Dress up with this Tuxedo Mud Cake! Rich and moist Australian Mud Cakes nestle between alternating layers of chocolate and white chocolate frostings!
It may not scream summer, but this Tuxedo Mud Cake is not bound to seasonal ingredients. It warrants no special occasion. Simply put, this cake is the epitome of “treat yourself.”
What is mud cake? It’s a meta-moist cake with some sort of chocolate. Fat is either in the form of an unsaturated fat, like vegetable oil, or a saturated fat, like butter, that’s been melted. The assembly of the batter mirrors that of chocolate cake, but the ratios are different and it’s baked at a lower temperature.
Pairing these two chocolate cakes for a dessert duet did not come as some blind divine vision. Here in the United States, I think people know this double-chocolate overload indulgence as a “tiger cake.” It is distributed to supermarkets and sold at bakeries in squares. I love the visual that the black and white cakes and frostings have. Trying to mimic that design, I double layered the frosting to create that striped effect both in the layers and on the outside.
As I mentioned earlier, the Tuxedo Mud Cake needs no ceremony, you do not need to rationalize it’s existence. It is intense, its is rich, and it needs to no excuses!
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- For the Chocolate Australian Mud Cake:
- 1 cup warm water
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons espresso powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ cup (4 tablespoons, 2 ounces) unsalted butter
- 4 ½ ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the White Chocolate Australian Mud Cake:
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter
- 4 ½ ounces white chocolate chips
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- For the Chocolate Frosting:
- ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks, 12 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 ½ ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
- 2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 ½ pounds powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
- For the White Chocolate Frosting:
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 8 ounces white chocolate, melted
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans with baking spray, set aside. Whisk warm water, cocoa powder, and espresso powder, let cool. In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside. Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, stir every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and whisk in melted chocolate, cocoa-espresso liquid, and. Combining the still-warm ingredients to dry-mixture will cool down the temperature. Finally whisk in buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla.
- Divide batter between prepared pans and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, depending upon your oven. The cake will spring back and a tooth pick inserted will come but moistly clean with a few moist, not wet, crumbs. To prevent carry over cooking, invert cakes onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cool, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease two 8-inches cake pans, set aside. Using a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate and butter in 20 second intervals, stirring each time, until melted. Whisk in oil, sugar, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour wet-mixture into dry-mixture, whisk until combine, make sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate all of the dry ingredients.
- Divide batter between prepared pans and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway. The cakes should be slightly golden near the edges a tooth pick inserted will come but moistly clean with a few moist, not wet, crumbs. To prevent carry over cooking, invert cakes onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cool, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring every 30-second until melted. Pour melted mixture into a stand mixer with powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Fit mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on a low speed until mixed, about 30 seconds. Add milk and raise speed to a medium speed and beat until smooth but not whipped, about 30 to 45 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and lump free, about 1 minute at medium speed. Add vanilla followed by the powdered sugar and salt. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and paddle down. Finally add in melted white chocolate, mixing until combined, about 20 more seconds.
- Bring frostings to room temperature. Secure one Chocolate Cake Layer onto a cake board. Apply a thin layer of White Chocolate Frosting followed by a thin layer of Chocolate Frosting. Secure the first White Chocolate Cake Layer next. Apply chocolate frosting followed by White Chocolate Frosting. You want to alternate colors so chocolate cake is flanked by white chocolate and vise versa. Apply a thin crumb coat. Chill for 15 minutes apply stripes of white and chocolate frostings, using a bench scraper to smooth. Use a comb to finish the frosting. Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.