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 tiny layer chocolate cake.
Recipe Snapshot
Cuisine: Southern, Vintage
Cooking Method: Oven and Stovetop
Total Time: 1 hour, 50 Minutes
Servings: 24
Primary Ingredient(s): Baking chocolate (see notes), sugar, flour, butter, evaporated milk
Skill Level: Intermediate
A Heritage Recipe
For as long as I can remember, these beautiful multi-layer cakes have 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 a 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 a ten-layer cake. 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.
A Modernized Recipe For You
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.
What You’ll Like About This Recipe
- It has a unique boiled chocolate icing.
- It tastes great and is pretty easy to make once you get the idea.
- It’s a very old, sentimental part of southern foodways.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING …
“I’m so glad to see this recipe! My aunt … made this cake many times, and it was always a hit and one of my all-time favorite desserts!!”
— Lucy
Ingredient Notes
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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.
The complete ingredient list with detailed measurements is included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook!
You can see this recipe on pages 268-269 of my cookbook, My Southern Table! Get your signed copy today.
How to Make Chocolate Little Layer Cake
Prep the Pans and Ingredients
- 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.
- Place a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. The heat should be barely medium-low. If in doubt, go lower.
- Add the sugar, baking chocolate, evaporated milk, butter, and vanilla all at once. Cook the mixture 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
- 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
- Pour approximately 3/4 cup batter into each prepared pan. Smooth the batter to the edges.
- Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the layers are barely golden on top. Remove from the oven and turn out onto cooling racks.
- Clean the pans, grease them, and repeat baking.
- When the second set of layers goes into the oven, begin icing the first set.
Frost the Layers While Warm
- 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 (an offset spatula is great for this job). 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 wire rack set inside a baking pan.
- 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.
- 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.
Variations
- 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.
What to Serve With Chocolate Little Layer Cake
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!
Storage
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.
More Popular Cake Recipes
Questions About Chocolate Little Layer Cake
As mentioned in the post, this icing is really thin and runny. It’s not the consistency that you usually think of for icing. The way I handle it is by placing a wire cooling rack inside a baking sheet and setting my layers on that to start. As I add icing, it drips off into the baking sheet. Keep scraping it up and adding it back to the pan. You’ll eventually use all the icing.
There are a few reasons that the icing can turn out grainy. A few tips are to make sure you have all the ingredients at room temperature before you start and to make sure all the sugar is completely dissolved.
The best way I’ve found to keep the layers from shifting is to insert two or three very thin bamboo skewers when you get about halfway up the stack. Keep layering and frosting, and cut your skewers off before you put the last layer on so they don’t show on the outside.
Have a question or thought to share?
If you have a question about the recipe or if you’ve made it and want to share how it turned out, I would truly enjoy hearing from you. Just scroll down to leave a comment or add your star rating.
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Recipe
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Chocolate Little Layer Cake
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 freeze for up to three months. Allow the frozen cake to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Nutrition Information
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 healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
— This post was originally published on April 24, 2012. It has been updated with new photos and additional information.
I’m Lana Stuart, an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, and lifelong cook raised deep in Southwest Georgia. I started Lana’s Cooking in 2009 to share the tried-and-true recipes I grew up with. Around here, the food is full of flavor, the traditions run deep, and there’s always room at the table.
This cake is an old favorite of mine that my grandmother use to make. My son always request this cake on his birthdays every year! This cake is still very popular in South Carolina.
I made this for my oldest daughter’s wedding….the final outside layer was cream cheese frosting…..what a huge cake…a heavy cake…and not a single crumb left !
Thank you so much for this recipe Lana!
I live, and grew up, in Northwest Florida. This cake is one we would only have at family reunions in Andalusia, AL – where my mother’s family is from. My husband is from Sylvania, GA and his grandmother made this cake all the time and it was his favorite. Since we didn’t know anyone who had the recipe, on either side of the family, I went looking and yours was the only one that truly reminded us of those cakes.
Since I’m not a baker I used a box cake mix (sorry folks) for this first attempt. I figure if I get the frosting right then I will make both the cake and the frosting next go around….
I have just finished and I am so excited! To me, the frosting tastes exactly like I remember! This is for my husband’s birthday tonight so I haven’t cut it yet.
One tip – I had the frosting on Low – I mean the lowest possible setting. All was great then I glance over and it is boiling! Just a bit, on one side, so I yanked it off the heat, grabbed my whisk and started beating it – not the way you do to incorporate air but just to thoroughly blend it. I think I saved it from being too grainy….whew. So if this happens to you – don’t give up on it, you might can save it.
Sandy – thank you so much for your very kind comment. Nothing makes me happier than when one of my recipes brings back fond memories for someone, except…when a reader take the time to comment and let me know that they enjoyed it! Hope your husband enjoys the cake!!
My mother, Lizzie Whatley, always made these cakes at Christmas time. She would make one each for all 7 children, and 1/2 each for the grown grandchildren. Hers had a unique taste, which I have been unable to capture, and it was in the frosting. If anyone out there knows what I am talking about, I would love to hear from you. We grew up and lived in the lower Alabama area near Dothan, AL. I have been told a lady in Georgia bakes the cake and it has the same taste. I wish I knew who, because I would give my eye teeth to get the recipe.
We live in Dry Branch, GA and my grandmother used to make these layer cakes in the cast iron skillet sometimes on top of the stove, sometimes baked in the oven in the skillet. But she used cocoa powder and cooked the icing on the stove. When she iced the layers she would use a fork and poke holes in the top of the cake to allow the icing to run in. Delicious.
Question: I have made this several times now and I LOVE IT! It is by far the best 10 layer chocolate cake recipe I have made, but it always looks lopsided, who can I make it look even and pretty? I feel like it is because I put one warm layer onto another and they just naturally slide. Any advice? Thanks and thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Caroline – If the layers are uneven, make sure you even out your batter in the pans before you put them in the oven and also make sure your oven/stove is sitting level! You can also try inserting a toothpick or two every 3 or 4 layers to hold it in place.
It’s interesting to see how many people bake this type of cake or know someone who does. I’m a lifelong Marylander and Smith Island is the first place I ever heard of these cakes. I’ve not had the joy of actually getting to eat one and now that I HAVE to live gluten-free (trust me, this is NOT by choice but by medical necessity), I’m going to have to wait until either myself or someone else “de-glutenfies” it (is that a word?). I personally think Ms. Severson was referring to MANY MANY years ago, perhaps even the late 19th century and early 20th century in which the cakes were only made on Smith Island and the Alabama area. (Wouldn’t it be interesting to discover how these two areas, so far apart, at least a 100 years ago, had this particular style? I wouldn’t be surprised if a young bride moved from one location to the other and took the tradition with her, that how this sort of thing happened pre-modern technology.)
But, it IS interesting to see how far and wide the cakes have grown. The online retailer Kitchen Krafts has a cake divider system which makes NUMEROUS layers that I’ve been wanting to buy. I wonder if that’s considered cheating to get lots of layers? Or, does it make a flavor difference to bake such thin small layers? Is it along the same concept of pancakes versus waffles that taste differently despite coming from the same batter? Food for thought anyway! (no pun intended there) However, for some reason, no matter WHAT I do, even using Wilton’s cake levelers, etc., I can NOT seem to get even, nice layers when I try to divide normal cake layers. Has anyone used one of those multiple layering sets? They’re not cheap which is why I haven’t purchased it yet. Perhaps I’ll just try baking the small thin layers. Lana, you tickle me with your comment of seeing just how many layers you can get from your batter. I had a great Aunt Zelda who was the baker in the family during her life. She was youngest of 3 sisters and each sister was excellent at one “female” skill. The oldest (my grandmother) was an amazing seamestress and quilter, anything with a needle, the middle one, fashion and entertaining and the youngest, she loved baking but don’t ask her to do any of the other stuff. She also had a bit of obsessive compulsiveness in her (actually all 3 of them did) and would count EVERY cookie she baked. It was a challenge to herself to see just how many sandtart cookies she could get out of each batch of cookie batter. The difference was determined by how thin you could roll the cookies. They’re best when you can almost see through them.
I’ve been baking these for years in S.C. My recipe came from the local newspaper and like you mentioned – only the ingredients & no directions. Most layers I ever got was 15. This is our Christmas & Birthday cake. Would love to have the caramel icing recipe you wrote about. Just found your blog – it’s a joy to read. Thank you for sharing.
North Carolina ladies make the “Thin Layer Chocolate Cake” with 12-14 very thin layers.
Thank you for the directions. I made these as a child with my grandmother all the time. Her entire family was from the Columbia, SC area. She was born in 1912.
Hi! I can’t wait to try this recipe! But I haven’t used baking chocolate much, when you say 3 1/2 blocks is that the smaller blocks that the break into, or 3 1/2 bars?
Thanks for your help! :)
Danielle – you need to purchase one package unsweetened baker’s chocolate. The package will contain several blocks. You’ll use 3 1/2 of the individual blocks. Here’s a link so you’ll know what you’re looking for in the grocery store. http://www.kraftrecipes.com/Products/ProductInfoDisplay.aspx?SiteId=1&Product=4300025010
I’m from south eastern North Carolina & North Eastern South Carolona. Lived on the border actually. I grew up eating these cakes. My mother made then all the time. Some times in a hoe cake iron skillet ,(and I bet most people don’t know what hoe cake is), some times in the oven. She made everything from scratch and the cooked icing. WOW. I don’t like canned or ready made icing to this day. I don’t remember her ever measuring anything. And yea she would make and sell cakes at Christmas. You could even find individually wrapped pieces of this cake in local conveinant stores for sale. This cake is all is all over the South East so no one area can put claim to it.
Lana, I’m from Tifton and make this cake for my son’s birthday and other times when I have two hours to spare. I once threw away batter when I got to layer #18 because I was too tired to go on! Do you have a secret to keeping all the layers stacked evenly? No matter how hard I try, they seem to come out lopsided! My momma says an ugly cake is the best tasting so mine have to be awesome!
Kathy – You can try using a couple of long wooden skewers. Put them in after about 5 or 6 layers and keep stacking up on them. Just be careful because it’s real easy to tear your layers on them. Personally – I just keep pushing it up straight as I work. They always try their best to slide around :-)
Thank you SO much for sharing this recipe! I am a southerner (my family is from Nashville, GA) who is living in Hong Kong….Good cake is hard to come by here, and I have been craving this classic southern cake. I just made your recipe and it came out perfect…just like the cake I remember from family gatherings. I am so proud of myself that I got 12 layers out of it! Thanks for helping bring a little taste from home to a far away place!
Lana-
If you do find out how to convert the measurements, to answer the above question, please post for all of us to see.
I have a similar problem with all my handed-down recipes.
Thanks!
I sure will, Vicki. Maybe I’ll do a whole new post about it.
Lana I don’t know if this is an appropriate question here or not. Please delete if not. I am a great grandmother, 86 yrs. old, and I am having a problem with making my old tried and true recipes. They use to always turn out perfect and could depend on the recipes. Now they flop, or don’t turn out right. Someone said, that the ingredients, e.g. flour etc. are a different consistency now than they used to be. I know you aren’t any where near my age, but have you, or anyone you’ve heard of have this same problem? If so how do they correct it.
Rosemarie – It’s true that lots of ingredients are different nowadays, especially flour. The White Lily that we always depended on for our Southern recipes is even different (company was bought out and the formulation changed). I’m not sure how to compensate for the differences, though, but I’m going to do some research and I will email you with what I find out.
Thanks Lana, I will be looking forward to what you find out.
Hi Lana. Just found you recipe for the 10, 12, 14 layer cake. I am 78, been cooking all my life, used to make cakes, professionally. I even lived in LA for a couple of years, but I never heard of this cake. I am from Maine. Never have seen it on a menu or anywhere ekse in the Northeast. I am going to try to make it. It sounds wonderful.
I don’t think I’d want to use a slicing tool. That would take some of the charm away for me. It’s the fact that my Granny made this cake and I want to make one like hers that makes me want to make them in the first place.
Hi Adriane – these layers are not sliced. They’re individually baked one at a time.
This looks pretty much idential to a “Smith Island” cake. If you don’t know about Smith Island it’s a small community, on an island, in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. I tried to enclose a picture of a Smith Island cake but the site won’t allow me to do so in this comment box so here is a website address of a company where a person can order a variety of these cakes. The cakes are not only in chocolate, they come in a variety of flavors. See description from Wikipedia below. I particuarily like that THIS cake has been designated as the OFFICIAL dessert of the state of Maryland. I guess since this is the case I’d better learn to make one pretty darn quick. They can be anywhere from 8 to 15 layers. Heck, if you’re going to do it, you might as well go all the way and go for the 15 layers. I guess I’d better get busy and order my Frieling Cake Layer kit.
http://smithislandcake.com/birthday-cake
If for some reason this website address does not work, you’ll have to paste it as it wouldn’t paste in a link, just do a search for Smith Island cake and you can find a variety of recipes to make your own. This cake is one of them on my “bucket” list of cakes I want to make one day. HOWEVER, before I attempt this cake or ANY cake with some small, tiny, fragile, delicate layers I fully intend to purchase a Frieling Layer Cake Slicing Kit which can be purchased from Chef’s Catalog. The thing cost $60.00 so it’s not like adding on a little cookie cutter or a new Ateco tip or something. But truthfully, I wouldn’t even THINK to attempt a cake like this without that tool.
Smith Island Cake:
Smith Island has its own region-specific traditional cuisine. The most famous dish is a locally produced cake featuring 8 to 15 thin layers[9] filled with creme, frosting and/or crushed candy bars. The cake is iced with a cooked chocolate icing. Beginning in the 1800s, Smith Islanders would send these cakes with the watermen on the autumn oyster harvest. The bakers began using fudge instead of buttercream frostings, as cakes frosted with fudge lasted much longer than cakes with other frostings.[10] The cake is often made using a commercial cake mix but with unique additions such as condensed milk. It can also be made from scratch using flour.[11] The most common flavor is yellow cake with chocolate icing but other flavors such as coconut, fig, strawberry, lemon, and orange are also common. Known simply as the Smith Island Cake, the dessert is baked for any occasion and not reserved only for holidays.[12] The cake is also baked as the feature prize for a local fundraising tradition called a cake walk which is a game played like musical chairs where donated cakes serve as the prize. Great attention is paid to the perfection of the pencil-thin layers that form the distinctive cake.[13] Before each round, the prize cake at stake is cut in half and shown to the players who pay to participate in the game. A poorly stacked cake may not attract many players and as a result, not raise as much money as a more perfectly executed cake.[14]
On April 24, 2008, Smith Island cake was designated as the official dessert of the state of Maryland
Pamela – yes, it’s similar to the Smith Island cake. Lots of people have commented on that.
My Great Grandmother Grandmother & Mother made these multilayer cakes all their lives. Chocolate, Lemon Cheese, Coconut & Carmel were always around for Holidays and Birthdays. They would take all day to make because of the small ovens and many layers.
I still have their recipes, but forget to make them often enough.
You’ve inspired me to do it again!
I live in Savannah and there used to be a lady here who you could order them from, but can’t find her anymore.