Chocolate Cake of the World
Vienna gave the world the Sachertorte and a decades-long court fight over who owned it. Germany made Black Forest cake with cherries and kirsch. America named German chocolate cake after a Mr. German, dyed a cake red, and argued for years over who made the first molten one. Here is every style, step by step.
Sachertorte (Viennese Chocolate Apricot Torte)
Vienna's famous chocolate torte: a light, dark chocolate sponge split and filled with apricot jam, brushed with more jam and covered in a glossy poured chocolate glaze, served with unsweetened whipped cream.
Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cake)
The real Black Forest cake: three layers of chocolate sponge brushed with kirsch, sour cherries and a light vanilla cream, covered in cream and dark chocolate shavings, the way the Black Forest's own tourism board makes it.
French Mi-Cuit Chocolate Cake (Pierre Hermé's Five-Ingredient Fondant)
France's soft-centered chocolate cake, the way pastry chef Pierre Hermé shared it in 2020: butter, sugar, eggs, a little flour and a lot of dark chocolate, baked until the edges set and the middle stays fudgy.
Torta Caprese (Italian Chocolate Almond Cake from Capri)
Capri's chocolate cake made with ground almonds instead of wheat flour: dark chocolate, butter and whipped egg whites baked into a cake with a crackly top and a dense, moist middle.
Kladdkaka (Swedish Sticky Chocolate Cake)
Sweden's café favorite: a quick chocolate cake with no rising agent, baked just long enough to set the crust while the center stays gooey and sticky, served with whipped cream and berries.
German Chocolate Cake (Coconut-Pecan Frosting)
Not from Germany at all: three light layers made with sweet baking chocolate and buttermilk, stacked with a cooked coconut-pecan custard frosting, the cake a 1957 Dallas newspaper recipe made famous.
Devil's Food Cake
America's dark chocolate layer cake, the opposite of angel food: a dense, moist cocoa cake in two layers with a rich, fudgy chocolate frosting.
Red Velvet Cake
The burgundy-red, mildly chocolate layer cake with buttermilk and a touch of vinegar, stacked four layers high with a fluffy white frosting the 1950s way.
Texas Sheet Cake
A big, thin chocolate buttermilk cake baked in a half-sheet pan and covered with a fudgy chocolate icing, the cake for church suppers, funerals and crowds.
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
The 1990s restaurant dessert at home: individual chocolate cakes baked hot and fast so the outside sets and the center flows when you cut in, with a make-ahead option.
Mississippi Mud Cake
A dense, dark cocoa sheet cake spread hot with marshmallow, drizzled with chocolate ganache and covered with toasted pecans: messy, rich and built for a crowd.
Palmer House Brownies (Walnut and Apricot Glaze)
The fudgy, walnut-topped chocolate bars Chicago's Palmer House hotel says it first made for the 1893 World's Fair, finished with a thin, shiny apricot glaze.
One-Bowl Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake (Weeknight)
A moist, tender chocolate snack cake mixed in one bowl in 10 minutes, with mayonnaise standing in for both the eggs and the oil, ready to eat in about 45 minutes with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Brooklyn Blackout Cake (Inspired by Ebinger's, Not Official)
Inspired by, not official: a homage to the lost Ebinger's bakery's famous cake, with dark chocolate layers, a thick chocolate pudding filling, fudgy icing and a coat of chocolate cake crumbs.