Make the Chocolate Cake Layer
This chocolate cake recipe is super basic, I adapted it from my regular chocolate cake to be softer so it would work better with the mousse layers, but I loved it so much I might just keep using it in chocolate cake recipes from now on!
You really don’t need any special equipment for this cake, you can just use a regular whisk. You could use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment on low speed if you really wanted to – but it’s totally not necessary as the cake batter comes together so easily and isn’t difficult to mix.
Preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C and line two 8-inch cake pans. I like to put parchment paper rounds on the base of each round cake pan and then spray all over with a cake release spray. But you can use butter or whatever method works best for you.
In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients except the espresso powder – this includes the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk everything together.
In a medium bowl, combine all the wet ingredients, except the hot water, this includes the eggs, milk, sour cream, vegetable oil, and, vanilla. Whisk together lightly until it makes a homogenous mixture. Make sure the eggs, milk, and sour cream are all at room temperature to help them incorporate easily.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until everything is combined and there are no more lumps, make sure you are scraping the bottom of the bowl in case there is any flour down there.
You don’t want to use the whisk to incorporate a bunch of air into the mixture, you just want to mix slowly until it’s all smooth.
In a small bowl or a glass, combine the hot water with the espresso powder and mix until the espresso powder has completely dissolved. Pour into the cake batter and whisk gently until combined.
Divide the chocolate cake batter between your two prepared cake pans and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
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