A delicious cake-take on the 'Kahlua mudslide' cocktail!
(or use another chocolate-friendly liqueur if you like 🙂 )
My initial idea for this cake cake from the ‘Kahlua Mudslide’ cocktail – which has MASSIVE amounts of variation as I was paging through recipes online.
But there were a few parts I knew I wanted to incorporate into a cake!
- + creaminess of the ice cream / whipped cream that’s usually included
- + plenty of chocolate (hence the ‘mudslide’ name)
- + intense flavor of Kahlua liqueur – I wanted to really taste it in the entire cake!
Back-story:
My 'Kahlua Mudslide Cake' idea lived on the back burner for probably more than a couple of years. (In fairness, it was a super busy couple of years.)
But then I discovered the cake ring hack – and was dying to know how well it would work (read: 'whether it would work') with whipped cream frosting!
I also wanted to try stabilized whipped cream – a bit of gelatin helps whipped cream hold its shape, and I really wanted to try the cake ring hack with stabilized whipped cream and see how it would behave after a bit of time at room temperature.
Then I received a bottle of Mozart’s Chocolate cream liqueur – (non-affiliate link) so I had another liqueur to experiment and recipe-test with!
So - now that I've done my experimenting - here's the recipe!
I wrote the recipe card with Kahlua, but you can absolutely use Mozart’s chocolate liqueur or any of your favorite liqueurs in that chocolate / coffee vein!
Cake mix hack -
If you'd like to super-simplify the recipe, you can substitute 2 chocolate cake mixes for the cake recipe below. It won't be as rich, but it'll save you some steps, mess, groceries, and time.
Substitute 1/2 cup Kahlua, 1/2 cup cold coffee, and 1 cup milk for the liquid called for on the cake mix box; add eggs and oil as instructed.
Follow the rest of the instructions as written below.
One slightly questionable and very odd thing I did with one recipe test of this cake –
I hate wasting cake scraps. So I saved and cake-pop-mix-ed the cake tops after I leveled the cakes, and used the mix as part of the filling between the layers.
This gave an easy way to re-purpose them, give a bit of height back to the cake, and add more chocolate flavor to the filling.
It’s an extra step, and I’ll give you it’s a bit weird, but whatever. Take it or leave it; I thought it was good and I’d do it again. 🙂
(Disclosure: As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases, and my posts often contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you!)
Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
Kahlua Mudslide Cake
Equipment
- Baker's floured cooking spray (optional, but I prefer this spray to parchment rounds)
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (8" would work, but moving the cake is easier with a larger circle)
- Cake leveler (or a serrated knife + ruler)
- Acetate sheet (optional; see video)
- metal cake ring (optional; see video)
- large offset spatula (to spread whipped cream if not using cake ring)
Ingredients
Chocolate Kahlua cake layers
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour (350g)
- 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar (450g)
- 1 ¼ cup cocoa powder (100g)
- 1 tsp baking soda (5g)
- ¾ tsp salt (4g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks/250g; room temperature)
- 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (350mL)
- ½ cup Kahlua
Cake drizzle (optional but recommended)
- ¼ cup Kahlua
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
Kahlua Ganache filling & drip
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (+ additional ¼ cup to chop for decorating)
- 5 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 5 Tablespoons Kahlua
Whipped cream frosting
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup cold water (to stabilize whipped cream if desired)
- 2 teaspoons powdered gelatin (to stabilize whipped cream if desired)
Instructions
Chocolate Kahlua Cake layers
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (180C). Grease 3 8-inch cake pans with baker's floured spray, or grease and line pans with parchment paper.
- Mix together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle (or hand mixer or whisk) until well combined. Add in bits of softened butter, mixing until no lumps of butter are visible and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and Kahlua. Add to dry ingredients and mix until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another 20 seconds.
- Fill the three pans evenly - I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, and each of mine weighed out to about 550g. Bake for 30-35 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans, and cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired. (This is a great time to make the whipped cream and ganache!)
Chocolate whipped cream
- (To improve stability at room temperature, you can stabilize your whipped cream with gelatin. If just using regular whipped cream, skip this step and step 3.) Sprinkle gelatin over water; allow to sit 5 minutes. Microwave 30-60 seconds, until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Allow to cool to just above room temp - gelatin must be dissolved but not hot when added to whipped cream.)
- In a mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat whipping cream until semi-whipped and beater lines begin to show. Add in powdered sugar and cocoa powder (with the mixer off or it'll spray EVERYWHERE). Beat until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and beat until well-set.
- (If using stabilized whipped cream, slowly add the gelatin mixture - beating on medium continuously - until well-incorporated.) Refrigerate until ready to use.
Kahlua chocolate ganache
- Combine chocolate chips, whipping cream, and kahlua in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on half power in 30-second intervals; stirring in between until chocolate is fully melted and ganache appears smooth. Refrigerate until semi-set and thick enough to form cake filling. (I kept 1/2 cup out of the fridge for decorating - but it can always be re-warmed. Refrigerate the whole batch if that's easier.) :)
Assembly
- Once your cake layers have cooled, level them (if needed/desired). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of ganache on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle.
- Cake drizzle (optional) - combine ¼ cup each Kahlua and heavy whipping cream and drizzle over each cake layer as you stack them. (The layers will be a bit softer after the drizzle is added, so I prefer to do it when they're already stacked.)
- Spread the layer with Kahlua ganache, and add the next layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining ganache and cake layer - I often add the last layer upside down to make frosting easier.
Now - frosting + decorating!
- A quick watch of the video could be really helpful here if you've never seen the 'cake ring hack.' I'm honestly garbage at frosting with whipped cream, so I piped on a layer of whipped cream and then used a sheet of acetate and the cake ring to compress + smooth it. Set the 'squeezed' cake in the freezer to set the whipped cream, and once it's frozen (took about an hour for me) - peel the acetate off and fill in any gaps. If that's not your speed, then now's the time to add a crumb coat and second layer of whipped cream. :)
- Once your frosting is on, you're ready to add the drip! (Quick note - if you've used the cake ring and your cake is still cold from the freezer, allow it to thaw for a couple of hours in the fridge or be ready to spread the ganache quickly so it doesn't set too fast to drip.)Re-warm ganache until it's liquid but not hot (or it'll melt the whipping cream). Slowly drizzle ganache around the upper edge of your cake, pausing every inch or so to let more ganache fall in a drip down the side of the cake.
- Transfer remaining whipped cream to a piping bag, and pipe swirls around the top of the cake. Chop 1/4 remaining chocolate chips and sprinkle around the cake top and cake base.
- Annnd you're done! High-five on your killer Kahlua Mudslide cake!!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Other recipes you may love...
(Click / tap any of the photos below to be taken to the recipe page!)
