Chocolate Cream Cake

July 6, 2020 by Madeline Horszt 4,391 Comments

Fresh Cream Cake with a chocolate crust and thick chocolate topping

Light, fluffy and ultra-delicious our South Shore Kitchen chocolate cream cake is out of this world! The cake layer is made from a half batch of our Texas sheet cake, filled with white chocolate, cream cheese, whipped cream and topped with a soft chocolate ganache. If you are looking for a sugar sweet dessert, keep on moving because you will find none of that here! Chocolate cream cake is a perfect after dinner dessert, it is light, does not take up much room but will 100% satisfy your sweet tooth!

Thick or Thin

We experimented with this recipe several times and found that baking the chocolate cake layer in a sheet pan gives you the perfect ratio of fudgy chocolate cake to cream filling. During recipe creation the versions made with a thicker cake seemed like too much cake for the light filling and ganache topping. A half batch of Texas sheet cake is just the right amount of batter to fill a 9×13” sheet pan. Make sure to use parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan. Your cake will be delicate, parchment paper is essential if you are planning to transfer to a serving tray. Serving straight out of the sheet pan? You can skip the parchment paper and give the pan a good greasing.

Filler Up

There is little better in life than white chocolate cream cheese whipped cream. There are so many ways to use this filling but in our chocolate cream cake recipe its light and fluffy texture, without a heavy sugary flavor is the perfect pairing with the fudgy ganache topping. It is super easy to mix up and can easily be doubled. The hardest part is finding the white chocolate pudding powder. We live in an area of the Midwest that does not lack food shopping options and there are only a few stores that sell it. So, if you find it at a good price we suggest stocking up. Also, go with the Jell-O brand, it has a better flavor and texture. The Hershey’s brand, white chocolate pudding mix just does not make the grade. The flavor is a little off but mostly it gives the whipped cream an odd texture and a yellow color.

Whipping the cream is quick and easy with a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment add cream cheese and beat until smooth and creamy. While your cream cheese is mixing up sift dry ingredients together. Taking care to remove any lumps in the powdered sugar. Once cream cheese is smooth and creamy, remove paddle attachment, scrape the sides of mixing bowl, add chilled heavy cream, vanilla extract and begin whisking on medium high, until stiff peaks form. At this point turn mixer speed to low and incorporate powdered sugar, pudding powder mixture. Kick mixer speed back up to medium high and whip until light and fluffy. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

The Fudging Best

Ganache is a catch all term for mixing chocolate and cream together to create icings, dips, sauces or thick chocolate that can be scooped for pastry fillings or truffles. It sounds fancy but is remarkably simple to make with a little patience. Tasting like you went full chocolatier with basically a Betty Crocker effort. There really is not much to learn. Depending on the consistency you are trying to achieve you will change the ratio of chocolate to cream. Baker Bettie does a great job of explaining all the technical details if you are new to making ganache.

While there is little to making the ganache frosting there are a few key points not to miss. Chocolate needs to be chopped into small similar sized pieces. You can use any blend of chocolate you wish but for this recipe we used semi sweet chocolate chips. We were aiming to create a recipe that isn’t overly sweet but feel free to use whatever odds and ends you have in the pantry keeping in mind not to go too heavily on milk chocolate. Other than that, you are good to go with the chocolate.

When heating the heavy cream, use a sturdy bottomed pan taking care not to scald the cream. Stirring cream occasionally until the temperature has almost reached a sturdy simmer but not boiling. Pour over chocolate and let sit for 10 minutes. The temptation to stir will be strong but resist at all costs. The cream needs to melt the chocolate before you begin to stir. If mixture is stirred too soon it can end up with a gritty texture. Let it be, let it cool and it will be good to you.

Start Stacking

Cake can be served straight from the pan or transfer to serving platter by lifting parchment paper. This cake is delicate so take care not to break when transferring. Once you cake and ganache are both cooled you are ready to assemble. Slather on a thick layer of white chocolate cream cheese whipped cream. About 1 ½ inches thick but feel free to layer according to your preference. Next you want to spread the ganache layer on top of the whipped cream. We find it easiest to spoon the ganache all around the top of the whipped cream and then spread mixture rather than pouring all out in one spot to spread. Once the chocolate cream cake is assembled place in fridge for 15 minutes to set before serving.

Chocolate cream cake is a winner for your next get together or just an after-dinner treat. Give it a try and comment down below! We love to see what you are making, @thesouthshorekitchen on Instagram! If you are looking for another chocolate fix try or Texas sheet cake recipe, mini cakes or our favorite go to treat mini Tollhouse 2.0 cookies.