In honor of the spookiest season of all, I’ve whipped up a cake recipe that’s sure to satisfy all the Halloween lovers: black velvet. The cake layers are pitch black, super moist and decadent, naturally colored, and taste just like the delicious shell of an Oreo cookie! Paired with my favorite dye-free black buttercream recipe and lambeth piping, this black velvet cake is a real stunner. It’s elegant and a little eerie all at the same time, which makes it the perfect Halloween party cake!
You’ve probably heard of red velvet cake (which could also be a very cool Halloween-themed cake depending on how you decorate it!), but you don’t really see black velvet cake any other time of year. It’s so delicious that I would totally eat this cake year round. I’m actually planning on using it in an Oreo-inspired cake recipe since it tastes so much like the cookie part! The color and the flavor both come from black cocoa powder, which I’ll explain more about below.
First, look at how stunning these cake layers are with this black buttercream. The whole thing together tastes like if you sandwiched chocolate buttercream between Oreo cookie shells instead of creme filling. If you’re a chocolate lover like I am, you are going to love this black velvet cake.
What is Black Cocoa Powder?
Black cocoa powder is basically an ultra Dutched cocoa powder, meaning it’s been treated with an alkaline solution to reduce its acidity. It’s very dark in color and while it isn’t as chocolatey as regular cocoa powder, it does have amazing flavor. It’s the main ingredient in Oreo cookie shells, and that’s basically what the cake layers end up tasting like. The best part about black cocoa powder is it gives the cake layers a rich black color without having to add any additional food coloring! That means it won’t turn your mouth crazy colors.
I use this extra dark black cocoa powder in the frosting portion of this recipe, which makes it possible to create black buttercream without adding food color gel. The frosting ends up being a super dark brown color after you mix it up, but after 24 hours it darkens to a rich black color like magic! It won’t stain your mouth or kick off any startling bathroom experiences, plus it tastes like Oreo cookie butter so I’m in love.
Where to Find Black Cocoa Powder
You probably won’t be able to buy black cocoa powder at your local grocery store, but you might have some luck at a dedicated cake decorating supply shop. There aren’t many of those around me, so I get my black cocoa powder on Amazon. If you don’t want to get it online, you can substitute it with an equal amount of Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder, which can be found at most grocery stores. It’ll make the cake batter dark brown, so if you’re going for a black colored cake you’ll need to add a squirt of black food color gel to take it all the way.
What Makes it a Velvet Cake?
The term “velvet cake” dates back to the 1800’s. The term was used to describe the soft, delicate texture of the cakes served at fancy dessert parties. Today, there are recipes for virtually every color of velvet cake – red velvet and white velvet being the most popular. The common denominator between all of the velvet cake recipes of today is the use of buttermilk. This ingredient helps give the cakes their velvety texture.
How to Make a Lambeth Cake
After making these cake layers, I couldn’t stop imagining black lambeth piping as the final decoration. Turns out that lambeth was the perfect choice to turn this black velvet cake into a spooky showstopper. The thing about lambeth is you can add as many layers of piping as you want, so feel free to go overboard. Here’s how I decorated mine:
I used the black buttercream to fill and stack the cake, crumb coat it, and frost it with a smooth buttercream finish. After chilling the cake until the frosting was firm, I made a template for the garlands using this same parchment paper technique from my cherry chip cake recipe. Then, I used the following piping tips to decorate:
- Wilton Tip 6B for the shell border around the bottom + top edges
- Wilton Tip 4B for the shell border above the bottom 6B shell
- Wilton Tip 104 for the ruffle garlands
- Wilton Tip 32 for the overlapping shells below the garlands
My cherry chip cake recipe shows these piping techniques in more detail. I finished the look by placing a few round black sprinkles to accent the ruffle garlands and overlapping shells.
I whipped up a quick video to walk you through this cake recipe and decorating from start to finish:
If you love recipe videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube channel! I’ve got a growing collection of cake recipes, decorating tutorials, and Cake Basics over there. Hit the subscribe button on my page so you never miss a new video.
Black Velvet Cake
Ingredients
Black Velvet Cake
- 2 Cups (265g) all purpose flour
- 1 2/3 Cups (340g) granulated sugar
- 2/3 Cup (80g) black cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Cup (240ml) full-fat buttermilk*, room temperature DIY recipe in notes
- 1 Cup (240ml) hot coffee or hot water
Dye-Free Black Buttercream
- 2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 Cups (600g) powdered sugar
- 1 Cup (112g) black cocoa powder**
- 4 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
Instructions
Make the Black Velvet Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting the bottoms with a wax paper or parchment cake circle.
- Place all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir on low for 30 seconds to fully combine them. Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and mix on low until just combined. With the mixer still on low, add the hot water in a slow stream, then turn the mixer to medium and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be very thin.
- Pour into prepared cake pans no more than 2/3 full and bake for 32-36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
Make the Black Buttercream
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the butter on medium speed until creamy and light in color, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add half of the powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until just incorporated, then add the rest of the powdered sugar. With the mixer still in the off position, sift in the black cocoa powder and add the vanilla, milk, and salt. Mix on low until all ingredients are thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.
- The buttercream will look dark brown at this point, but the color will darken significantly over the next several hours. See the recipe notes for storage instructions if you're not planning on frosting the cake the same day.
Assembly
- Once the cake layers have cooled completely, level them to your desired height. Fill and stack the layers with black buttercream, then crumb coat the cake with more black buttercream. Refrigerate the crumb coated cake for 20-30 minutes to let the frosting firm up.
- To create the design pictured, use the black buttercream to create a smooth finish on the cake, then refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Use the rest of the black buttercream to create lambeth piping (feel free to use this tutorial as guidance). Accent the lambeth piping with round black sprinkles where desired.
Notes
- The Black Velvet Cake layers can be made ahead and stored at room temperature, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to two days. Alternatively, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to two months before thawing to room temperature.
- The Black Buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day. Alternatively, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and rewhip with your stand mixer to bring back to frosting consistency.
This black velvet cake recipe is so perfect for any Halloween gathering! I hope you love it as much as I do. Let me know what you think in the comments below and feel free to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram if you post a pic! I love to see what you create.
I used this recipe for a birthday cake and made it heart shaped. I ran out of icing and had to make a little extra, most likely because I made the cake a different shape. As for the recipe, it tasted way better than i expected! I’d be interested to see more recipes that use black cocoa powder since I have extra.
I made this cake for Thanksgiving but I added homemade cranberry sauce between the 2 cake layers. It was a masterpiece!! Everyone enjoyed it!
Hiya, I’m planning on making this next week and I’m just wondering how deep your 6 inch pans are as I’ve got a collection of random depth sizes so not sure what to go for? Thanks!
Hi there! My pans are 2 inches tall. Hope that helps and enjoy the recipe!
Hi! Excited to make this for my daughter for her birthday. She’s requesting spooky/Halloween/skeleton. When you say hot water or coffee (this may be a silly question) but how hot do you mean? Thanks!
Just boiled!
This cake was easy to make, turned out perfectly, and was so moist. The frosting was delicious and easy to pipe. I sprinkled some red disco dust on top which looked really cool with the pitch black background. Thank you!
Yay, Stacey! I’m so happy you loved this recipe and the red disco dust sounds so pretty! I want to try that now!
Excited to make this cake for a Halloween party this weekend! If I were to make a 3-tier cake, would any adjustments need to be made? I have a 4”, 6”, and an 8” round pan, would the cake and buttercream recipes be enough to make it?
Hi Chrissy! For a 3-tiered cake, you’d need almost 3 batches of the cake and buttercream recipes. Here’s a chart I made that shows how much batter you need per cake size: https://sugarandsparrow.com/cake-serving-guide/ and here’s another chart to help you calculate the buttercream: https://sugarandsparrow.com/how-much-buttercream-do-i-need/
Hi Whitney!
My cakes turned out very dense – almost like flourless choc cake- any ideas on what I may have done incorrectly? It was delicious still!
Thank you!
Hi Angela! This cake should be soft and moist but not as dense as a flourless chocolate cake. It does sound like something went wrong in the baking process. A couple questions to figure out what happened: 1) do you live at high altitude? 2) did you make any substitutions? 3) do you have a conventional oven or a convection (fan-assisted) oven?
Same thing happened with mine, no to high altitude, no substitutions and I have a fan forced oven x
Hi Megan! My only thought is that you’re using a fan forced oven (my recipe is written with conventional ovens in mind). Fan forced ovens tend to run hotter than conventional ovens, and more often than not you’ll need to decrease the oven temp by 25ºF for best results. When cakes are baked in an oven that’s too hot, the cake will set too quickly on the outside and trap steam inside, which results in a dense crumb. Next time, try decreasing the temp by 25ºF and see if that makes a difference!
This cake is beautiful! I can’t wait to try it. I’ve seen a black velvet cake that was decorated with ballet pink icing and it was absolutely gorgeous, but the black icing takes it to another level! Love all your recipes and stand in awe of your decorating skills!
Thanks so much! I hope you get a chance to try this recipe!
Also, what’s the bake time on a 10 or 12 cup Bundt pan?
Will it change the texture of the cake if I add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients?
Hi Katrina! I have never tried it that way but I don’t think it would make much of a difference. This recipe is pretty fail proof!
Thanks for responding, what’s the bake time on a 10 or 12 cup Bundt pan?
I just made this in a 10 Cup bundt pan and it was only 30 min at 350F
I made this cake for a preschooler who insisted on a “black cake with white frosting” for their birthday. The cake was moist and delicious with the perfect crumb. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for this wonderful recipe – I’ll be making it again (maybe with your black frosting next time)!
Yay, Josie! I’m so happy it was a hit!
Hi Whitney,
May I use unsalted butter instead of vegetable oil? We’re trying to avoid those types of oils.
Hi Connie! I’ve never tried that before but feel free to experiment! My hunch is that it would work.
Hi Whitney,
This cake sounds delicious and I’m planning on making it for a Pirates of the Caribbean Party. Do you have a recommendation regarding measurements and baking time for a layered 10in cake? I was thinking of 2 layers.
Hi Laura! What a fun party theme! I’m excited for you to make this cake. For a 2-layer 10-inch cake, you’ll want to double the recipe and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Hope that helps!
Hi! I was just thinking of this cake and remembered that I hadn’t replied to your answer. The cake turned out perfect and everybody loved it!
Thank you so much for the quick reply/help and this amazing recipe!
Yay, Laura! I’m so glad this recipe was a hit!
Hello! I was wondering what size rectangle or square tin you would recommend to use this recipe as is. I’m wanting to use this recipe to make a coffin cake.
What a fun idea! The pan size will depend on how large you want the coffin to be. You could bake this recipe as-is in a 9×13 casserole dish (at 350 for about 40-45 min) and then carve the coffin shape out of that. Hope that helps!
Hi Josie! There is a flavor difference! You can absolutely use all black cocoa powder instead of half regular cocoa powder, but it tastes more like dark chocolate frosting because the black cocoa is more bitter. Supplementing with regular cocoa powder gives it more of a balanced chocolate flavor in my opinion. If you like dark chocolate though, feel free to use all black!
Thank you so much for your reply! I’m thinking of doing a raspberry chambord filling in between the layers. Would you recommend I do all black cocoa or keep the recipe as is? I’m worried it will be too sweet- maybe the bitterness of all black cocoa would help?
That sounds delicious! If you like the taste of dark chocolate, I’d go with the all black cocoa powder. It’s a little less sweet and you won’t have to add as much food color gel if you use all black cocoa powder, so keep that in mind too.