Halloween Black Velvet Cake

This easy black velvet cake is made with one-bowl chocolate cake and fluffy chocolate-hazelnut buttercream! It’s rich, moist, pitch black, and the ultimate Halloween party dessert. Even better, it comes together super quickly and doesn’t use food coloring. It’s a chocolate lover’s dream cake!

Ok, how excited are we for Halloween?! It’s one of my favorite holidays so I’m actually pretty bummed that spooky season is coming to an end. We spent all weekend dressing up and going to Halloween parties and events with our friends.

I dressed up as a kitty, drank a bit too much black Halloween sangria (oops), ate a whole lot of this Halloween charcuterie board, roller skated, and danced to emo music. It was the best!

But maybe the best part was, after coming home and scrubbing way to much makeup off my face, I’d get in my sweats and settle down with a slice of this cake while watching New Girl re-runs. As far as I’m concerned, the only cure for being absolutely exhausted but needing to work off some booze is a big old slice of chocolate cake. Let’s make it friends!

This cake belongs at your Halloween party

Ok we need to chat about this cake because it’s one of my new favorites. It’s based off of the classic chocolate cake recipe that I learned how to make in pastry school. But, it’s made with a secret ingredient for that gorgeous black color. It tastes like a red velvet cake and a super rich, midnight chocolate cake had a baby. Almost like an Oreo!

• This cake is light, moist, one-bowl, and deeply chocolatey.
• If you’re a fan of Nutella, you’ll love the chocolate hazelnut frosting.
• It’s nice and spooky for a Halloween party or get-together.
• There’s no food coloring – that black color is all natural.

Black cocoa powder

The secret ingredient in this cake is the black cocoa powder. That is what will give us a naturally-colored black cake without food coloring! I usually order it online. But depending on where you live, you might be able to find black cocoa in specialty food stores. If you can’t find black cocoa, you can use either Dutch-processed instead. The color won’t be as dark but it will have a similar taste and texture!

You will also need sugar, buttermilk, neutral oil (like canola or avocado), eggs, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and Morton’s Kosher salt. For the frosting, make sure you have unsalted butter, chocolate hazelnut spread (like Nutella), powdered sugar, and whole milk.

If you don’t want to buy buttermilk, you can make your own. Just add 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then, add whole milk up until the 1 cup fill line (225 milliliters). Whisk with a fork and let it sit for 10 minutes before you add it to the recipe.

Making this cake

This cake is a total dream if you like a super easy, quick, one-bowl situation. The recipe is foolproof and super un-fussy. I’ve seriously been making it for over 10 years and it comes out super delicious every single time!

Bake the cake

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, buttermilk, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
2. Next, add the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Stir just until the batter forms.
3. Then, divide the batter between 3 prepared 6-inch cake pans. Bake just until an inserted toothpick has a few moist crumbs on it. Let the cakes cool completely.

Make the frosting

1. In a bowl, beat the butter and chocolate-hazelnut spread until smooth. Add the black cocoa and mix just until combined.
2. Next, add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until a thick buttercream forms. Add a pinch of salt and a few tablespoons of milk until you get your desired texture.
3. Whip the buttercream for 2-3 minutes until it’s nice and fluffy. The buttercream will get lighter when you beat it, but don’t worry. It will get darker the longer it sits!

Assemble the cake

1. If necessary, level the domes off the top of the cake layers. Stack the cake, spreading an even layer of buttercream in-between each cake round.
2. Next, frost the outside of the cake using an offset spatula or butter knife. If you want smooth sides, use a bench scraper to even out the frosting.
3. Add decorations if desired. Slice and enjoy with coffee or milk!

Chill the cake rounds for 20-30 minutes in the freezer before assembling the cakes. Since this cake is so light and moist, it’s a bit crumbly. Freezing the rounds will make it so much easier to frost the cake.

Black velvet cupcakes

If you want to turn this black chocolate cake into cupcakes, it’s super easy. I’ve been using this recipe for cupcakes for years, and they come out great!

1. After you make the batter, divide it between 18 cupcake liners.
2. Bake the cupcakes at 350°F (177°C) for 15-17 minutes, just until an inserted toothpick has a few moist crumbs on it.
3. While the cupcakes cool, make the buttercream as directed. Frost the cooled black velvet cupcakes with buttercream and decorate.

Decoration ideas

When it comes to decorating cakes, I love an easy option which is why I went with these cute witches! Of course, you can get as crazy with it as you’d like. (It is the perfect centerpiece for a Halloween dessert table, after all.) These are some of my favorite ways to decorate this cake!

• Paper witches – I found paper witches on Etsy and then just taped them to pieces of thin wire. Then, I bent them around and stuck them in randomly for a fun effect!
• Sprinkles – Halloween sprinkles on the sides would be so cute.
• Shimmer powder – another way to add a little spookiness. Edible shimmer powder would be gorgeous on the outside of this cake.
• Piping – use a piping bag and tips to add piping to the border of the cake.

Recipe notes

• Bring the ingredients to room temperature before you start making this recipe. It will help everything mix together evenly for a smooth batter.
• Parchment paper is key for cakes that don’t stick to the pan. Just trace the bottom of the pans on the parchment paper and cut them out. Then, grease the cake pans with baking spray or neutral oil and gently press the parchment paper rounds to the bottom of the pans.
• Use a bread knife to level the domes off of the baked cakes. This will get you those nice, even, pretty layers.
• Use a piping bag to pipe an even layer of frosting in-between each cake round. Then, use an offset spatula or butter knife to fill in the gaps.

For the best results, measure the ingredients by weighing them on a kitchen scale. If you don’t have a scale, you can use measuring cups, but you need to measure the flour and cocoa powder the right way! Measure the flour and cocoa by fluffing them with a fork, scooping them into a measuring cup, and leveling them off (without packing it in).

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you left a star rating and review! I read every single comment and love hearing what you think about my recipes. Thank you for supporting Sunday Table!

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This recipe was originally posted on October 30, 2022.