Chocolate Vanilla Cake

4.80 from 5 votes

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Chocolate or vanilla?  Can't we have both?  Yes, in this case, you can.A delicious way to hedge your bets

Chocolate Vanilla Cake
Chocolate vanilla cake on a green plate.

Do you have both chocolate and vanilla lovers in your home? I do. So when there is a celebration and you make the mistake of saying, “should I made a chocolate cake or vanilla cake” do you get contradictory answers that are completely unhelpful in sum? I do.

I made this cake on just such an occasion, when a bunch of kids were coming to celebrate a birthday and I couldn’t decide which way to go. In the past I’ve made cakes with one layer of chocolate and one layer of vanilla, but this time I though, “Nah.”

I decided to make a cake that kind of hedged its bets, a chocolate and vanilla birthday cake. A cake with a hint of chocolate, enough so that it could kinda sorta be classified as a chocolate cake (though chocolate lovers would ride me out of town on a rail for saying that), but not enough chocolate to turn off the vanilla-ians. A no man’s land, perhaps, but it became a destination.

Chocolate or vanilla? Can’t we have both? Yes, in this case, you can. A cake that straddles the two favorite flavors.

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I really improvised this recipe as I went along, which means that I am very lucky it turned out ok. I am not usually that kind of person, who has such great baking chops that they can throw recipes to the wind. It was a series of oh-what-the-hell moments. I thought I had a fresh sour cream in the fridge. Nope. Yogurt! I thought I had more cocoa power than I did – 1/2 cup was all that was left in the container, so that’s what I used.

And lo and behold, it turned out quite ok. (Rousing endorsement – it was quite good) Make this Chocolate Vanilla Cake the next time you are feeling wishy washy about that whole chocolate or vanilla cake conundrum.

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4.80 from 5 votes

Chocolate Vanilla Cake

Chocolate or vanilla?  Can’t we have both?  Yes, in this case, you can.A delicious way to hedge your bets
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 12 People

Ingredients 

  • 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter melted
  • cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
  • 1 cup cold water

For the One Pot Chocolate Frosting

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate semisweet will make it too sweet
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • ¼ cup milk plus additional as needed

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Butter and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
  • Make the cake: In a medium bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the butter and the granulated and brown sugar and whisk to combine.  Add the vanilla, yogurt and water and whisk to blend well.  Dump in the flour mixture and whisk to combine (you can also do this with a mixer on low speed).  Turn the mixture into the two prepared cake pans, dividing the batter evenly, and smoothing the top with a spatula.
  • Bake the cakes for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.  Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for 15 minutes, then turn the cakes out of the pans and finish cooling them on the racks.
  • Make the frosting: In a small saucepan melt the butter and the chocolate over low heat, whisking frequently until he chocolate is melted.  Whisk in the salt and vanilla, then add the confectioners’ sugar and ¼ cup milk and whisk until everything is creamy and smooth.  If you want really fluffier and you don’t want to break a sweat, grab that electric mixer and beat away.
  • Frost the cakes with the frosting.

Notes

This is the perfect cake for when you don’t know if you want chocolate or vanilla…but don’t want to make both layers or swirled.

Nutrition

Calories: 609kcal, Carbohydrates: 83g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 29g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Cholesterol: 99mg, Sodium: 416mg, Potassium: 297mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 56g, Vitamin A: 723IU, Calcium: 91mg, Iron: 3mg
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About Katie Workman

Katie Workman is a cook, a writer, a mother of two, an activist in hunger issues, and an enthusiastic advocate for family meals, which is the inspiration behind her two beloved cookbooks, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook.

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4 Comments

  1. 609 calories per slice?
    I needed to reduce the amount of calories; hence, I used half the sugar, I didn’t frost the cake and it was still good. Thanks~

  2. That was an amazing recipe! It is by far the best chocolate cake I’ve done and I am a complete amateur but this time I did it!! Thank you for sharing! It was my partner’s birthday and he loved it. However I added coffee in the frosting and around the cake strawberries.

  3. Made this for a birthday. Easy to make, delicious moist cake, easy to work with icing. Made a great impression when the cake was cut and the layers revealed. A hit all around. MasterCakes