Name: Kids' Best Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 300 g butter; 3.5 dl water; 8 tbsp cocoa powder; 3 pcs egg; 1 package low-fat sour cream; 2 tsp baking soda; 4 dl sugar; 1 tsp salt; 7 dl plain flour; 200 g butter, room temperature; 5 dl icing sugar; 3 tbsp coffee

UntrainedChef

Tips from the kitchen

Let the melted butter cool a minute before you add the eggs, otherwise you risk scrambling them when everything goes in the bowl.
Add the flour last and mix just until it disappears. Overmixing here makes the cake tough.
Start checking at 30 minutes with a skewer. Cocoa cakes look dark and done before they actually are, so trust the skewer, not the color.
Wait until the cake is fully cold before frosting. Even a little warmth will melt the butter frosting and it slides right off.
The 3 tbsp coffee in the frosting isn't there to taste like coffee. It deepens the chocolate, so use it even if you're making this for kids.

Ways to vary it

Swap the coffee in the frosting for the same amount of milk if you'd rather skip it entirely. The frosting still comes together fine.
Scatter a handful of chopped chocolate or sprinkles over the frosting before it sets if you want something more festive for a birthday.
Bake the batter in muffin tins instead of the roasting pan for individual portions. Drop the time to around 18-20 minutes and check early.

Storage & leftovers

Keeps in the fridge, covered, for about 4 days. The cake itself freezes well unfrosted, wrapped tight, for up to 3 months. If you've frosted it, let slices come to room temperature on the counter rather than warming them, since the butter frosting goes greasy if it gets hot.

What to serve with it

A glass of cold milk does the job for the kids. For the grown-ups, a cup of black coffee cuts through the sweetness nicely.

By Untrained ChefPublished 17 May 2026 · Updated 11 July 2026

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