Description
Experience a dramatic and decadent dessert with this Black and Gold Cake, featuring deep obsidian-colored cocoa layers that hide a glittering treasure of gold candies inside. Perfect for royalty-themed celebrations, this moist chocolate masterpiece is finished with a shimmering golden ganache drip and velvet-smooth frosting.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter, room temperature
- Sugar
- Large eggs
- Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder
- Vanilla extract
- Warm water
- Milk
- Black gel icing color
- Shortening
- Powdered sugar
- White chocolate
- Heavy cream
- Gold luster dust
- Clear extract or vodka
- Gold coins
- Rolos
- Ferrero Rocher candies
- Vanilla frosting
- Green frosting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C) and line the bottoms of four 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper, greasing the sides.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
- Beat the room-temperature butter and sugar together for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition to ensure a smooth emulsion.
- Mix the dark cocoa powder with vanilla and warm water to bloom the chocolate, then stir this into the butter mixture.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the batter, starting and ending with the flour to maintain a delicate structure.
- Incorporate the black gel icing color until the batter reaches a deep midnight shade, then divide evenly among the pans.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare the chocolate frosting by beating butter and shortening with powdered sugar, cocoa, and milk until smooth and spreadable.
- Cut 3-inch holes out of the centers of two cake layers; stack the cake with a solid base, the two hollow layers filled with gold candies, and a solid top.
- Apply a smooth exterior of frosting, then add a white chocolate ganache drip painted with gold luster dust and finish with piped frosting flourishes.
Notes
To ensure the most vibrant color contrast, use a professional-grade black gel food coloring rather than liquid, as liquid colors can alter the moisture balance of the batter. If you don’t have a dedicated cake cutter for the center treasure chamber, a wide-mouthed drinking glass can be used to press out even circles from the middle layers.
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Mediterranean Fusion