Midnight Sky Black Velvet Chocolate Cake with Black Cocoa

Midnight Sky Black Velvet layer cake with cookie dough

Sweet just had her birthday and I had to make 2 seperate cakes. Purely because I wanted chocolate and she did not. I guess technically I made one cake for her and one for me. But I did try to pull in some of her favourite things to the chocolate cake and I added in a few layers of cookie dough as well as Lindt milk chocolate and macarons.

Truely there were no losers here, and wait till you see how cute the details are on the second cake I designed and made for her. 

But back to my cake.....technically this cake is not a true Black Velvet cake as I have a mix of regular and black cocoa. But trust me there is a reason.

I have been perfecting the recipe for this cake for the past year tweaking it each time I make it so it passes my rigorous taste test criteria. Here is a picture of my original recipe from a year ago. It was made with 100% black cocoa and it had olive oil. I actually really loved it and the colour was deepest dark velvet and ah-mazing. 

Deepest Dark Black Cocoa version I made last year with olive oil

But I kinda feel like the olive oil made the cake a little bit adult and perhaps the frosting I was using was letting it down in that respect. This cake deserved a dark chocolate ganache with a salted caramel drizzle or maybe a raspberry compote. It was lovely but it was a little bit too much of a 'hero' cake and it wasn't right for sharing the limelight with the fluffy flavours of the layer cakes I was creating.

My next try incorporated a mix of regular cocoa and black cocoa, coffee to bring out the chocolate flavour and still had the olive oil. But I still felt the chocolate was not shining through enough. 

So I kept going, and going and this final version has a beautiful deep cocoa flavour, supported by real chocolate, cocoa, vanilla and coffee. 

It's all your deep dark chocolate cake dreams come true.

Probs doesn't need the extra chocolate sauce but why stop now

This final version for Sweet's birthday was covered with Lindt milk chocolate ganache, swirls of Lindt Milk chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream, decorated with home made chocolate macarons and filled with edible cookie dough layers. 

My biggest tip is to use chocolate you would be happy to eat, it's where you get your flavour from so the better the chocolate the better the cake flavour. I use Callebaut for both cocoa's and my couverture dark chocolate (although the kids love Lindt milk chocolate so that's what is in the ganache). If you don't have black cocoa you can just use regular cocoa for a still super delicious cake, it just will not be as dark.

PS  next weeks post is the cookie dough layer recipe made with heat treated flour and no eggs. It's super yummy 100% recommend.

Happy Baking

xx

Linda M

Midnight Sky Black Velvet Chocolate Cake makes 2 x 6" cakes that are 4" (12cm) high, however the tops are a little rounded and I usually trim to about 3.5" (9cm) and then cut each cake in half to make 4 layers. The finished filled cake is around 8 inches tall plus the swirls/topping. 

notes: you can use regular cocoa if you don't have black cocoa, 

*if you don't have a coffee machine you can use a Tbsp instant coffee and hot water. Overall the expresso and hot water should make up 200g or approximately 8oz in weight.

165g dark chocolate (5 3/4 oz) I used callebaut 
114g unsalted butter (4oz)
6 eggs
360g white sugar (12 3/4oz)
200g greek yogurt (7oz) 
215g thickened cream (7 1/2oz) (US heavy cream)
110g espresso (3 7/8oz) *
90g hot water (3 1/4oz)*
32g (1 1/8 oz) black cocoa
50g (1 3/4 oz) cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

300g plain flour (all purpose flour) (10 5/8oz)

1tsp baking powder

3/4tsp bi-carb soda

1/2tsp salt

Grease and line 2 x 6 inch round baking tins. Preheat oven to 160C (325F).

greasing and lining the baking tin stops your cake from sticking

Hey Girl, don't cry over stuck broken cake. Take time to line and grease your tins.

In a microwave safe dish melt the butter and dark chocolate at high for 1 minute, rest for 2 minutes to allow the butter to fully heat the chocolate, and then mix until smooth (microwave for further bursts of 30 seconds if not fully melted). Allow to cool a little while you prepare the next ingredients.

Bloom the cocoa. Mix together the espresso, hot water and both cocoas and whisk until smooth. Add the vanilla and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and salt and set aside.

Put the chocolate/butter mixture into a large bowl and at medium low speed mix in the eggs one at a time until just combined. Add the yogurt and cream and mix at low speed until combined then add the sugar and mix until combined.

Add the remaining wet and dry ingredients alternatively. Start by adding 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix at low until combined then add in 1/2 of the wet cocoa mixture mixing until combined. Continue adding another third of the flour, mixing then the final half of the cocoa mixture and then finally finishing by mixing in the last of the flour mixture.

Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 tins and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. My pans had about 975 grams (2 lbs 2 1/4oz) in each.

Cook in pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool before filling and frosting.

To Assemble

Midnight Sky Black Velvet Cake (recipe above)

Edible chocolate chip cookie dough (recipe coming next week)

Lindt Milt Chocolate ganache (recipe below)

Italian Meringue Butter cream (recipe below)mix a few spoons of Lindt milk chocolate ganache into the buttercream to taste, alternatively you can leave it flavoured vanilla.

6 macarons - If macarons not available use Oreos, or chocolate chip cookies

6" cake board

Trim the top dome off each cake and then slice each of the cakes horizontally in half. You will end up with 4 cakes.

Secure the first layer to the cake board with a little dollop of ganache. I like to use the bottom of the cake to get a secure flat first layer.

If using cookie dough half the amount of dough and shape it into a disk and place the disk on top of the cake layer. Alternatively if using ganache or buttercream spread a layer onto the cake. 

Top with a second layer of cake and spread with a layer of ganache or buttercream (I used ganache). You will need to ensure each cake layer is even as you build up.

Top with a third layer of cake. If you are using buttercream you may need to pop the cake into the fridge to set before proceeding.

Add another disk of cookie dough onto the third layer of chocolate cake. Alternatively if using ganache or buttercream spread a layer onto cake.

Top with final layer of cake. I like to make sure this cake is the other 'bottom' cake and turn it upside down so the bottom is the top of the cake for a perfect flat finish.

Pop into fridge and chill. Once the cake is firm remove from fridge and cover with ganache. I put my cake onto a cake decorating turntable. 

Cover the edges and top with a reasonably thick coating of the ganache. I simply used a palette knife to cover the cake but use whatever process you are used to. 

To make the sides smooth I used a metal scraper held at a 45degree angle and turned the cake turntable while holding the scraper still. Fill any holes in the ganache with reserved ganache (or ganache that you have scraped off) and repeat the process until you are happy. You may need to pop the cake in and out of the fridge as required depending on the temperature. 

Once finished pipe 6 large swirls of buttercream onto the top of the cake and insert the macarons in between each swirl as per the picture.

Lindt milk chocolate ganache for frosting the outside

500g Lindt milk chocolate (1lbs + 1 5/8oz)

250g cream (heavy cream) (8oz + 7/8oz)

Put chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl, mix so the chocolate is covered with cream and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Mix until smooth and if necessary return to microwave for bursts of 30seconds to 1 minute until all lumps are gone.  I find a stick blender results in a smooth silky ganache.

Allow to cool until the ganache is a thick pudding like consistency and cover the cake. 

Mini Batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream 
Your bowl and whisk need to be squeaky clean to whip egg whites. I use a stand mixer with a pouring shield to make this butter cream, the sugar syrup is very hot, make sure you take appropriate safety precautions when pouring the hot sugar syrup mixture. Not suitable for young children to make.

38g (1 3/8oz) water

150g (6oz) white sugar 

75g (2 3/4oz) egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
225g (8 oz - 2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into smallish cubes

Place sugar and water into saucepan over high heat and bring to boil. Conintue to  heat until the sugar syrup mixture reaches 115 C (240F). Brush down the the sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush as required to stop sugar crystals from forming.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer (make sure the bowl is quite large). When the sugar syrup reaches 110C (210F) start to whip the egg whites at high speed.
Once the sugar syrup reaches 115C (240 F) carefully pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites whilst the mixer is still beating on high.

Continue to beat until the egg and sugar mixture cooled to room temperature (or the bowl feels cool to touch) and then start to add a few cubes of butter at a time. Add the vanilla and salt.

The mixture will probably become quite liquid, but continue to beat until it thickens and all the butter is evenly distributed. May take around 10 minutes.

💕

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes or contact me. Affiliate links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Linda Mccubbin is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US in 2011 (under my previous name Linda Vandermeer).

Violet Layer Cake with Violet Ganache, Violet Italian Meringue and sugared edible violets

Bubble turned 21 and we celebrated with a little party at home with friends and family. 

Over the years I have made some wonderful and fancy cakes for Bubble. Often she chose my strawberry flavoured cake recipe which has been a favourite for years.

But this being a milestone birthday I decided to come up with a new flavour based on Bubble's favourite macaron flavour which is violet.

The actual cake design was pretty, elegant and understated. which is a bit of a reflection of the amazingly lovely person Bubble has become (and really has always been).

Last year while traveling in Vienna we picked up sugared violets and I crushed these and added them to the Italian Meringue Buttercream which was flavoured with Violet essence. Then I covered the cake with a whipped violet ganache, lightened with a dollop of the buttercream and decorated it with gold splashes and more sugared violets.

It was exquisite. 

We also had a 4 layer chocolate cake cover with Lindt milk chocolate and topped with chocolate macarons plus raspberry and violet macarons (CLICK HERE FOR MY FREE RASPBERRY MACARON RECIPE).

#Note that violet extract/essence and sugared violets are speciality items and can be difficult to source. Here is a link to violet extract (CLICK HERE) and a link to sugared/crystalised violets (CLICK HERE). 

If you do not care for violet flavour or its a bit tricky to source, try using raspberry with freeze dried raspberries which would be delicious and just as pretty.

Happy Baking

XX

Linda M

Violet Layer Cake Recipe and Assembly Instructions

Ingredients (recipes below)

3 X 6" vanilla cake 

Violet Italain Meringue Buttercream 

Whipped Violet Ganache

extra crystallised violets to decorate (CLICK HERE FOR A LINK)

edible gold paint (link here)

1. Assemble the Cake

Trim cake as necessary to removed brown edges (optional you can leave it as is if you prefer)

Pop one 6" vanilla cake onto a 6"cake board. Secure the bottom with a little buttercream to hold it in place. Top with a generous 1/2 cup of Violet Italian Meringue Buttercream and then another layer of cake. Repeat the process adding another generous 1/2 cup Violet Italian Meringue Buttercream and then the final third layer of cake. 

Give the cake a quick thin crumb coat of reserved vanilla buttercream*

Place cake into fridge to firm up to make decorating easier.

*The sugared violets in the Violet Buttercream make it difficult to get a smooth finish, but it's all ok you will be covering in a layer of ganache soon.

Note - If it is warm you may need to do each layer and pop the cake into the fridge to firm up so it doesn't slide off.

2. Decorate the Cake

Remove the stacked cake from the fridge. I put my cake onto a cake decorating turntable. 

Using the violet ganache cover the edges and top with a reasonably thick coating of the ganache. I simply used a palette knife to cover the cake but use whatever process you are used to. 

To make the sides smooth I used a metal scraper held at a 45degree angle and turned the cake turntable while holding the scraper still. Fill any holes in the ganache with reserved ganache (or ganache that you have scraped off) and repeat the process until you are happy. You may need to pop the cake in and out of the fridge as required depending on the temperature. 

I use a metal scraper for tall cakes (CLICK HERE) which works best for me

Note - perfection is overrated if you are making this for your friends and family. Smooth until you are happy and ignore any dents and spots. No one will notice them.

Add gold splashes and crushed sugared violets randomly but sparsely. No need to go overboard. I mixed my edible gold dust with rose spirits and splashed on with a paint brush by lightly tapping the brush handle against my hand.

Fluffy Vanilla Cake makes 3 x 6" cakes

Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature, otherwise the butter will not mix in well.

80g (3oz) egg yolks (approximately 5 eggs)

225g (7+7/8oz)sugar (I used caster sugar or superfine if you only have regular white you can use that)

75g (2 + 5/8oz) butter melted and cooled

165g (5 + 3/4 oz) egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla essence

225g (7+ 7/8oz)plain flour (all purpose flour)

3 tsp baking powder

125g (4 + 3/8oz) milk

Preheat oven to 175C (350F) grease and line 3 X 6" round baking tins with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks with 1Tbsp of the sugar at medium high speed  light and fluffy. This will take a while and the mixture will become a lighter colour and very fluffy. It is important that the mixture is lightened/whipped enough at this stage.

Add the butter and mix until the mixture is thick and pale. If the butter solidifies (due to different temperatures of yolk and melted butter) keep on mixing until smooth.

In  a seperate bowl mix the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt until soft peak stage. Gradually add the remaining sugar and mix until the egg white mixture is thick and glossy and reaches stiff peak stage. Mix in the vanilla.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and gradually fold into to the egg yolk mixture in batches. Add the milk and fold until just combined.

Take a generous heaped spoon of the egg white mixture and fold into the egg yolk batter to lighten it and then add the remaining egg white mixture folding gently to retain as much volume and air as possible.

Pour the batter evenly into the 3 baking tins. My tins had 295g in each of the 3 tins.

Bake for 20-25 mis until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. The sides will be coming away from the edge of the tin and it should lightly spring back when touched and be golden brown in colour.

Allow to cool completely before decorating (I made my cakes a few days before, double cling wrapped them, froze them and then removed from the freezer and defrosted in fridge the morning I decorated the cake.)

Violet Italian Meringue Buttercream

1 1/2  cup Italian Meringue Buttercream (recipe below)
1 1/2 Tbsp Crushed sugared violets (or to taste)
1/2 tsp violet extract (or to taste) CLICK HERE FOR LINK/SOURCE FOR VIOLET EXTRACT

Mix the violet extract into buttercream, taste and add more extract if required. Gently fold in the crushed sugared violets.

Whipped Violet Ganache Frosting(makes enough ganache to just cover a 3 layer by 15cm/6 inch cake)

330g (11 + 5/8oz) good quality white chocolate (I used Callebaut) 
110g (3 + 7/8oz) cream
1/2 tsp violet essence (violet flavour/essence varies add to taste)
few drops gel violet colour and pink
1/4 cup Italian meringue buttercream (recipe below)

Chop chocolate into little pieces if necessary then place with cream into a microwave safe bowl. I usually use glass/pyrex for heating chocolate. Mix the chocolate and cream around so the chocolate is covered with cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute, let sit for a minute, microwave for another 30 seconds, let sit for another minute and then stir with a whisk. I find that using a stick blender makes the smoothest most perfect ganache but I usually just use the whisk. 

If you have any little lumps try to mix them in. Your chocolate and microwave may be slightly different than mine so you might need to heat for another few lots of 30 seconds.

Add the violet flavour to taste and food colour to achieve your desired look. I added a few drops of violet which for me gave the ganache a greenish/blue tinge and then a drop of pink to achieve the colour in the pictures.

Allow to sit at room temperature or in the fridge until it has thickened. It should be like a thick custard that you can spoon.

In a stand mixer bowl whip the ganache until light and fluffy scraping down the sides as needed then add the buttercream and whip. Check the flavour and colour and add more if required.

Mini Batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream 
Your bowl and whisk need to be squeaky clean to whip egg whites. I use a stand mixer with a pouring shield to make this butter cream, the sugar syrup is very hot, make sure you take appropriate safety precautions when pouring the hot sugar syrup mixture. Not suitable for young children to make.

38g (1 3/8oz) water

150g (6oz) white sugar 

75g (2 3/4oz) egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
225g (8 oz - 2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into smallish cubes

Place sugar and water into saucepan over high heat and bring to boil. Conintue to  heat until the sugar syrup mixture reaches 115 C (240F). Brush down the the sides of saucepan with a wet pastry brush as required to stop sugar crystals from forming.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer (make sure the bowl is quite large). When the sugar syrup reaches 110C (210F) start to whip the egg whites at high speed.
Once the sugar syrup reaches 115C (240 F) carefully pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites whilst the mixer is still beating on high.

Continue to beat until the egg and sugar mixture cooled to room temperature (or the bowl feels cool to touch) and then start to add a few cubes of butter at a time. Add the vanilla and salt.

The mixture will probably become quite liquid, but continue to beat until it thickens and all the butter is evenly distributed. May take around 10 minutes.

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes or contact me. Affiliate links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Linda Mccubbin is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US in 2011 (under my previous name Linda Vandermeer).

Soft Fluffy Gooey Cinnamon Roll Recipe

 

How is it possible to be gooey, soft and fluffy all at the same time?

These super fluffy, soft, pillowy cinnamon rolls have been perfected over 15 years of real home cooking and years of commercial cooking (when I owned the cafe). This is the actual small batch recipe I have used and tweaked over the years.

They are filled with the perfect amount of cinnamon filling and then topped with lashings of dreamy vanilla cream cheese frosting.

They can be frozen and defrosted in a microwave in 40 seconds. Plus you can partially make the dough the night before and finish a second rise and bake in the morning. 

This is the ultimate cinnamon roll recipe!

If you have never baked with yeast before don't be afraid, it's actually pretty easy as long as you follow the recipe and steps. I have found the following tips super helpful to ensure a consistent rise every time.

1. Make sure the yeast is within use by date. 

2. Proof your yeast - This is a process where you add the dry yeast to liquid and activate it (with sugar in this recipe) to see if it blooms. Imagine going through the whole process of mixing and kneading bread for 10 or more minutes, putting it in a warm place to rise and having a ball of dough that is hard and heavy instead of elastic and springy. Proofing your yeast is a surefire way to test that it is still active.

3. Don't overheat the yeast during the rise process. When I was young I remember my first try baking with yeast I used hot water and killed the yeast. I thought if gently warming yeast worked then hot could only work better and faster. Nope, uh-uh, No! Luke warm is the way to go here.

4. Use bread flour. This one is not essential but I find that my rolls hold up better with bread flour. When I use all purpose or plain flour the rolls collapse down on themselves a little during the cooling process. They still taste amazing and to be honest the slightly sunken tops are a good way to hold more frosting. But for perfect rolls which are softer and fluffier, bread flour will get a better result.

5. Knead your dough until elastic and it springs back. If you don't knead your bread enough it will be dense and not rise as well. If you have a stand mixer this is easy to achieve with a dough hook. If you are doing it by hand don't be tempted to skimp on this step.

6. Double rise but....don't over rise. Rolls that have been left to rise too long will result in a tougher texture roll. The taste may be overly yeasty and sour and the dough may collapse during cooking. It's another example of more is not always better.

*Bonus Controversial Tip - It is possible to use yeast that is past its best before date. If you follow Tip 2 and proof your yeast and it blooms it is ok to use. 

I follow these couple of tips and consistently get great soft fluffy inside and golden baked outside results. 

I think everyone should try cooking with yeast at least once. The feeling of pride when you take your first bite of home baked bread made from scratch with your own hands is pricelessly rewarding in so many ways.

Happy Baking

XX

Linda M 

Best Fluffy Soft Cinnamon Roll Recipe - makes 12 cinnamon rolls

170grams warm water (heat in microwave from 10-20 seconds until barely warm)

1 packet dry yeast (7g)

85g caster sugar

460g bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 egg

40g melted butter

Mix together water, yeast and 1Tbsp sugar and set aside to bloom. This usually takes around 4 minutes for me.

In a large bowl mix together flour, remaining sugar, salt, butter, egg and proofed yeast mixture and mix until just combined and then knead until smooth and elastic and the dough bounces back when pressed lightly. If you have a stand mixer this Will take around 10 minutes on low speed.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. It was winter for the ones I made in the picture so I covered my bowl with plastic wrap and set it in the oven on 50C (around 120F).

Dust the bench down with flour and roll the dough out into a rectangle of around 45 X 30 cm (18 by 12 inches).

Shape the dough into a rectangle as you roll it. I like to pick my dough up and at the start turn it so it does not stick to the bench and rolls out an even thickness.

Spread on filling (recipe below). Roll up into a long log then cut 12 rolls 1 1/2 inches each. 

(this picture only has 6 rolls the recipe is for 12 rolls as per below picture)

Put into greased tray and rise a second time for around 30 minutes.

Don't over rise - you want perfectly puffy rolls, they should not have large bubbles.

Bake at 180-190C for 12-18 minutes until the rolls are golden brown. If you tap them with your nails they will be hard on the top and sound a little hollow.

Frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe below). When I had the cafe I would turn the rolls out onto a tray lined with parchment paper and then flip back over onto a wire rack lined with parchment paper and allow the rolls to cool before frosting them for a neater looking finished roll. However you can frost them and eat them still warm fresh out of the oven and the result is a gooey delicious roll like the picture at the top of this blog post.

Cinnamon swirl filling

70g (2+ 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients together, I use my stand mixer and beat until it mixes up fluffy like a frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

70g (2+ 1/2 oz) unsalted butter

70g (2+1/2oz) cream cheese

2 cups icing (powdered) sugar (In Australian can use Icing Sugar Mixture)

2 tsp Vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together for a few minutes until light and fluffy. I use a stand mixer.

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes or contact me. Affiliate links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Linda Mccubbin is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US in 2011 (under my previous name Linda Vandermeer).