnuts, and graham cracker crumbs, then layered with coffee-kissed whipped cream. A semi-homemade showstopper that starts with a box mix but finishes like a bakery original.
YIELD
1 cakePREP
20 minCOOK
35 minREADY
1 hrsThink of this as the love child of a campfire s’more and your favorite coffeehouse mocha.
Graham cracker crumbs, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and chopped walnuts get pressed right into devil’s food cake batter before baking, creating a crunchy, nutty layer that stays put through every slice.
The real magic? A cloud of whipped cream spiked with instant coffee powder that makes the whole thing taste like a chocolate cafe au lait in cake form.
It starts with a box mix, so you can pull this together on a weeknight, but nobody at the table needs to know that.
Kitchen Tips
- Chill your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10 minutes before whipping the cream. Cold equipment equals stiffer peaks, faster.
- Don’t frost the top of the cake. That crumb-chip-walnut crust is the star, so let it shine.
- Swap the instant coffee for espresso powder if you want a deeper, bolder coffee punch.
- Store in the fridge since the whipped cream frosting won’t hold up at room temperature.
Ingredients
Directions
Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over low heat, or in a 1-quart glass bowl in a microwave oven on High 1 to 1¼ minutes.
Stir in graham cracker crumbs and let cool. When cool, stir in chocolate chips and walnuts; set aside. Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Turn batter into prepared pans. Sprinkle crumb-walnut-chocolate chip mixture over cake batter, dividing evenly between pans. Using fingertips or back of a spoon, lightly press mixture into batter. Bake cake as package directs (30 to 35 minutes), or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cakes from oven; let cool completely in pans before unmolding. Keep layers crumb side up. In a medium bowl, beat cream, coffee powder, and powdered sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff. Place one cooled cake layer, crumb side up, on a serving plate. Spread three quarters of whipped cream mixture over cake. Top with remaining cake layer, crumb side up. Frost sides of cake with remaining whipped cream; do not frost top of cake.
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