This Chocolate Wedding Cake recipe has three layers of chocolate cake covered with white buttercream frosting and chocolate shavings on top.

This chocolate wedding cake recipe is the perfect, easy solution for making your own wedding cake. It turns out perfect every time, and it’s delicious frosted with White Buttercream Frosting.  Watch the video showing you how to make this recipe, then scroll to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can bake this cake at home!

Bake Your Own Wedding Cake!

If you’re having a small wedding, or if you are on a strict budget, you might consider making your own wedding cake (or having a family member do it for you.  This is a very simple recipe, and I have suggestions for you on how you can make a smaller cake like this and still feed all of your guests with the same cake.  And if you prefer white cake, I have a very popular recipe for White Wedding Cake too. 

You don’t have to be a professional cake decorator to bake your own wedding cake.  I’ve always had an interest in baking, but I wouldn’t say I have any kind of special talent that is above any other avid baker. I had a friend ask me to make her a cake and cupcakes at her wedding. I had her taste test a bunch of different cakes, and this is one of the recipes she chose.

What makes this cake special?

If you tasted this chocolate wedding cake without knowing, you’d be very surprised to learn that it’s a doctored up cake mix. I know that sounds crazy (and maybe awful to some people), but everyone loves this cake and no one can tell it starts with a box. The ingredients added to the recipe improve the flavor of the traditional boxed mix.

For so many years now, recipes for my chocolate wedding cupcakes and white wedding cake cupcakes have been website favorites. Now I’ve finally made the chocolate wedding cupcakes into a full-sized chocolate wedding cake!

What Kind of Frosting is Best for a Wedding Cake?

Part of the appeal of this cake is the frosting recipe that is paired with it.  I call it, “Wedding Cupcake Buttercream.”  It has wonderful flavor, and it’s perfect for piping if you want to make a few decorations here and there.  I wrote a post devoted to Wedding Cupcake Buttercream with a ton of details about how to pipe decorations, as well as a video that shows you how to make it, so be sure to check that out.

How to Bake a Cake for Your Own Wedding:

This recipe makes a three layer cake.  You can use three 9-inch pans or three 8-inch pans (I recommend using 8-inch). And you’ll frost it just as you would frost a two-layer cake, with frosting in between layers.  If you’d like, you can put the remaining frosting in a piping bag and use it to create a simple border around the top and bottom edges. I like to grate some chocolate shavings onto the top of the cake because that helps make it look a little more fancy.  It also gives everyone a hint that there’s probably chocolate cake under all of that frosting! I’ve also used this recipe to make a 14-inch round cake too for other kinds of celebrations.

Obviously this recipe won’t be enough to feed everyone at your wedding.  You’ll get 14 servings out of it.  So what I suggest is baking this cake for display and tasting.  Then use this same recipe to make Chocolate Wedding Cupcakes for your guests. That’s what I did for my a friend of mine, and it made for very pretty display at her small wedding.  I wrote a long post about How to Make Wedding Cupcakes, so that’s worth reading too!

If you’re looking for more recipes that are great for homemade weddings, consider these:

• White Wedding Cake Cupcakes
• Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
• Cream Cheese Mints
• Vintage Wedding Dessert Table
• Sugar Free Chocolate Cupcakes
• Sugar Free Chocolate Frosting
• White Wedding Cake
• Wedding Cupcake Buttercream

Print

Chocolate Wedding Cake

Three layer chocolate wedding cake recipe with white buttercream frosting and chocolate shavings on top.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cake, chocolate, wedding

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 14 servings

Calories 643kcal

Author RecipeGirl.com

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

• One 15.25-ounce box chocolate cake mix (any brand- pudding in the mix is best)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1⅓ cups milk
• 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 large eggs

WHITE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:

• 4½ cups powdered sugar
• 1½ cups (3 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract (use clear extract if you want it really white)
• 3 to 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

TOPPING:

• shaved chocolate (semisweet or bittersweet)

Instructions

BAKE THE CAKE:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch round pans. It's easiest to get the cake out of the pans if you line them with rounds of parchment paper too.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix, flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Add the remaining ingredients and beat with a hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended.
• Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Be sure to fill them ¾ to 1-inch below the top of the pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Watch closely- check after 35 minutes and then every 5 minutes until they test done. Time will vary based on which pans you choose to use.  Let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

ADD THE FROSTING:

• In a large bowl, with a hand or stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter on low speed. Mix until well blended. Increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and 3 tablespoons of cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more. Add more cream if needed for desired spreading/piping consistency.
• You may find that the layers are a bit moist on the surface, so just be careful when handling and frosting. Place one layer of the cake on a serving plate. Spoon a dollop of the frosting on the first layer and spread to cover. Place the second layer of cake on the first.  Spread another thin layer of frosting on the second layer. Add the third layer of cake.  Spread frosting on the top and then down the sides of the cake to cover. 
• NOTE: you may wish to do a thin crumb layer on the cake and refrigerate before frosting the whole cake (if it appears that chocolate crumbs are showing up in the frosting on the sides.)

Video

Notes

• You should have enough frosting left over to add some decorations. Scoop the remaining frosting into a piping bag and pipe decoratively onto the cake. See my White Wedding Cake recipe for similar pics: https://bit.ly/3fXDMvo
• Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve—you’ll get cleaner cuts.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 643kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 125mg | Sodium: 621mg | Potassium: 225mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 66g | Vitamin A: 959IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 114mg | Iron: 2mg

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