Moist Chocolate Cake with Salty Peanuts and Pretzels

I'm that girl who makes their own birthday cake. It's the only way to ensure it's exactly how I like it. And it has to be a moist chocolate cake. This year I made a rich and moist chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, topped with salty peanuts and pretzels! Oh, and drizzled with caramel!

That's right. I went all out.

Chocolate Cake with Salty Peanuts and Pretzels

The base of this layer cake is my all-time favorite chocolate cake recipe! It's fluffy, it's moist and chocolatey, but not too sweet. The dutch processed cocoa powder and instant espresso give it a strong chocolate flavor. I frosted it with silky smooth chocolate cream cheese frosting! It's a rich cake but the saltiness of the peanuts and pretzels cuts it perfectly. Meaning I can eat a big slice and not be overwhelmed!

What makes chocolate cake moist and fluffy?

Have you ever wondered why you end up with dry chocolate cake? My chocolate cake recipe uses a combination of milk and sour cream, oil instead of butter, as well as cake flour instead of all-purpose flour, making it soft and fluffy yet super moist!

If you don't have sour cream, you can easily replace it with greek yogurt! Don't have sour cream, greek yogurt, or milk? You can substitute both the milk and sour cream with buttermilk! Instead of adding ½ cup/120g each of sour cream and milk, add 1 cup/240g of buttermilk instead.

Because I used cream cheese frosting, this cake does need to be stored in the refrigerator, but thanks to the olive oil the cake stays nice and tender even when it's chilled! Just make sure you use regular olive oil, not extra virgin. This cake stays soft and moist for days!

Chocolate cream cheese frosting

One of my favorite frostings ever is chocolate cream cheese frosting! The classic frosting for chocolate cake would be chocolate buttercream frosting. It's iconic. But I like the tang that cream cheese adds! It's chocolatey without it being too much chocolate. As if "too much chocolate" is possible.

How to make chocolate cake with salty peanuts and pretzels

In a bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. That's right, sift it. I promise it'll be worth it when you cut a slice and you don't see any lumps of flour or cocoa powder.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, olive oil, sour cream, milk, water, instant espresso, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly among three 6-inch cake pans (or two 8-inch cake pans) greased and lined with parchment paper, and bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes at 340°F/170°C. Let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before taking it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

After the cakes have cooled completely, slice the domes off the top. Spread some chocolate cream cheese frosting on one of the cake layers and sprinkle some peanuts and pretzels and top it with another layer of cake, and repeat.

Cover the entire cake with a thin coating of chocolate cream cheese frosting, and stick the cake in the fridge to chill for an hour to let the frosting harden. Take it out and cover the cake with the remaining chocolate cream cheese frosting and decorate with more peanuts pretzels, and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

Tips to making a beautiful layer cake

Use a scale! Not only are scales important to weigh out the ingredients, but it's also great to use when you're dividing cake batter into pans. By having equal amounts of batter in the cake pans, they'll take the same amount of time to bake and your cake layers will be even!

Use a ruler! My ruler is one of my favorite tools when I'm making a layer cake. I use it to mark the sides before I slice the domes off of the cakes. I know, I realize it's anal for me to use a ruler. Is it worth it? Absolutely! It's a special feeling when you slice a frosted cake and you see three beautifully even layers.

Use an ice cream scoop! If you're taking the time to have three even cake layers, you're going to want even layers of frosting too, right? You can use an ice cream scoop to get the same amount of frosting before you spread it with an offset spatula.

Crumb coat and chill! If you're a fan of Yolanda's How to Cake It videos on YouTube, you know what I'm talking about when I say "crumb coat and chill". By coating the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting and chilling it in the fridge for an hour, the crumbs on the top and sides of the cake are contained. This way, the crumbs won't get into the final coating of frosting, giving you a more smooth finish.

Other layer cake recipes!

• Chocolate mocha cake
• Sweet potato cake with maple cashew frosting (Gluten-free)
• Dulce de leche mille crepe cake (Vegan)

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