Chocolate Chip Cake

By Christie Matherne Jump to Recipe

Luscious chocolate morsels scattered across three layers of vanilla cake, covered in a rich buttercream frosting—what more could you want in a cake?

A good friend of mine who lives across the country from me once told me about her lovely birthday ritual. Every year, she bakes a decadent birthday cake for herself. She carefully selects the recipe—the more complicated, the better, it seems—and sets aside a day (or three) to do it. It’s always a different cake, and they are all incredible. Since she told me about her birthday tradition, I’ve been obsessed with the idea and have lined up several cakes to try for my own birthday bake-a-thon. (Thanks, Mandi.)

What’s your ideal birthday cake? The first cake that came to my mind was one that mimics my favorite ice cream flavor: vanilla chocolate chip. But we’re not making a simple sheet cake here; this is for a very important birthday, so let’s make it three layers, with a dazzling and rich buttercream frosting. It will need flowers on top, of course.

What I ended up with was this chocolate chip cake recipe, which uses a few bakery tricks to keep the cake moist and the chocolate chips suspended throughout the layers (rather than all at the bottom). This cake is so visually striking, it will attract all the attention in the room, so invite folks you want to impress!

Top tips for the best chocolate chip cake ever

This cake recipe is relatively easy for most bakers, but it might be a bit overwhelming if you’ve never made a multi-layer cake before. Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind throughout the process.

• Don’t skip tossing the chocolate chips in flour: This is what keeps the chocolate chips distributed evenly throughout your cake layers! The dry coating on the chocolate chips ensures they remain suspended during baking. If you forget to do this, your chips will end up sinking to the bottom.
• Get flat cake layers with baking strips or by trimming: You can use water-soaked strips of old towels tied around your cake pans as DIY baking strips to level out your cake layers during baking. Or, you can trim the tops of the cakes with a serrated knife after the layers cool. Either way, flat cake layers will result in a beautiful cake!
• Use all the simple syrup on the cake layers: Don’t be tempted to go light on the simple syrup—we are not skimping on calories here! The purpose of the simple syrup is to keep the cake moist, so make sure the cake layers soak up all of it! In fact, it’s a good idea to use even amounts of it on each cake layer so they are all evenly moist.

How do I store leftovers?

Leftover cake can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can also freeze this cake, in slices or uncut, in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. I like to flash-freeze slices of cake on a baking sheet until solid, then I move each slice to a freezer bag for storage.

Keep this cake covered and refrigerated until about an hour before you’re ready to serve it. Take it out of the fridge and let it sit out for at least an hour, up to three hours, before serving. Ideally, the cake will be cut at room temperature.

Serving suggestions

Serve this cake with your favorite ice cream! I think it’s lovely with a fruit sorbet or even this Cookies And Cream Ice Cream. If you’re aiming for a deeper decadence, consider drizzling The Best Chocolate Sauce Ever on top of individual slices. Personally, I enjoy each bite with a little bit of Macerated Strawberries.

Chocolate Chip Cake

Christie Matherne

4.44 from 64 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Cooling Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course cake

Cuisine American

Servings 16 servings

Calories 774 kcal

Ingredients

  

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Chocolate Chip Cake:

• 1 cup butter room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 cups flour divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Simple Syrup:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar

Chocolate Chip Buttercream:

• 1 1/2 cups butter room temperature
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

 

Make The Cake:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 3 (8-inch) cake pans with parchment and spray with baking spray. Set aside. 
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. 
• Meanwhile, reserve 2 tablespoons of flour in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining flour with the salt and baking powder. 
• Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture, one at a time, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla. 
• Add a third of the flour mixture to the wet mixture, then add half the milk. Continue adding the flour and milk, ending with the flour, and beat each addition until just incorporated, being careful to not overmix. 
• Toss the mini chocolate chips in the reserved flour, then fold into the batter by hand, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. 
• Divide the batter evenly among the three cake pans. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack, approximately 1 hour. 

Make The Simple Syrup:

• Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Turn off heat and let cool completely.

Make The Buttercream:

• To make the buttercream, beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until pale and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add half of the sugar and beat until well incorporated, then add the remaining sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the heavy cream and beat on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about another 3 to 4 minutes. Gently fold in the mini chocolate chips. 

Assemble The Cake:

• To assemble the cake, brush each cake generously with simple syrup. 
• Dab about a tablespoon of buttercream on the platter or cake board that you're using to decorate your cake. Center the first cake on the board. Spread an even layer of buttercream over the layer, then add the second cake layer. Repeat with the third layer. Frost the sides and top of the cake with remaining buttercream.

Nutrition

Calories: 774kcalCarbohydrates: 108gProtein: 5gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 23gSodium: 443mgFiber: 1g

Keyword cake mix, simple syrup, vanilla

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