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.
Thanks SO MUCH for posting this recipe! I had one of these cakes years ago at a family reunion in Dasher, GA (near Valdosta), and apparently it was an old family tradition. That part of Georgia/North Florida is full of descendants of the Salzburgers, several waves of immigrants from Germany and Austria who came over starting in the mid-1700s. This cake seems very much like a Germanic torte; I can totally imagine that it came from that ancestry!
I got a copy of the recipe at the reunion and have since lost it, so I’m delighted to see this. Thanks!
I have had this in eastern side of the Tallahassee, Florida region. My daughter-in-law makes this at the holidays, but her layers are 1/2 or less the thickness of what yours shows and is about 13-15 layers to make a standard height cake. Hers is the hit of every family get together it is like eating yellow cake soaked in chocolate syrup. It is Heavenly.
OMG! My late grandmother, who would be in her 100’s, used to make these. It was her “go to” cake. She lived her entire life in No. Florida near the Georgia line. The only difference is that she baked her layers on the stovetop on a cast iron griddle. I don’t know how she managed to keep the size of the layers consistent but she did!
Can you make this cake with buttermilk instead of water?
I’ve never tried that, Melissa. My guess is that the buttermilk would make the layers too tender and they’re probably fall apart. If you try it, let me know how it works out.
He said this was what he remembered. I made extra frosting and he made sure it all went on.
My husband is from Cairo and before I met him I had never heard of this cake. He talks about his grandmother making it, I grew up in NE GA just above Athens. I hope this recipe is like hers was, because after 22 yrs there is nothing I can think of to get him for Valentines Day that would be more special.
Patricia – this is indeed the classic recipe. I’d love to hear how your husband likes it!!
I can’t thank you enough for sharing this recipe! My grandmother, from Savannah, GA used to make this cake all the time. It was a family favorite AND brought in quite a bit of money for her since she would bake, sell and deliver cakes year-round. We could never get her to write down the recipe (she only had a third-grade education) and somehow we never managed to be with her when she baked. She loved to have everything done ahead of time so that we could just “visit.” I made this for my son’s 24th birthday yesterday. All plates were practically licked clean! I’m visiting my parents in GA this coming week and plan to bake one for them. It’s probably been a good 25 years since they’ve had one and I wonder how it will hold up against the memory! Thank you again for taking the time to share!
Lana, I was so thrilled to find your blog with this recipe! My parents are both from southeast Alabama, my mother from Dothan and my father from the Clio-Louisville area. My paternal grandmother and my mother’s sister made these cakes for every special occasion, both chocolate and caramel.
Caramel was my favorite. Could you post a recipe for that?
My son, who will be 50 years old tomorrow, has been asking me to make one “like Aunt Pearl used to make” for years, and I’ve just now managed to find your recipe. I’m going to surprise him with one this weekend. Can’t wait to see his reaction!
Actually, I think it’s the directions that will help most – I’ve baked for local restaurants for years, but just made regular 3 or 4 layers. I’m looking forward to this special creation.
I Love this cake I m from Germany my friends Mom USed to make this cake only on Birthdays because she say it is to much work she used a spring form cake pan and baked each layer by it,s self we call the cake Prinzregenten Torte
I love baking my son homemade birthday cakes every year. One year it wasn’t about how the cake tasted at all it just had to resemble “It’s a Small World” from Disney. But this cake looks great and delicious. I would like to know if it’s possible to put strawberry frosting between layers as well.
Thank You,
Laura
I’ve never tried this cake with strawberry frosting, Laura. Sorry, I can’t say.
weird question, does the icing harden? I had a woman make this cake for us and her icing was amazing! I haven’t had a layer cake like it since!
The icing does form something like a crust on the outside but it doesn’t completely harden throughout.
Hi! I just came across this recipe and going for my first attempt tomorrow night. In my hometown, you weren’t “nobody” if you didn’t know the lady that made the best “chocolate thin layer cake”. The cake lady in Ocilla, Georgia we knew well was Ms. Tankersley and the cakes were awesome! They were gave as very welcomed gifts and receiving one was a honor. I’m pretty sure she did caramel too, but the chocolate was most popular. She only offered these two cakes and people bought at least two during the holidays. Sounds like a great side business!
I’m really not sure if Ms. Tankersley still has her cake business but I’m sure my Nanny still has a favorite cake lady she calls during the holidays. Over the past few years there has been a bakery In Tifton, Georgia; that could just as well be a “cake lady” because I’ve never heard anyone mention the name of a bakery. Sometimes people in South Georgia can get secretive about who their “cake lady” is. Cake business can get serious to folks. Whomever it may be though does many different types of this type cake and are all to die for! Doing the traditional chocolate, red velvet, key lime, and German chocolate; that I’ve saw at different gatherings the past few years. Simply amazing cakes.
I’ve been trying to decide which cake I could use as my “side job” during the holidays this year and I think I’ve narrowed it down to this cake. It’s a classic cake with a pretty simple recipe, and I think the people in the area I now call home will fall in love with too. I guess I’ll have to wait and see how it turns out tomorrow night.
Thanks for the recipe!
-Robin
Hope it turned out good for you, Robin! I’d love to know.
Hello,
Thank you for posting this recipe. I live in Wilmington,NC and travel a great deal all over NC. I have found this cake in many a traditional BBQ restaurant all over NC, sold by the slice. There are many small local bakeries and ladies that still make it today and it is at every family gathering. The grocery chain Piggly Wiggly in SE NC usually has a homemade version available by the slice daily and the cake can be ordered ahead. Some of the stores use box mix and frosting and some make homemade (Warsaw and Wallace NC are good). They also can be found in the grocery’s freezer section and thaw beautifully. Thank you for posting and accepting comments. I love your site.
Katharine, I live in your region. Burney’s Bakery in Elizabethtown and Southport sells both chocolate and caramel 12-layers. The caramel is just as good as the chocolate and as good as homemade!
The cake looks fantastic! Can’t wait to try it :) . I also live in a small town in Eastern NC, very close to the SC border. These cakes are made by many older ladies in town, but aren’t as common as they were when I was a child.I don’t think I have ever seen a caramel one around here though, only the chocolate and they usually have anywhere from 7-11 layers.
This cake is beyond wonderful! I would like o make a couple now for Christmas, will they freeze nicely? Thanks!
You can freeze it if you allow the icing to set until quite firm after your frost the cake and then wrap the cake very well. Allow it to thaw in the refrigerator or in a very cool place for a couple of days before serving.
My grandmother made a lemon cake like this every time we visited her in Mississippi and it is now being made in Arkansas and Texas. The recipe was given to her by an older aunt. I know they were making it in Marengo Co., Alabama before 1900. It is a family favorite. I used to call her when I started making the batter and again when making the icing. Wish I could still do that! I have her recipe and spoon in a shadow box on my study wall. I have to look at it every time I make THE CAKE. My children have fond memories of my grandmother’s cake and other cooking. I agree that from scratch cakes are better than mixes. Thank you for this article; based on it, I may have to adjust a couple of my methods. Like making the icing first.
My family from north and middle Georgia had them all my life and I am 65 years old. Not just a cake for a small area. A real treat!!!
I am from eastern South Carolina and grew up with my grandma, Mom, aunts and many members of the community where they grew up making these cakes. They used cocoa instead of chocolate blocks. I have seen layers so thin and cakes up to 20+ layers. This is my favorite cake.
Omg I have been trying to find one for a long time and I would really like one especially that I am 8 months pregnant and have a craving for it. Unfortunately I’m not that much of a great baker so if you know anyone willing to deliver please let me know.
Lana, I live in the Pee Dee area of South Carolina and this cake is one cake that is highly sort after during the holidays. I knew a lady that made them for me but she is sick and does not cook anymore. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I will be attempting to make one myself for Thanksgiving.