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).