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–+ servings
Chocolate Coffee birthday cake on a cake stand with a happy birthday sign.

Simple Coffee Birthday Cake

Author: Dan Kinney
5 from 2 votes
This easy coffee birthday cake combines the scrumptious flavors of hazelnut, chocolate, and coffee to create the perfect cake for any coffee lover!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Protein: 5g
Serves: 10
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Ingredients

  • 1 box yellow cake mix (plus ingredients for box mix)
  • 2 lbs chocolate frosting
  • 6 oz chocolate hazelnut candy bar
  • 3 tablespoon instant coffee
  • ¼ cup heavy whipping cream

Before you start!

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Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to the temperature listed on the cake mix box. Butter two 9” round cake pans.
  • Make the cake as directed by the box but also add in 2 tablespoons of instant coffee. Split the batter between the two pans. There won't be much batter in each pan but I promise it will rise more than you think!
    Cake batter filling two cake tins.
  • Bake cakes per the packaging directions. While the cakes bake, chop the chocolate bars and set aside.
  • Prep the frosting by whipping up the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Then, fold in one can of frosting gently so as to not knock the air out of the cream. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
    Mixing chocolate frosting in a bowl.
  • Once the cakes are done, let them cool for 15 minutes and then flip them out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. You can check that the cakes are done by pricking them with a toothpick - it should come out clean. It can be a little tricky to tell visually if these cakes are done because they are golden brown in color from the coffee.
    Two round cakes cooling on a wire rack.
  • After the cakes have cooled (SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT to be cool), gently slice the tops off of each to level them. Then, place one cake on a plate or board and spread one can of fudgy jar frosting onto it. It should be about ¼” thick. Next, sprinkle the crushed hazelnut chocolate all over the frosting.
    Chocolate pieces on top of a cake.
  • Place your second cake layer on top of this. Then, use the whipped cream chocolate coffee frosting to frost the outside of the cake to make it look pretty! **See notes for making this cake in advance.
    Chocolate frosting spread on a round cake.

Video

Notes

Nutritional Information is an estimate, for informational purposes only
 
**When making this cake in advance of an event, I recommend making it, stacking it, and then crumb coating the cake with the canned frosting (not the whipped cream version) the day before. Crumb coating just means to roughly frosting the outside of the cake so it stays moist and you trap any loose crumbs. Then cover it and leave it at room temperature overnight. Make the whipped cream frosting and leave that in the fridge overnight. When getting close to the event or just on the day of, frosting the outside of the cake with the whipped cream frosting and add any decoration.

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate and for informational purposes only.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, German
Keyword: birthday, cake, chocolate, coffee, hazelnut

Nutrition

Calories: 659kcal | Carbohydrates: 112g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 585mg | Potassium: 316mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 83g | Vitamin A: 116IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 3mg
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