Chocolate Kahlua Cake
Today's decadent Chocolate Kahlua Cake consists of moist chocolate cake layers brushed with Kahlua, and filled and frosted with a creamy Kahlua espresso buttercream frosting.
The Kahlua flavor in this cake recipe is subtle yet unmistakable- and of course, you can adjust amounts to your liking! This "grown up" chocolate cake is sure to make any special occasion feel even more special. We hope that you enjoy it!
Table of Contents
How to Make a Chocolate Kahlua Cake
You are going to love this amazing cake! You can find the full recipe card further down in this post. This recipe uses the reverse creaming method of mixing, and so the order of ingredients is a bit different than what you may be used to.
The result is a velvety soft, decadent chocolate cake!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch cake pans
- In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk for 1 minute to blend.
- Add softened butter a few pieces at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Mix until the dry ingredients look like coarse sand and the dry ingredients are moistened.
- In a separate bowl whisk these ingredients: eggs, milk , Kahlua, oil and vanilla extract until blended.
- With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add approximately half of the egg and milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 1 ½ minutes at medium speed. Don't mix above medium speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in two pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each pour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
- Slowly add the cup of hot coffee and mix another 30 seconds until blended. The batter will be very runny.
- Pour into the three prepared 8" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes 10 minutes on a rack and then turn out of the pans.
The Kahlua Espresso Frosting
The Kahlua Buttercream is an American Buttercream frosting that combines butter, confectioners sugar, and in this case a little espresso and Kahlua as well!
It is smooth and creamy, super easy to make, and it pipes perfectly. In other words, it's everything that you need in a buttercream frosting.
(Just as a little side note, we prefer to use Dominos Confectioners sugar in our buttercream frosting recipes. There are other brands that don't yield such a smooth result.)
The Kahlua Espresso Syrup: This syrup or glaze is a combination of Kahlua, espresso granules, and a touch of confectioners sugar.
Once dissolved, simply brush over your cake layers to give the cake an added layer of Kahlua flavor.
Assembling the Chocolate Kahlua Cake
When you are ready to begin to assemble the cake, place the first (thawed) cake layer on your cake base or pedestal. Brush the Kahlua Syrup over the layer (you can poke small holes into the cake layer with a wooden skewer to help it seep in).
Spread with a layer of the Kahlua Espresso Buttercream, and repeat these steps for the next two cake layers. Fill in any gaps between the cake layers with frosting.
Frosting and Decorating the Cake
Decorate this delicious Chocolate Kahlua Cake however you like! This batch of Kahlua frosting is enough to fill, frost, an add decorative borders and details.
We frosted the cake on top and around the sides with a very thin layer of frosting (this is the crumb coat.) Then, we chilled for about 15 minutes in the freezer to firm things up before frosting the final coat.
We used the hot knife method of smoothing around the sides of the cake for a smooth finish. This can be achieved by gliding a hot metal spatula or metal bench scraper (heated in hot water) over the freshly frosted cake.
Piping the Borders
For the top border, I used a 2D piping tip to pipe a chunky shell border. For the bottom border, I piped a bead border using a small round tip 3. Then I created another bead border just above it. Finally, using my tip 3, I added dots over the top of the cake.
We have cake decorating videos on Star Tip Buttercream Piping and Round Piping Tips!
Looking for more Boozy Cakes?
If you're looking for more boozy cake recipe options, we've made many over the years! You can find the full roundup of our favorites, from elegant champagne-infused cakes to cocktail inspired recipes in this post: Favorite Boozy Cake Recipes.
We're sharing a few favorites below. Some of our most popular are our Black Forest Cake, Pina Colada Cake, Limoncello Cake, and Pink Champagne Cake!
More Chocolate Cakes
In addition to this rich Chocolate Kahlua Cake recipe, we have so many more fabulous chocolate cake recipes for you to try!
If you love all things chocolate, make sure to hop over to our roundup of The Best Chocolate Cake Recipes! Also, don't miss our full collection of Cake Recipes, including favorite cake recipes from scratch as well as cake mix recipes!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Make sure to check out our full collection of cake recipes, which includes cake recipes from scratch as well as cake mix recipes!
Also, if you are interested in learning more about cake decorating, we have hundreds of free cake decorating tutorials to share with you! You'll find simple cake designs for all sorts of occasions!
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Chocolate Kahlua Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- I use the reverse creaming method with this recipe
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (322g)
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa (lightly spoon into cup then sift) (82g)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda (10g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g)
- 1 cup 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, softened The butter shouldn't be overly soft, but should easily dent when pressed.
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (54g)
- 4 large eggs at room temperature (If in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for five minutes.)
- ½ cup milk (110g)
- ½ cup Kahlua (110g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
- 1 cup hot coffee, it can be instant or brewed (220g)
For the Kahlua Syrup
- ¾ cup hot espresso coffee or strong coffee (165g)(brewed or instant)
- ¼ cup Kahlua (55g)
- 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
For the Kahlua Espresso Buttercream
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (339g)
- 8 cups powdered sugar (920g)
- ½ cup Kahlua (110g)
- 3 teaspoons espresso granules dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water
Instructions
For the Chocolate Kahlua Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and flour three 8 inch cake pans
- In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk for 1 minute to blend.
- Add softened butter a few pieces at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Mix until the dry ingredients look like coarse sand and the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk , Kahlua, oil and vanilla until blended.
- Method is important when using the Reverse Creaming Method. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add approximately ½ of the egg and milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 1 ½ minutes at medium speed. Don't mix above medium speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each pour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
- Slowly add the cup of hot coffee and mix another 30 seconds until blended. The batter will be very runny. Don't worry!
- Pour into 3 prepared 8" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes 10 minutes on a rack and then turn out of the pans.
- *Yields approx 9 cups of batter.
For the Kahlua Espresso Syrup
- Mix coffee, Kahlua and powdered sugar and set aside to cool.
For the Kahlua Espresso Buttercream
- Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Dissolve espresso granules into 1 teaspoon hot water.
- Add half of the powdered sugar, espresso, and half of the Kahlua. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and Kahlua and mix at medium speed another 3 to 6 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
- This recipe makes 6 cups of frosting, enough to fill and frost a three layer 8 inch cake with borders.
- If your consistency is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add a bit more water or milk, a teaspoon at a time.
Assembly of Chocolate Kahlua Cake
- Place the first layer on the cake base or pedestal. Brush over the top with Kahlua Espresso Syrup. Follow with a layer of the Kahlua Espresso Buttercream, and repeat for the next two layers.
- (I frosted the cake and added top border with a 2D piping tip, and bead borders around the base with a small round 3 tip.)
Looks and sounds delish! :-)
What can I substitute for the coffee?
Hi Eunice, If you do not want to use hot coffee in the cake, just use 1 cup of hot water. Having the water hot helps to dissolve the cocoa powder. For the Kahlua syrup, you can just brush over the cakes with straight Kahlua instead.
For the buttercream frosting, leave out the espresso coffee granules. (Kahlua itself does contain coffee)- I hope this helps!
What do you consider low speed and medium speed when mixing?
Melissa, is this cake dense enough for stacking? And all your other delicious cakes? Thanks, Vivian
Yes, it is dense enough for stacking, most of our cakes are.