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    Home » Recipes » The Best Chocolate Tea Cake Recipe

    The Best Chocolate Tea Cake Recipe

    Published: Apr 17, 2019 · Modified: Feb 8, 2023 by Mary Ann Rollano · 9 Comments I independently review every recommendation. May contain affiliate links.

    364 shares
    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    Have you been looking for a chocolate tea cake recipe that is moist, delicious, and better than any other? This recipe will delight and satisfy you.

    chocolate cake slice on a plate

    My family loves chocolate, especially my daughter. So I wanted to make her the best chocolate cake for her birthday.

    The recipe I found will delight and amaze you.

    Instead of buying one from our local bakery, which is usually very good, I started my quest. I searched my cookbooks, recipes collected over the years, and favorite food blogs for deliciously moist chocolate cake recipes.

    How to Make Cake Moist and Soft

    I came across a triple chocolate cake recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. It's triple chocolate because it adds chocolate chips topping the chocolate buttercream frosting. A true chocolate lover's heaven!

    I follow her baking blog and have tried many of her recipes, and they were all delicious. So when I read this recipe, I knew it would be easy to make and delicious.

    And I was right. It was excellent the first time I made it! Now that's a good recipe. The other thing I found intriguing about this recipe is that it called for adding coffee, so I substituted tea instead.

    Perfect, a cake made with tea! You know I love the added tea. English Breakfast tea is a lovely strong tea to use. And the thing is, you can't taste the tea – but it's in there, just enhancing the chocolate flavor and secretly giving off its tea benefits.

    I didn't know you could do this since I'm not a baker. So I asked Sally about her recipe. She explained that,

    If a recipe calls for water use coffee, tea, juice or anything else to bring out more flavor."

    I love this idea - more ways to add tea to my recipes!

    Secret To a Light Fluffy Chocolate Cake

    All bakers want the same thing from their cakes – light layers with a tender, uniform crumb. And this chocolate tea cake recipe delivers.

    The most important thing I learned from this recipe is to use eggs and dairy at room temperature. Why?

    Pro Tip:

    The Culinary Craft explains the lightness in a cake is derived from air bubbles or carbon dioxide.

    • The leavening effect of baking soda and baking powder creates air bubbles.
    • Heat expands air, so the air bubbles expand when the cake batter is placed in a hot oven.
    • A more stable chemical bond or emulsion forms when you start with room-temperature ingredients.
    • As the batter warms in the oven, the liquid emulsion formed from the ingredients fills these air bubbles.

    This little trick produces a light, airy, evenly baked cake.

    So, before blending anything, let all your dairy products sit at room temperature for at least an hour or until they warm to room temperature.

    Chocolate Cake Ingredient Tips

    For the unsweetened cocoa powder, I used Hershey's. Do not use Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Hershey's works best. The Dutch processed won't correctly react with the leavening agents, like baking soda, to produce carbon dioxide because it's not acidic cocoa; it's alkaline.

    Tea Infused Cake

    For the tea, select a quality loose-leaf tea for a better flavor. You want to brew it strong using one and half times more loose tea than you usually would for a cup of tea.

    Because the recipe called for a strong black coffee, I substituted a robust black tea. Any Breakfast tea will work. You're looking for a black tea that is strong and malty, like an Assam. If it holds up well to milk, it will work well in this recipe.

    black loose leaf tea dry leaf closeup

    The key to cooking with tea and getting a nice tea-infused flavor is to be sure you are using fresh loose-leaf tea. Quality loose-leaf teas are highly aromatic and will work best.

    Infusing tea into a cake makes it moist and tender. Plus, it's fun to play with the flavors a bit. You could try a Chai or an Earl Grey tea-infused cake.

    Every tea shop specializes in something different, and there are many choices.

    Related:

    • Cinnamon Swirl Chai Bundt Cake
    • 10 Best Online Tea Shops
    • Decadent Chocolate Sorbet
    • Best Afternoon Tea in London

    Measuring Cake Ingredients

    Measuring accurately is critical in baking. Some bakers are meticulous and measure everything by weight, so I've included the amount in grams with each ingredient if that's you. You will bake a better product.

    Chocolate Frosting

    This simple chocolate cake has become my go-to cake for every occasion. Last year I made this cake from scratch for Easter and added all the basket goodies as trimmings.

    The frosting is a buttercream frosting, which makes it smooth spreading. I made a basket weave on the side of the cake, and it was pretty easy with this frosting.

    There are many ways to frost this cake; the ideas are endless. You could top it with sprinkles or mini chocolate chips. Get creative!

    Chocolate Tea Cake Recipe

    chocolate cake slice on a plate

    Chocolate Tea Cake

    Mary Ann Rollano
    A chocolate tea cake recipe that is moist, delicious with the addition of a strong brewed black tea.
    5 from 9 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 1 hr
    Cook Time 30 mins
    Total Time 1 hr 30 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 16 slices
    Calories 490 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    Chocolate Tea Cake

    • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (220g)
    • 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar (350g)
    • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (65g)
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup buttermilk (240ml)
    • ½ cup vegetable oil (120ml)
    • 2 large eggs at room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 1 cup freshly brewed strong black tea (English Breakfast) (240ml)

    Milk Chocolate Frosting

    • 1.25 cups butter, softened to room temperature (2.5 sticks or 290g)
    • 4 cups confectioners sugar (1 box) (480g)
    • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (65g)
    • 5 tablespoon heavy cream (75ml)
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • ½ teaspoon salt to taste

    Instructions
     

    Chocolate Tea Cake

    • Preheat oven to 350° F.
    • Butter and flour, or line with baking parchment paper, two 8-inch round cake pans.
    • Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.
    • Mix with electric mixer on HIGH speed the buttermilk, oil, room temperature eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until combined.
    • SLOWLY add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients on LOW mixer speed.
    • Add the hot brewed tea. Note the batter is very thin - this is the way it's supposed to be.
    • Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans.
    • Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Cool before frosting.

    Milk Chocolate Frosting

    • Beat butter on HIGH speed until smooth and creamy - about 2 minutes.
    • SLOWLY add confectioners sugar and cocoa powder to butter on very LOW speed until fully incorporated.
    • Add vanilla and cream on MEDIUM speed. Beat for 1 minute on HIGH speed.
    • Assemble and frost the cake. Decorate with chocolate chips if desired.

    Notes

    Let all your dairy products sit out at room temperature for at least an hour or until they warm to room temperature.
    The cake will keep when covered at room temperature for 4 days and refrigerated for up to 7 days. Believe me, it won't be around for 7 days!
    Chocolate cake recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction with permission.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1sliceCalories: 490kcalCarbohydrates: 68gProtein: 4gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 530mgPotassium: 210mgFiber: 3gSugar: 52gVitamin A: 565IUCalcium: 54mgIron: 1.9mg
    Keyword Chocolate cake, Chocolate cake recipe, Chocolate Tea Cake, Chocolate tea cake recipe
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    Chocolate Cake Nutrition

    A cake isn't nutritious, you say? Read on...

    Buttermilk:

    • It's rich in riboflavin, high in bone-building calcium, and packed with protein. Buttermilk is also an excellent potassium, vitamin B-12, and phosphorous source.
    • Did you know buttermilk is also a probiotic food? It contains the type of bacteria that aid in a healthy digestive process.
    • Buttermilk is made by adding Lactobacillus acidophilus, the probiotic bacteria that gives buttermilk its sour taste, much like yogurt.
    • The intestines contain bacteria known as "normal flora" or healthy bacteria. Probiotics are part of good intestinal bacteria.

    So it's best to use real buttermilk if you can.

    Black Tea:

    • Thousands of scientific studies show that regular tea drinking can have significant health benefits. After all, it is plant-based food. The same compounds found in fruits and vegetables are the major bioactive compounds found in tea.
    • In tea, flavonoids are found in very high concentrations. Because of this, tea has fantastic health benefits.

    Vanilla:

    • A teaspoon of natural vanilla extract contains 5.5 mg of potassium and trace amounts of magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous.
    • Madagascar vanilla beans are reputed to have a sweet, creamy flavor associated with classic vanilla. Do yourself a favor and skip the artificial stuff.

    Chocolate: 

    • A good source of antioxidants and iron. Antioxidants are reported to prevent heart disease and cancer. They are also known to have anti-inflammatory properties.
    • Some studies have suggested chocolate could lower cholesterol levels and prevent memory decline.

    Enjoy Your Chocolate Cake

    If you want to score a victory with your chocolate lovers, bake this cake for them. And then celebrate!


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    About Mary Ann Rollano

    Mary Ann is a 3x award-winning tea specialist, nurse, and author of Life Is Better With Tea - introducing tea drinkers to the world of specialty tea, herbs, and wellness. Click here for your FREE Tea Guide.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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    1. Lisa

      February 18, 2022 at 4:52 pm

      Thanks for the recipe!
      There's a restaurant in Paris called Mariage Frères and everything is infused with tea. From the salmon to the Souffle. When I tell Americans about it, they think it sounds weird. Let's hope this recipe opens their eyes!!

      Log in to Reply
      • Mary Ann Rollano

        February 22, 2022 at 4:13 pm

        Many people don't realize you can infuse tea into so many recipes. I love the book Culinary Tea by Cynthia Gold. It has some great recipes with tea.

        Log in to Reply
    2. Scottie Thompson

      July 12, 2020 at 10:46 am

      5 stars
      This cake looks amazing. Just wondering what the baking time would be if you made it in a 9x13 pan instead of two 8 inch rounds? Thanks so much - - I'm not good at adjusting baking times when not using the pans from the original recipes!

      Log in to Reply
    3. Joanne B

      May 20, 2020 at 7:47 pm

      5 stars
      I made this for my husband’s quarantine birthday. He loved it! This recipe is a keeper.

      Log in to Reply
      • Mary Ann Rollano

        May 27, 2020 at 10:42 am

        Thanks, Joanne. Glad he loved it!

        Log in to Reply
    4. Jennifer

      May 04, 2019 at 1:04 pm

      5 stars
      Made this for my birthday. SO yum!

      Log in to Reply
      • Mary Ann Rollano

        May 05, 2019 at 6:43 pm

        Happy Birthday, Jennifer! Glad you enjoyed it.

        Log in to Reply
    5. Henneke D.

      March 28, 2018 at 5:05 pm

      5 stars
      This looks so good! Thank you for sharing the recipe! And also thank you for including the metric measures, this makes it a lot easier to make.

      Log in to Reply
    6. prianka

      November 13, 2016 at 2:02 pm

      5 stars
      I have also made this cake last night:

      i preheated the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 3 (9-inch) cake pans. Cut 3 circles of waxed paper or parchment paper to fit the bottoms of the pans, then press them in.
      In a mixer fitted using a hand mixer cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and eggs and mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla, cocoa, baking soda and salt and mix. Add 1/2 of the flour, then 1/2 of the sour cream and mix. Repeat with the remaining flour and sour cream. Drizzle in the hot coffee and mix until smooth. The batter will be thin. Pour into the prepared pans and bake until the tops are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are okay), about 35 minutes. Halfway through the baking, quickly rotate the pans in the oven to ensure even baking, but otherwise try not to open the oven. Let cool in the pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks and let cool completely before frosting.

      And follow the same as you have shown in this article.It was tasty indeed!

      Log in to Reply

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    Hi, I'm Mary Ann, an award-winning tea expert, retired registered nurse, and author writing tips on all types of tea and herbs. I show you all the benefits of tea - nutrition, medicine, and an abundance of culinary joy.

    I believe tea is more than a beverage; it's a lifestyle. Tea calms the mind and soothes the spirit. If you want to live well, start by drinking tea.

    Here I show you how to select quality loose leaf teas, make tea with the best flavor, and create tea recipes. Experience a lifestyle change of wellness through the beauty of tea.

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