Chocolate Cake Perfect for Carving – The Best Sculpting Cake Recipe
One of the most important things necessary to sculpt a novelty cake is a perfect base. A cake that can be cut and manipulated without falling apart. A cake with a soft crumb and yet taste delicious. This chocolate cake perfect for carving will prove the best sculpting cake recipe for you.
Chocolate Cake Perfect for carving Novelty Cakes
When you ask a person how they like their cake, almost everyone will say rich and moist. But carving a rich and moist cake is definitely difficult and not recommended for novelty cakes and a cake not rich and moist is definitely not desirable. So… MUST find the right balance. I think I did. This is the best sculpting cake recipe you will love.
A Chocolate Cake Perfect for Carving Novelty Cakes The best sculpting cake recipe
About this cake
Chocolate Cake perfect for carving The best sculpting cake recipe
How much cake do I need?
One of the most common questions I get is how much cake do I need? When it comes to Novelty cake it’s difficult for me to say you need two of these for a car cake. Why? because it depends on the size of your car template. So this cake serves 15 to 20 people and it can be double and more successfully. So if you choose to make a cake for 60 then you’d multiply the recipe times 3 and follow the same method as below.
Chocolate Cake perfect for carving – The Best Sculpting Cake Recipe
Chocolate cake perfect for carving or the best sculpting cake recipe
Tools
- Mixer – Hand Mixer / Kitchen Aid / K-MIx
- Mixing Bowl
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Oven
I wish you could see how soft and moist this cake is
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – 228 grams (2 sticks)
- Light or dark brown sugar – 200 grams (1 cup)
- All-purpose flour / plain flour – 220 grams
- Salt – 1/4 tsp
- Cocoa powder – 60 grams (1/2 cup)
- Baking powder – 1 1/2 tsp
- Prepared coffee – 60 ml ( 1/4 cup) (1 tsp coffee powder in 1/4 cup water)
- Buttermilk – 150 ml (0.6 cups) (make homemade buttermilk in 5 mins here’s how)
- Eggs – 4 large
- Vanilla – 2 tsp
Method
- Preheat your oven to 160 C / 320 F.
- Grease and line the baking pan you plan to use for your novelty cake.
- Have all your ingredients ready at room temperature.
- Sift dry ingredients – flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
- Cream soft room temperature butter, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy.
- Add the flour mixture followed by the Buttermilk and coffee in three batches.
- Lastly, add vanilla and give it one more mix.
- Your batter is ready.
- Pour into your baking pan/pans and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- If using two pans the baking time will be reduced – you can check at about 25 mins.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes invert on to an oven rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled wrap in two cling wraps, followed by aluminum foil.
- Place in the freezer for at least one hour before you carve into it.
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You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.
Chocolate Cake perfect for carving – The Best Sculpting Cake Recipe
Progress Pictures – Chocolate Cake Perfect for Carving – The Best Sculpting Cake Recipe
Chocolate Cake Perfect for Carving – The Best Sculpting Cake Recipe
Chocolate Cake Perfect for Carving The BEST Sculpting Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 228 grams Unsalted butter
- 200 grams Light or dark brown sugar
- 220 grams All-purpose flour / plain flour
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 60 grams Cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 60 ml Prepared coffee 1/4 cup (1 tsp coffee powder in 1/4 cup water)
- 150 ml Buttermilk 0.6 cups (make homemade buttermilk in 5 mins here's how)
- 4 Eggs large
- 2 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160 C / 320 F.
- Grease and line the baking pan you plan to use for your novelty cake.
- Have all your ingredients ready at room temperature.
- Sift dry ingredients - flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
- Cream soft room temperature butter, sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy.
- Add the flour mixture followed by the Buttermilk and coffee in three batches.
- Lastly, add vanilla and give it one more mix.
- Your batter is ready.
- Pour into your baking pan/pans and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- If using two pans the baking time will be reduced - you can check at about 25 mins.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes invert on to an oven rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled wrap in two cling wraps, followed by aluminum foil.
- Place in the freezer for at least one hour before you carve into it.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
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stella
Hi Veena,
Thanks so much for this recipe. I’m needing to make a few cakes to shape into an owl.
Please can you tell me for the amounts you give what size cake tin is ideal?? Then I will be able to calculate what I need??
Also, does it work well if I need to place dowels into may cake??
Thanks Stella
Veena Azmanov
Stella. The recipe card below has the number of servings. You can change the number of servings to figure out how much cake you need.
If you have more than one tier of the cake. It’s best to dowel. Thanks
Stella
Thank you.
Sorry, I just made another comment thinking this one hadn’t gone through, ignore that one please.
Is this recipe suitable for a sphere cake also?
And the amounts you give? Would this be good for a 6inch round pan? Sorry, I’m not really familiar in working with servings, always just go by size of pan?
Thanks
Veena Azmanov
Hey Stella.
Yes, this would be ok for a sphere cake. and yes, this is enough for two x 6 inch round pans.
Avery
In the recipe it says it calls for coffee. Is that brewed coffee or coffee grounds?
Veena Azmanov
Hey Avery, Prepared coffee would be 1 tsp coffee with 1/4 cup water.
Nilo
Hi Veena , have been a silent member for long admiring but but not having any confidence to try your sculpting cakes. I have to make a stadium cake soon and I
Am wondering how much cake I will need. If I make a 13×9 will I have enough space for the field and audience which will be another 13×9 carved. I greatly admire the progress you have had and your contribution to the baking world !
Veena Azmanov
Hey Nilo. Not sure what stadium your design is. But I’d say you definitely need more than one cake. Most people don’t’ realize this cake is not big. So you may need more or less than two depending on the size of your stadium Thanks
Zara Stratton
Hi
I made this cake today and like it, but having another go tomorrow doing the recipe x 4 (for a large rectangle pan).
I would like to have 2 layers with buttercream in the middle. Will this work OK with carving?
I’m thinking make the 2 cakes, buttercream in middle, then freeze. Carve when frozen and with buttercream. Do you think that will work?
Thank you!!
Veena Azmanov
Yes this cake is great for carving. Place it in the fridge for an hour before you carve and you will have less crumbs. Don’t freeze too long.. frozen cake is hard to carve.
Jamar
Used this cake recipe last week and was suppose to make a doll cake but the kids ate it on it’s own.It was so tasty. Making some more today. Love the recipe.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Jamar. So happy you have success with this recipe. Oh, your kids are like me. Love simple plain cake. Thank you for coming back to write this feedback. Have a wonderful day.
Ashley Coffey
I am a little confused on the buttermilk recipes says 150 ml which translates to 2/3 cup. Comments says 1.6 ml recipes says 0.6 cups. I just need to know how much in cup form I need. Please help! Trying to do a run thru before day of.
Veena Azmanov
Ashley please follow the recipe – it’s 150 ml ( 1 cup is 250 ml) Thanks
Payal agarwal
Can this recipe be made eggless? Should I substitute with curd or flaxmeal? Which one would work fine for a sculpting cake?Thank you
Veena Azmanov
Payal I do have an eggless chocolate fudge cake recipe – Please use that recipe for eggless –
Cristi H
I made this cake last night and am dissappointed on how thin it is? I did use regular all purpose flour, should I have used cake flour? Also, my eggs were not room temp. Could that have been the issue as well?? Any advice on how to get a fluffier cake??
Thank you
Veena Azmanov
Cristi The quantity of ingredient in the list are as small as 2 cups flour and it says 20 servings. So not it’s not a big cake. Though you can multiply this recipe successfully. Haing the eggs are room temperature is great but don’t think it would make the cake any bigger. This cake is meant for carving where a dense cake is much preferred so you have less crumbs. There are other recipes in this blog such as my Chocolate Chiffon cake as well as my simple moist chocolate cake which are very light and fluffy.
Alicia
Can you bake this in a loaf pan?
Veena Azmanov
Yes of course Alicia!! If you need a loaf pan you can bake it in a loaf pan.. Just make sure to bake thru until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean
Rebecca
Hi Veena! Thanks so much for sharing this and so many other recipes. I love thus cake so much! How, if possible, would you make this cake nut free? Thanks in advance!!
Veena Azmanov
You are very welcome Rebecca.. Happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. But there are not nuts in this recipe!! or Are you referring to another recipe?
Tracy Wagner
Hi Veena!
I’ll start by saying thank you for sharing all of your knowledge. You are a real sweetie pie!!
I made this cake for my grandson’s pikachu and it was amazing!!! I can’t for the life of me remember if I used natural or dutched cocoa powder!!! What is the proper cocoa powder for this recipe?
Thanks Veena!
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Tracy. Happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. I always use dutch processed cocoa in my baking. You cake sounds fun. If you share it on any social media do tag me so I can see it. Thanks
Sindhu
Hi mam…Can I have your vanilla cake recipe link for carving?
Veena Azmanov
Sindhu. Please use the Vanilla Pound Cake for carving- work a treat both to carve and taste.
Sindhu
Thank u…can this be used for sheet cake and milk chocolate ganache works goods?planned to do McQueen 3d car cake
Veena Azmanov
Yes Sindhu. Absolutely ! Works great as a sheet cake and would be good for Mcqueen
Lolita Small
I loved this recipe. It was so moist and tender unlike sculpted cakes. I took your advice and froze it. Loved getting all the compliments about how tasty the cake was. Used it with your ganache recipe.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Lolita for your feedback. So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Yes freezing helps with the crumbs and gives more working time. Ganache is definitely one of my favorite with this cake. Thank you for taking the trouble to come back and write this feedback.
Rigoberto
This looks like the recipe I need. I’m going to use it today. Thank you so much for sharing.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Rigobeto. Enjoy and let me know what you think later. Thanks
Bonnie
I’m looking forward to trying this for a cake I plan to sculpt this week, but I have a quantity question. On all of the ingredients except the coffee & buttermilk, you list both types of measurements, i.e., cups/grams. For the coffee you have 1/4 cup but no ml (which is good for me but not others), and only 150 ml for the buttermilk but no cup amount (which I need to know). I wonder if you would kindly update your recipe to include both measurements for these two ingredients so people can use whichever works for them. Thank you for the recipe!
Veena Azmanov
150 ml should be about 0.6 cups buttermilk. so a little more than half cup. Thanks
Rachel
That should be 2/3 cup of milk. For proportion sake, that would mean 2/3 tsp lemon juice to make buttermilk.
Veena Azmanov
The recipe says 160 ml which is about 6 oz right?
Tina
Hi veena,
I’m making a 8″ ball pan cake with this recipe,do you have any tips as I’ve not made one of these before ?
Also do you think I would need to double the recipe for there to be enough for a 8″ball pan.
Thank you ?
Veena Azmanov
Tina I have a post that shares in details how to make a perfect sphere cake.. Perhaps you may want to check that out.
Claudia
Hi Veena, im going to make this cake todag…ill make it into half…id like to know…after the cake is removed from the oven…for how long should it be cooled on the rack…and can you keep it under the fan for cooling…?
Whats the right time to put it in the fridge?
And whats the right time to remove it from the fridge for carving and secondly to put fondant over it. ?
Veena Azmanov
YOu can cool it for 10 mins in the pan then remove and let cool completely on the rack. When it’s not warm anymore. Wrap well in cling wrap so it does not dry out. You want the cake cold so it helps will crumbs. You can also freeze if for some time to speed things up.
Melissa
Hi! Thanks for this recipe, I’ve been looking for one and this one seems pretty good. I’m planning on making a sea turtle (shell is about 12×10) for next weekend and I really hope this recipe works (the coffee part bought me, my Red Velvet cake have coffee in it as well and love it). Have you ever made a sea turtle? Tips?
Thanks for Sharing!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks Melissa. Yes this will work for any novelty cake. Sorry have not make a sea turtle yet. But this recipe will work with any novelty cake.
Melissa Sotomayor
Thanks for your reply Veena… I made the cakes (no turtle yet) and used 2ea 12″ round cakes. Took me 4 batches and both came out to be 1.5” in height. I know that this is dense and not supposed to raise that much but it looks really thick,like brownies. I went back and loot and doesn’t seem like I missed a step. I need to make 2 more batches to achieve the desired height, I’m just concerned about the brownie like thickness.
Thoughts?
Veena Azmanov
It’s up to you to decide how much cake you need Melissa. If you look at the recipe and the images it’s not a big tall cake? Not can you expect a big tall cake from the list of ingredients. You can double or triple the recipe as many times as you need. Yes it will make a 1 1/2 inch 11 x 13 sheet cake. Thanks
Melissa Sotomayor
Thanks for your response. I’m not a professional baker so I don’t understand the chemistry of it and I’m not able to know by a list of ingredients how would probably look/feel like. Hopefully I’ll become more knowledgeable as I keep practicing and reading pages and blogs like yours. I just happen to have the hand of my grandma and mom but being talented is not the same as being skilled, long ways to go still here.
I ended up making 4 12” round cakes which took 8 batches, but probably would’ve got away with 3. It is super dense so it was a breeze to carve, not a lot of crumbs falling off and if a piece broke, it was super easy to put back together. It tastes good too, although I would like it a bit more bitter and less sweet but that is just my personal preference.
So, yes. This is the PERFECT chocolate for carving. Thanks again for sharing and taking the time to keep this post alive.
Veena Azmanov
That is a lot of cake ? I hope you have so many people to feed! We all learn by experience but often it’s important to take a moment to plan and read the details – figure out what cake you going to make, Then decide who many and what types of layers you need. Depending on that you can see how many servings the recipe you have gives you – and how many you need to make. That way you can double or use a recipe that best fits your requirement. Well, we all learned this way. Trust me I’ve been there too! We learn by experience. Take it as a learning curve and enjoy the ride.
Heather M
I made this in a couple small pans for my sons cake and had no issue carving it (aside from the fact that they were very small due to my cake vision). As per someones comment many years ago mine also came out a bit dense like a brownie, but that’s all well and good with us because we love those too! I’m planning on placing it on top of a bigger round chocolate cake, so the contrast will be nice as well. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Heather. Happy to hear that you enjoyed it and all worked well. If you bake it in smaller pans you must reduce cooking time considerable. Yes it is dense and actually meant to be used for Novelty cakes which usually use ganache. This cake with ganache is very delicious.
sillyjill9
Just wanted to say thanks for posting this. Had my first foray into cake carving making a Lamborghini cake for my son’s birthday over the weekend and could not have done it without your recipe! The cake flattened a little more than I expected, but with two stacked together it still worked well for the car.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you so much Jill. So happy to hear you say that.Yes it does bake flat mostly which is a good thing so you don’t loose much on the dome. I made this myself three times this week for novelty cakes.
Lorena
Hi Veena,
I have read the recipe over and over again and I can’t find the step where you add the eggs. I’m assuming it’s after creamjng the butter and sugar, right?
Anyway, I just made the recipe and adde the eggs like I said, let’s see how it works!! ?
Best from Chile!
Veena Azmanov
I usually add the butter sugar and eggs at the same time.. as in the progress pictures. I think I skipped the word eggs which I have just added. Thanks for bringing that to my notice.
Or
Sorry if I missed this somewhere… but I need to make 1/2 a sheet cake. Is this the same amount as the recipe?
Veena Azmanov
you can bake this in any size pan you need. Yes a half sheet pan works too.. This recipe serves 20 you can adjust the recipe accordingly. Thanks
Or
thank you! another question: is the coffee just the powder or liquid?
Veena Azmanov
Liquid Thanks
Tania
Please advise on how many times I would need to multiply the recipe to serve 60 party servings.
Veena Azmanov
This sheet cake should be about 24 servings so you will need at least three.
Andrea Luzinski
Hi Veena,
I need a recipe for a cupcake bouquet. The recipe I used before was too fluffy and the cupcakes barely held up. Do you think this would work as cupcakes? 1/2 full with a 22-25 min bake time?
Veena Azmanov
Any recipes that does not need the eggs to be whisked up will work for the cupcake bouquet. These will work for sure but may be a bit dense too
Heidi
Hi. I’m planning on making a harry potter sorting cake hat and I think this recipe will be perfect! Just wondered what cake flour is? Can I use normal plain or self raising flour?
Veena Azmanov
Yes you can use normal flour. Look for my post on flour and substitutes to see what cake flour is.
Anu
Hi Veena I have tried many recipes but this one is a killer . I have lost count of the number of times I baked this one And the wows I get for the texture and taste all credit goes to u for coming up with this wow recipe . Was just wondering do U think I can make this one as a vanilla cake by replacing the cocoa powder with flour and coffee for water ????You truly have been a blessing to me . Stay blessed
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Anu. So happy to hear such a lovely comment. THank you !!
I think it should work the vanilla way too
martine
I swear this recipe saved me biiiggg time. Thanks loads. Carved well and ingredients were axcurate to get good cake. This and butter cream made a mean cake to carve!! Whewww!!
Veena Azmanov
Ah glad to hear that. Thanks hun <3
NN (@keydet_nn)
Hi,
If I want to carve this cake, do I freeze it? And if yes, when? Do i let it completely cool off and then freeze it (and for how long) and then take it out and immediately carve?
Thank you!
Veena Azmanov
Cool it completely, then freeze for an hour or two before you carve. This will make carving easier.
charlene
I went to buy the ingredients to make this cake and at the store I found bleached and unbleached flour I was not sure which one to get
Veena Azmanov
Both work as long as they are cake flour. Bleached flour contains chemicals added when processing so the final product is more superior in texture and color.
charlene
Thank you for your reply. What kind of cake flour did you use? I just discovered your blog and i love it. I have so much more to explore! I enjoy making cakes and im making my first cake that im getting paid for next month. They want chocolate and i need to make a taller square shape. Ive been struggling with my cakes falling apart and that cant happen if im getting paid so i plan on testing this recipie friday!
April Thoma
I’m making cakes for a birthday party and we want one white or yellow cake and a chocolate is it possible le just to eliminate the cocoa powder? I made the chocolate one and it was amazing!!
Veena Azmanov
I have not tried it but may work. Why not choose a tried and tested vanilla cake instead
Che
HI CAN I JUST USE MARGARINE INSTEAD OF BUTTER. IS THAT THE SAME THING? THANKS FOR QUICK REPLY
Veena Azmanov
Technically you can – margarine has more water content so the texture will be a bit different – and of course butter vs margarine in terms of taste
Dawn
Hi Veena this is my first go at making your chocolate cake. I have read and re read your recipe and I can’t see anything that says how much lemon juice to add to the buttermilk? Thanks Dawn
Veena Azmanov
HI Dawn. Thank you for bringing this to my attention- I think a whole sentence got deleted when I did copy and paste for the recipe in the recipe software. I have added the sentence so it should make sense now. Thanks and my apologies. I do hope you enjoy your recipe.
Valeria
Hi Veena!!
I’m desperately looking for a recipe of a chocolate cake that fits on a 11×16 inches (or so. Actually 40×30 cm) for sculpting.
This whole recipe would fit? Or should I prepare one and a half??
You’ll be really kind helping me, because your recipe looks delicius!!
Thank you in advance! 🙂
Veena Azmanov
You can double or triple this recipe and it works fine.!! This is good for carving. I have two other sheet cakes recipe on here you can make more than one recipe too!
Flor
Hello Veena, when do you add the coffee mixture?
Veena Azmanov
Honey it’s says add the flour, milk and coffee in three batches..
carly
Thank you ill make some more. Thank you for replying so quickly
carly
Hi I have made the cake on Monday and haven’t had space to freeze would it last until Saturday. And ill freeze for an hour or so before carving. It has been wrapped im tinfoil.
Veena Azmanov
Wow Monday to Saturday out of the fridge is a long time.. I usually give most of my cakes 5 to 8 days shelf life if stored properly.
I store well in the fridge to keep fresh.
christine
Is the coffee instant or brewed?
Veena Azmanov
Instant
Thanusha
Is this cake suitable for ball shaped cakes. If not pls…. Share me a recipe
Veena Azmanov
Yes it will be great for a ball shaped cake
Anonymous
Thanx a lot…..
Sherrine
Hi Veena Sherrine just wanted to say thank you for sharing your recipe I made my practise cake the other day to carve and it was amazing and tasty thank you defo recommend this site .
Veena Azmanov
Great – Thank you so much
Sherrine
What is cake flour is it plain flour or self rising flour
Veena Azmanov
Look under Tip Thursday for the different types of flours post. Thanks
Sherrine
Hi there I would like to try out this recipe but don’t like coffee do I have to put coffee hope to hear from you soon
Veena Azmanov
No you can omit the coffee!
Catherine Hobby
Thank you for this recipe. We loved it very much.
Sania
Hey Veena I think the cake is too sweet. Will putting more sugar in it affect the recipe?
Gladys Chinyere Opata
Hello Veena, Thanks for always sharing. Tried out this recipe and it came out really good. This is the first time i am trying your recipes and i can't tell you how pleased i was with the results. thanks a lot.
Anonymous
Hi Veena…….u said in ur FAQ that u douche all ur cakes with simple syrup,does it mean including the chocolate cakes too?Thank u.
Anonymous
Heyy i was just wondering can i use regular white Sugar instead of brown sugar?
Veena Azmanov
Yes you can use white sugar instead of Brown sugar but the texture might be a bit crusty.
CupcakesByNathalie
Hi veena. That's for all your tips and tricks! I was wondering if u thaw the cake completely before carving? Thanks! 🙂
Veena Azmanov
Sorry for the delay in replying. No I carve it semi frozen. so that way I do not loose too much cake..
Anonymous
Hi! Am I just having a moment or does the method not say when to add the coffee mixture.
By the way – I love this page!!
Jo x
Sarah
ok i have made this cake twice now, once for a test cake and now for the real deal, both times i got something totally different, flavour is great but it tastes like a chocolate mouse before baking and a really dense brownie after it is cooked…am i beating the egg butter, sugar mixture to long? I am doing it in a food processor. The first time the cake rose a little bit and flattened itself out
Veena Azmanov
Hi Sarah, Sorry the cake didn't turn out right the second time. This is actually a very simple cake to make. I do have a cake mixer but have done it by hand with a bowl and whisk many times.
So it's not the food processor.
Looks like the second time you had a bit extra flour. Are you using weight measurements or cup. A cup of APF contains 130 grams of flour while cake flour
shalu
Really exotic,rich and an amazing recipe.For a smaller 6 inch cake do we half the recipe.
veenaartofcakes
Yes Shalu, You will have to half the recipe for a 6 inch cake.
Thanks
Veena