This Tuxedo Cake is rich and beautifully layered with creamy, chocolatey flavors. An elegant dessert that’s perfect for any special occasion.
This cake perfectly combines sweet vanilla with rich dark chocolate both in the cake and frosting. For more decadent layered Cakes try my Chocolate Mousse Cake or Pink Velvet Cake.
Why You’ll Love This Tuxedo Cake?
- Every bite feels indulgent, with beautiful layers that make this cake just as impressive to look at as it is to eat.
- It’s the kind of dessert that feels extra special from the very first slice.
Sabrina’s Tuxedo Cake Recipe
Tuxedo Cake is a chocolate lovers’ dream with multiple layers of tender and sweet dark cake covered in a decadent dark frosting. The layers of frosting in the filling add a lovely, contrasting vanilla flavor and beautiful white and dark brown layers to give the cake its name.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Dark Chocolate Cake:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large egg
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot coffee
Dark Chocolate Frosting:
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter , softened
- 2 cups unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 9 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Filling:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
Dark Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and dust with a little extra dark cocoa powder two 9 inch cake pans.
- In a stand mixer on low speed mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla then add it to the stand mixer on low until just combined.
- Add in the hot coffee carefully and stir it in by hand until just combined (do not turn on the mixer, it may splash on you).
- Pour half of the batter into each of the pans and bake for 30-35 minutes then remove and let cool completely before frosting.
Dark Chocolate Frosting:
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan and whisk in the cocoa powder then remove from the heat and let cool.
- Add the cooled chocolate mixer to your stand mixer and whip on medium speed adding the powdered sugar and milk, alternating them ⅓ at a time, and finally add the vanilla in last.
- If the frosting is too thick, add a bit more milk.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
- To your stand mixer on low speed cream the butter then start adding in the powdered sugar in ½ cup increments until fully combined, then raise the speed to medium-high for 2 additional minutes.
- Add in the vanilla and heavy cream and beat until light and fluffy for an additional minute.
To Frost:
- Trim off any top peak of the cake to it's flat and even.
- Cut each cake in half horizontally to make 4 even layers.
- Add one bottom layer of the cake to a cake stand or serving plate.
- Spread a 1 cup of dark chocolate frosting over the cake.
- Add 1 cup of vanilla buttercream and spread evenly. Note: reserve some of this frosting for the top of the cake.
- Repeat with remaining layers ending with the last layer of cake.
- Add 1 cup of chocolate frosting around and top the cake in a thin crumb coat layer.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set the frosting.
- Remove from refrigerator and spread remaining frosting over the cake evenly and pipe swirly mounds around the top of the cake (alternate chocolate and vanilla buttercream swirls).
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
To make a gluten-free version of this cake recipe, you can swap out the regular all-purpose flour for a gluten-free alternative. Keep in mind that using gluten-free flour can make baked goods more dense.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
Moist, dark chocolate cake layers, sweet buttercream, and dark chocolate frosting make this an excellent celebration cake. I like bringing this recipe out for birthdays, holidays, or other special occasions. If you bake it for a birthday cake, you can always top it off with colorful birthday sprinkles for a more festive look.
What is Tuxedo Cake?
Tuxedo Cake can mean slightly different things depending on the baker making it. It’s always made with moist, dark chocolate cake. Some recipes call for layers of white chocolate mousse and dark chocolate mousse, while others use white and dark frosting, and still others use ganache. The key factor for the recipe is that there are layers of white with layers of black (dark chocolate) in the decadent cake.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour: To give the cake recipe an extra soft, tender crumb, use cake flour.
- 2 cups sugar: Sweeten the cake batter with granulated sugar.
- ¾ cups unsweetened dark cocoa powder: Using dark cocoa powder gives the cake a rich, dark color and deep chocolatey flavor. You’ll need another 2 cups of unsweetened dark cocoa powder to flavor the chocolate frosting. You could also use Dutch process cocoa powder for a smoother, more velvety chocolate cake flavor.
- Leavening agents: Use 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda and 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder as the leavening agents to make the cake lift in the oven.
- 2 large eggs: Eggs act as a binding agent to give the stability and structure of the cake.
- ¾ cup whole milk: Mixing milk into the batter adds flavor and makes a tender cake crumb. You’ll also want ½ cup of whole milk for the dark chocolate frosting and another 3 tablespoons for the buttercream filling.
- ½ cup unsalted butter: Melt the butter and add it to the cake batter to enrich the mixture and add moisture.
- 1 cup hot coffee: Coffee thins out the cake batter, enhances the chocolate flavor, adds depth, and makes the cake more moist. You could use hot water, but adding acidic coffee truly transforms the cake.
- Softened butter: To make light and fluffy frosting, beat softened unsalted butter with light powdered sugar. The butter mixture traps air pockets for a fluffy consistency. It also gives the frosting a rich, velvety flavor. You’ll need 1 ½ cups unsalted butter for the chocolate frosting and ¾ cup unsalted butter for the buttercream filling.
- Powdered sugar: Use 9 cups powdered sugar to sweeten the dark chocolate frosting and 5 cups powdered sugar for the buttercream filling.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- 9-inch cake pans: Bake the chocolate cakes in two 9″ round cake pans. The batter should fill the cake pans high, making two thick cakes that you can slice in half for four layers.
- Stand mixer: Use a stand mixer to combine the cake batter ingredients and the frosting ingredients. You could also use a large mixing bowl and handheld electric mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer.
- Small bowl: Whisk the wet ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.
- Rubber spatula: Use a spatula to slowly stir the coffee into the cake batter.
- Saucepan: To prepare the buttery chocolate base for the chocolate frosting, melt the cocoa powder and butter together in a large saucepan.
- Wire rack: Let the cake completely cool on wire racks before frosting.
- Serrated knife: Cut the cake into 4 even layers using a serrated knife.
- Frosting spatula: Use a cake icing spatula, cake scraper, or butter knife to spread the frosting over the cake layers.
Can this be made ahead of time?
You can make this cake recipe a few days in advance and store it in the fridge for 3-4 days. Letting the cake chill in the fridge allows the frosting and cake layers to set before slicing, so making it at least a few hours ahead of serving is ideal.
Serving Ideas
A slice of Tuxedo Cake makes the ultimate rich, chocolatey, decadent dessert. If you want creamy vanilla flavor to balance out the dark chocolate, you can serve the cake with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream on the side. If you’re a true chocoholic and want even more goodness, you can drizzle Chocolate Ganache over the dark chocolate cake before serving.
How to Store
- Serve: Let it thaw in the fridge before serving.
- Store: If you have any leftover cake, you can keep it fresh in the fridge. Cover the cake in plastic wrap, or place leftover cake slices in an airtight container to store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: To freeze this recipe, you can carefully wrap cake slices and seal them in a freezer bag. Kept frozen, the recipe can stay good for up to 3 months.
Variations
- White Chocolate Ganache: Instead of vanilla buttercream, you can make a white chocolate filling to contrast with the dark chocolate flavors. Melt 3 ounces of heavy cream and 8 ounces of white chocolate chips together. Stir the mixture together into a smooth ganache with a spreadable consistency. For regular chocolate ganache, you can swap out the white chocolate mixture for semisweet chocolate chips.
- Toppings: To decorate the rich chocolate cake, add fresh berries, chocolate shavings, white chocolate curls, dark chocolate chips, or milk chocolate chips over the top layer of frosting.
- Nuts: To give the moist cake a delightful crunch, you can mix chopped almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts into the chocolate cake batter.
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