Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

old fashioned multi-layer chocolate cake

(9 ratings)
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Bea L.
Emerald Isle, NC

I love making this cake. It seems that young folks, as well as old folks, love this cake. It may not be the most beautiful cake, but it sure is good. This is the kind of cake that our grandmothers and great-grandmothers made.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

This multi-layer chocolate cake is impressive and nostalgic. The cake layers are soft and thin, similar to a pancake. They're stacked on each other, and the layers are filled with an old-fashioned boiled chocolate frosting. It's put on each layer warm, and the frosting pools between the layers and sets up as it sits. It is a time-consuming dessert and takes a little skill, but this chocolate cake is quite good. A great dessert option for a special occasion.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(9 ratings)
yield 6 -8
prep time 3 Hr
cook time 1 Hr
method Bake

Ingredients For old fashioned multi-layer chocolate cake

  • 3 1/2 c
    self-rising flour
  • 2 c
    granulated sugar
  • 6 lg
    eggs, beaten
  • 1 lb
    butter, softened (do not substitute)
  • 2 tsp
    pure vanilla extract
  • 2 dash
    yellow food coloring (optional)
  • milk
  • ICING
  • 3 c
    granulated sugar
  • 2/3 c
    cocoa powder
  • 1/8 tsp
    salt
  • 1 1/2 c
    evaporated milk
  • 1 tsp
    pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 stick
    butter (do not substitute)

How To Make old fashioned multi-layer chocolate cake

Test Kitchen Tips
About 6-7 Tbsp of batter covered the bottom of our greased 9-inch round pans. We baked each cake for 13 minutes. There is enough icing for about 8 layers, and we recommend using a candy thermometer when making the frosting. As the cakes cool, remove them from the damp towel and stack them with parchment paper in between to prevent them from drying out.
  • Cream together butter and sugar. Then add eggs one at a time.
    1
    Leave butter out for several hours to soften. You can even leave it out overnight. Cream together butter and sugar. Then add eggs one at a time.
  • Mix in vanilla.
    2
    Add vanilla and 2 drops of optional yellow food coloring.
  • Slowly add flour and milk.
    3
    Add flour, a little at a time, mixing in between. Then add milk a little at a time.
  • Consistency of the batter.
    4
    Mix until you achieve the consistency that cake batter should be.
  • Batter added to prepared baking pan.
    5
    Measure out 4-5 tablespoons of batter into each greased and floured cake pans. This will take several bakings until all batter is used up.
  • Baked layer of the cake.
    6
    Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until edges begin to brown. This will take approximately 8-12 minutes.
  • Layers on a towel.
    7
    Turn out layers and cover with a slightly damp cloth.
  • Stir together sugar, cocoa, salt, and milk for frosting.
    8
    ICING: In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Stir in milk.
  • Bringing mixture to a boil.
    9
    Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until a full rolling boil.
  • Bringing frosting to a soft ball stage.
    10
    Now boil without stirring to a soft ball stage.
  • Stirring in butter and vanilla extract.
    11
    Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
  • Frosting the layers of the cake.
    12
    Ice between, on sides, and on top of cooled layers. You can stick a few toothpicks into layers to prevent the layers from sliding.
  • Frosting the Old Fashioned Multi-Layer Chocolate Cake.
    13
    Notes: - I use a skewer or ice pick to poke a few holes in layers as I ice them when putting the cake together. - Keep spooning icing back on the cake as it puddles in the bottom of the cake plate. - A lot of people like this icing, but I particularly like the icing I use on Opel's Chocolate Stack Cake so go over to that recipe and check it out.
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