Chocolate Little Layer Cake

This southern heritage Chocolate Little Layer Cake consists of tiny layers baked individually and topped with boiled chocolate icing.

4.7 from 125 votes

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

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Part cake and part confection, this heritage recipe for Chocolate Little Layer Cake is made by home cooks throughout southwest Georgia. The cake consists of tiny yellow layers baked individually then filled and topped with old fashioned boiled chocolate icing.

I really love the way technology connects us. It makes it possible for us to share special recipes like this Chocolate Little Layer Cake beyond our closest circle of friends and family What we used to do through cards and letters, newspaper and magazine clippings, or simply by word of mouth, we can now accomplish within seconds.

Just a quick internet search and virtually any recipe ever thought of appears on your screen. I’m even more grateful that technology is helping us to preserve our old heritage recipes like this beautiful little layer cake.

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These beautiful multi-layer cakes have, for as long as I can remember, always been a part of family reunions, church dinners, and most holidays in the southwest corner of Georgia where I grew up. You might think at first glance that they’re standard cake layers that have been split and filled, but they’re not. Not at all. Each little thin layer is baked separately.

To make it even more different from traditional layer cakes, it’s iced with warm boiled chocolate icing while the layers themselves are still warm. Totally goes against the conventional method, doesn’t it?

Years ago, Kim Severson of the New York Times did a story on these little layer cakes. I had the pleasure of hearing Kim speak once at food blogging conference. She’s a very accomplished food writer and has received numerous accolades, including several James Beard Awards.

In her NYT story, she talked about how the cakes were made only in one area in Alabama and on Smith Island near Maryland. Well, I can assure you that they are part of the fabric of at least one small southwest Georgia town as well :-)

In the small town where I grew up, lots of ladies make these cakes for a little extra income on the side. They come in two versions – chocolate or caramel. Some of them make a fairly brisk business of it, especially around Christmas.

Way back when, the thin layers for these cakes were made by cooking each layer in a hoecake pan or iron skillet on top of the stove, but now most everyone cooks the layers in the oven. It just goes faster when you can bake three or four layers at one time, you see.

If you’re really experienced with little layer cakes, you can get as many as fourteen layers from your batter. I usually get about ten. I need to practice more. If you’ve never made this cake before, aim for about seven layers your first time and gradually increase as you improve your technique.

The original recipe that I have for little layer cakes is so typical of old-time recipes. It assumes that the cook pretty much knows what to do and only the bare essentials are given.

For instance, the instructions for making the batter read “Mix well. Grease 8″ pans with Crisco. Put 2 large cooking spoonfuls in each pan. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.” That’s it.

And the instructions for the boiled icing are “Place over low heat until all is dissolved. Do not boil. Be sure all sugar is melted.” Well, alrighty then!

In the recipe below, I’ve tried to re-write and modernize the instructions a bit for you.

• The delicious and unique boiled chocolate icing.
• Tastes great and is easy to make once you get the idea.
• It’s a very old, sentimental part of southern foodways.

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• Granulated Sugar – This is just plain old white sugar. We tend to use Dixie Crystals in the south.
• Baking Chocolate – It’s really important to use the right kind of chocolate for this recipe. You’ll need to purchase Baker’s Premium Unsweetened Baking Chocolate which produces the distinctive look, texture, and taste required for this recipe.
• Evaporated Milk – Be sure you’re buying evaporated milk NOT sweetened condensed milk.
• Butter – Like most old-fashioned southern cooks, I use salted butter in everything including this recipe. I can’t remember the last time I purchased unsalted butter.
• Vanilla Extract – Use a quality extract such as McCormick’s.
• Eggs – The fresher the better.
• Self Rising Flour – Southerners love our White Lily flour for any type of baking. It’s made from soft winter wheat and produces very tender baked goods.

Prep the Pans and Ingredients

1. Before starting your baking, make sure to have all the ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and go ahead and prep several 8-inch cake pans with shortening and set them aside.

👉 PRO TIP: How many layers you bake at once depends on how many pans you have and can fit into your oven without them touching. Some people use disposable cake pans for this, but I don’t see the need. I just wipe the pans out and re-grease between each set of layers.

Make the Icing

Unlike other cakes, you actually start your little layer cake by making the icing first.

2. Place a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat. The heat should be barely medium-low. If in doubt, go lower.
3. Add the sugar, baking chocolate, evaporated milk, butter, and vanilla all at once. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, stirring occasionally. It is important that the icing does not boil and that you make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved so that no grainy texture remains.

Make the Batter

4. Meanwhile, make the batter. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs all at once and beat until well incorporated. Add the flour and water alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Mix in the vanilla.

👉 PRO TIP: The batter will appear to be curdled after each addition of water – this is normal.

Bake the Layers

5. Pour approximately 3/4 cup batter into each prepared pan. Smooth the batter to the edges.
6. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the layers are barely golden on top. Remove from the oven and turn out onto cooling racks.
7. Clean the pans, grease them, and repeat baking.
8. When the second set of layers goes into the oven, begin icing the first set.

Frost the Layers While Warm

9. Place a still-warm layer on a cardboard round set on a cooling rack inside a baking sheet. Spread 1/4 cup of icing on the layer smoothing it gently to the edges. Top with the next layer and repeat.

👉 PRO TIP: Note that the icing will be thin and fairly runny. It will drip down the sides of the layers. This is to be expected. Any excess icing should be scraped up and returned to the pan and all of it used in icing the cake. This is why I strongly recommend doing the icing of the cake on a cooling rack set inside a baking pan.

10. When all the layers have been stacked and iced, spread the remaining icing over the top and sides of the cake. If the icing becomes thick, return the pan to very low heat until it returns to spreading consistency.
11. Smooth the icing around the sides of the cake, but realize that the contours are supposed to be visible on the outside of the cake.

• Many cooks around my hometown also make this cake with a caramel icing. I don’t have the original caramel icing recipe, but the version I use for my Southern Caramel Layer Cake should work well.
• I’ve also seen commercial versions of the little layer cake done in coconut, red velvet, and even lemon. I prefer the chocolate and caramel versions.

This cake is the perfect dessert for practically any occasion. I’ve served this for Sunday night family dinner, birthday parties, family reunions, and even bridal showers. It’s the perfect ending to a traditional southern meal of country fried steak, old fashioned green beans, fried okra, cornbread, and a fresh cucumber salad!

Store the cake in a covered container at room temperature for three or four days.

This cake freezes very well. To freeze, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Place the wrapped cake in a freezer container and freeze for up to three months. Allow the frozen cake to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

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📖 Recipe

Chocolate Little Layer Cake

This southern heritage Chocolate Little Layer Cake consists of tiny layers baked individually and topped with boiled chocolate icing.

4.68 from 125 votes

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Course: Desserts

Cuisine: Southern, Vintage

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 servings

Calories: 366kcal

Author: Lana Stuart

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Ingredients

• ▢ Solid shortening for greasing pans

For the icing:

• ▢ 3 cups sugar
• ▢ 3 ½ ounces unsweetened baking chocolate see notes
• ▢ 10 ounces evaporated milk
• ▢ ½ cup butter
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the layers:

• ▢ 1 cup butter
• ▢ 1 ½ cups sugar
• ▢ 6 eggs
• ▢ 3 ½ cups self-rising flour sifted
• ▢ 1 ¾ cups water
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

• Have all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 8” cake pans with shortening and set aside.
• Make the icing first. Place a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat.
• Add the sugar, baking chocolate, evaporated milk, butter, and vanilla all at once. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, stirring frequently. Do not boil. It is important to make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved and no grainy texture remains.
• Meanwhile, make the batter. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs all at once and beat until well incorporated. Add the flour and water alternately, beginning and ending with flour. (Note: the batter will appear to be curdled after each addition of water – this is normal.) Mix in the vanilla.
• Pour approximately 3/4 cup batter into each prepared pan. Smooth the batter to the edges.
• Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until layers are barely golden on top. Remove from oven and turn out onto cooling racks.
• Clean the pans, grease them and repeat baking.
• When second set of layers goes into the oven, begin icing the cake.
• Place a still-warm layer on a cardboard round set atop a cooling rack inside a baking sheet. Spread 1/4 cup icing on the layer spreading it gently to the edges. Top with the next layer and repeat.
• When all layers have been stacked and iced, spread remaining icing over top and sides of the cake. If the icing becomes thick, return the pan to very low heat until it returns to spreading consistency.
• Smooth the icing around the sides of the cake, but realize that the contours are supposed to be visible on the outside of the cake.

Notes

• The specific type of chocolate traditionally used for this recipe is Baker’s Premium Unsweetened Baking Chocolate. This chocolate produces the distinctive look, texture, and taste of this recipe.
• Store your cake in a covered container at room temperature for three or four days.
• To freeze, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Place the wrapped cake in a freezer container and freezer for up to three months. Allow the frozen cake to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1 | Calories 366kcal | Carbohydrates 53g | Protein 5g | Fat 16g | Saturated Fat 10g | Cholesterol 75mg | Sodium 132mg | Potassium 106mg | Fiber 1g | Sugar 39g | Vitamin A 442IU | Vitamin C 1mg | Calcium 48mg | Iron 1mg

Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.

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— This post was originally published on April 24, 2012. It has been updated with new photos and additional information.