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Chocolate Cake Recipe (Prague Cake)

A must try perfect and simple Chocolate Cake, aka Prague Cake. I I added a nice little twist to this recipe by including raspberries. Sweet and tart, Yum!

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This is my first chocolate cake; hopefully the first of many. I’ve made this cake twice in two weeks; changing it up a little each time. Variety is the sauce of life; or is it “zest of life”? Sauce doesn’t sound that awesome unless you’re specifically referring to the tefteli sauce. If you’ve tried it, you’d agree. Anyway, I added a nice little twist to this recipe by including raspberries (inside and out). I always liked raspberries and chocolate. Sweet and tart. Oh and I love sweet tarts too. I can eat them till I can’t feel my tongue…

The base of this chocolate cake comes from Mom’s Dish. Thank you Natalya for this perfect and simple chocolate cake. It’s not as complicated as it seems; I just took way too many photos and liked them all. P.S. My sister just called me and said the slice I left her yesterday was even better after soaking in the raspberry stuff overnight in the fridge.

A must try perfect and simple Chocolate Cake, aka Prague Cake. I I added a nice little twist to this recipe by including raspberries. Sweet and tart, Yum!

Ingredients for a 9”, 4 layer round chocolate cake:

1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1 1/3 Tbsp Instant coffee
¾ cup warm water
8 Egg whites at room temperature
5 Egg yolks (RESERVE the 3 leftover yolks for the Frosting!)
1 cup + ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups bleached all purpose Flour *measured correctly
2 tsp Baking powder
¼ tsp Baking Soda
¼ tsp Salt

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague

Raspberry Sauce:

1 cup fresh raspberries
¼ cup raspberry jam or raspberry preserves

Chocolate Frosting:

2 sticks of  Butter or 1 cup (has to be room temperature)
1/3 cup Condensed milk
3 Egg yolks
¼ cup Water
2 oz. semi sweet Chocolate

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-4

Making the Chocolate Cake Layers:

1. Preheat Oven to 300˚F. A springform pan works best for this cake because it has lovely tall walls. Butter and flour the walls of the pan and line the bottom with parchment paper to prevent sticking to the bottom.
Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-18

2. Mix cocoa, instant coffee and warm water. Stir to dissolve. Set aside your velvety syrup.

3. Divide the egg whites and yolks (see my egg separating youtube tutorial here). Note: It’s easiest to separate your eggs while they are cold and then just let your whites sit in a bowl while you prep everything else. Place yolks and whites into two large mixing bowls. Remember not to toss the 3 left over yolks; you’ll need them for the frosting.

4. Whisk 5 egg yolks with 1 cup sugar until smooth. Whisk in vegetable oil a few Tbsp at a time and stir until it’s an even consistency. Gradually whisk in the coffee/cocoa syrup. Set aside.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-8

5. In a medium bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder and ¼ tsp baking soda. Gradually add the flour mixture into your chocolaty concoction and stir until well blended.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-2

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-3

6. Add ¼ tsp salt to the bowl of egg whites. Tip: make sure your bowl for egg whites is clean and dry before beating or whites won’t rise well. Beat on medium speed for 1.5 minutes (I timed it on my iphone just for you). When they start to get foamy, add ¼ cup sugar and beat on high speed until soft peaks form (another 1.5 minutes). I like how Natalya puts it; if you were to flip the bowl upside-down, the whites would not fall out.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-9

7. Gently fold your fluffy egg whites into the chocolaty batter until you have an even consistency and color in the bowl. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in a preheated 300˚F oven (about 1hr) or until a toothpick comes out almost clean (it should not be gooey). DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR, especially in the first 30 minutes of baking or your cake may fall. You’ll have a nice surprise when you test it around 55 minutes; it grows surprisingly tall!

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-10

8. Remove cake from oven, carefully take it out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack. You want it to rest 5-6 hours. It’s a great idea to make this the day before, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter overnight. I sliced my cake into 4 layers after letting it rest.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-13

Making the Chocolate Cake Frosting:

1. In a small sauce pan, whisk together 3 reserved egg yolks, ¼ cup water, and 1/3 cup condensed milk.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-11

2. Start heating the pan over low heat and gradually increase the heat until it’s just letting off steam but not boiling. Continue whisking until your mixture is the consistency of raw condensed milk.
Remove the mixture form heat and immediately stir in 2oz chocolate, whisking until smooth. Let your mixture cool off to room temperature (I transferred it to another bowl to cool faster)

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-12

3. In a separate bowl using a electric hand mixer, beat butter on high speed for 5 minutes. Add chocolate mixture a few tablespoons at a time and continue to beat on high speed between each addition. Beat an extra 2 minutes when it’s all mixed in.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-15

Making the Raspberry Sauce:

1. In a small bowl, combine 1 cup raspberries and ¼ cup preserves/jam. Gently mash raspberries with a fork just to break them up. You don’t want to break up the raspberries too much or it will get soupy

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-14

Assembling the Chocolate Cake:

(I bold-faced the layers to make it easier for ya):  

Place your first layer on a pretty serving plate. Spread the top with ½ of the raspberry sauce, but don’t spread completely to the edge of the cake since you don’t want it to run down the sides.
Place the next layer on top and generously spread with about 1/3 of the chocolate cream. Top with the third cake layer and spread the next ½ of raspberry sauce.  Top with the fourth layer and frost the whole cake and sides, using every bit of remaining frosting. Decorate with raspberries on top.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-16

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-17

The first one I made was without the raspberries. I cut it into 3 layers and spread a thin layer of cream on each:I also got carried away with decorating the top. Except my wheat looks more like the creature from the Avengers movie. At least I admittedly stink at cake decor. And that’s ok.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Prague-5

Chocolate Cake Recipe (Prague Cake)

4.97 from 26 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 8 -10

Ingredients for a 9”, 4 layer round cake:

  • 1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
  • 1 1/3 Tbsp Instant coffee
  • ¾ cup warm water
  • 8 large Egg whites , at room temperature
  • 5 large Egg yolks, RESERVE the 3 leftover yolks for the Frosting!
  • 1 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar, divided
  • 1/2 cup Vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon Baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ¼ teaspoon Salt

Raspberry Sauce:

  • 1 cup fresh raspberries
  • ¼ cup raspberry jam or raspberry preserves

Chocolate Frosting:

Instructions

How to Make Prague Cake:

  • Preheat Oven to 300˚F. Butter and flour the walls of the pan and line the bottom with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
  • Mix cocoa, instant coffee and warm water. Stir to dissolve and set aside.
  • Separate the egg whites and yolks, than place in the two large bowls.
  • Whisk 5 egg yolks with 1 cup sugar until smooth. Whisk in vegetable oil a few tbsp at a time and stir until it’s an even consistency. Gradually whisk in the coffee/cocoa syrup and set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder and ¼ tsp baking soda. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until well blended.
  • Add ¼ tsp salt to the bowl of egg whites. Tip: make sure your bowl for egg whites is clean and dry before beating or whites won't rise well. Beat on medium speed for 1.5 minutes. When they start to get foamy, add ¼ cup sugar and beat on high speed until soft peaks form for 1.5 minutes.
  • Fold your fluffy egg whites into the chocolaty batter until even consistency and color in the bowl. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in a preheated 300˚F oven (about 1hr) or until a toothpick comes out almost clean. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR.
  • Remove cake from oven, take it out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack. Let it rest 5-6 hours then cut into four layers.

To make the chocolate frosting:

  • In a small sauce pan, whisk together 3 reserved egg yolks, ¼ cup water, and 1/3 cup condensed milk.
  • Start heating the pan over low heat and gradually increase the heat until it’s just letting off steam but not boiling. Continue whisking until your mixture is the consistency of raw condensed milk.
  • Remove the mixture form heat and immediately stir in 2oz chocolate, whisking until smooth. Let your mixture cool off to room temperature.
  • In a separate bowl, beat butter on high speed for 5 minutes. Add chocolate mixture, a few tablespoons at a time and continue to beat on high speed between each addition. Beat an extra 2 minutes when it’s all mixed in.

To make raspberry sauce:

  • In a small bowl, combine 1 cup raspberries and ¼ cup preserves/jam. Gently mash raspberries with a fork just to break them up.

To assemble the cake:

  • Place your first layer on a serving plate. Spread the top with ½ of the raspberry sauce, avoiding the edges. Place the next layer on top and generously spread with about 1/3 of the chocolate cream. Top with the third cake layer and spread the next ½ of raspberry sauce. Top with the fourth layer and frost the whole cake and sides, using remaining frosting. Decorate with raspberries on top.

Notes

A 9-inch springform pan works best for this recipe. The cake will overflow a regular cake pan.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian
Keyword: chocolate cake, Prague Cake
Skill Level: Medium/ Difficult
Cost to Make: $$
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Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the creator behind Natasha's Kitchen (established in 2009), and I share family-friendly, authentic recipes. I am a New York Times Best-Selling cookbook author and a trusted video personality in the culinary world. My husband, Vadim, and I run this blog together, ensuring every recipe we share is thoroughly tested and approved. Our mission is to provide you with delicious, reliable recipes you can count on. Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy you are here.

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4.97 from 26 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  • Jarmila
    September 7, 2024

    Hello Natasha
    Fifty years ago, I came to the USA from the Czech Republic. My husband is American and he loves pies, cakes and desserts. Because everything in the stores is too sweet, I decided to go back to baking at home.
    I was quite surprised that you have a Chocolate Cake Recipe (Prague Cake) on your website. Today I baked it for my husband’s birthday and it is delicious. I am happy that I came across your website by chance.
    Thank you,
    Jarmila

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      September 7, 2024

      I’m so glad he loved it!

      Reply

  • Evelyn K
    February 5, 2022

    Can I use two 9-inch pans rather than one springform? Will it turn out as good?

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      February 5, 2022

      Hi Evelyn, I’ve only made it as one tall cake but I think it would work. You may need to adjust the baking time though and without testing it as two separate layers, I can’t really give you an exact bake time.

      Reply

  • Alina
    November 19, 2021

    I was wondering if you used sweetened coca in the recipe or unsweetened?

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      November 19, 2021

      Hi Alina, we have a note on that in the recipe, but we used natural unsweetened 100% cocoa or “cacao.” I hope this helps!

      Reply

  • Daniela
    October 19, 2019

    Hi Natasha,
    I would like to ask you one more question please. What size of the cup you are using to measure your ingredients please.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      October 19, 2019

      Hi Daniela, I added metric measurements to this recipe just now which should help with clarifying the measurements. If you click on “metric” in the recipe card, it will convert it for you and you can toggle back and forth.

      Reply

  • Daniela Cernakova
    October 17, 2019

    Hi Good Evening, I am going to bake the cake first time and I live in the UK. I was wandering how many grams is in 1 stick of butter please?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      October 17, 2019

      Hi Daniela, 1 stick of butter = 113 grams.

      Reply

      • Daniela
        October 22, 2019

        Thank you Natasha, I baked cake over the weekend and came out very well. Shame I can not send a photo. Cake is so delicious. Next time I will use metrics measurements. Very good recipe. Definitely on my baking recipe book. Thank you.

        Reply

        • Natashas Kitchen
          October 22, 2019

          I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!

          Reply

  • Angelina
    August 24, 2018

    What if I don’t let it sit?

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      August 24, 2018

      Hi Angelina, I got this recipe from a friend and that was her advice to wait that long before cutting into it. I think at the very minimum, you want to make sure the cake is fully at room temperature and not the least bit warm. It is a tall cake so it takes longer to cool down.

      Reply

  • Angelina
    April 20, 2018

    I keep having problems with the cooking of the cake. First time I tried it, it came out and then the other 2 times it didn’t bake throughly. What do I do? Why won’t it bake properly?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 21, 2018

      Hi Angelina, it is difficult to say without being there. Was there anything changed in the way you prepared it or baked it with your different tests? Did you use a different size or type of pan? Did you use the regular bake mode (not convection)? Is the baking powder and soda fresh and is it possible they were switched by mistake? Were the whites at room temperature and beaten adequately? Also make sure not to overmix the batter once the whites are folded in. I sure hope that helps to troubleshoot! 🙂

      Reply

  • Gerry
    April 6, 2018

    And one more question: egg whites and yolks in grams? I have cups of egg whites in the freezer (from another recipe of yours:-) ) so can’t separate 4 of them, need the grams.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 6, 2018

      Hi Gerry, 2 large egg whites are about 65 grams x 4 = 260 grams egg whites for 8 whites.

      Reply

  • Gerry
    April 6, 2018

    Hi Natasha,

    Will this cake be good enough for a fondant covered cake or even for a two-tier fondant covered cake?
    Thank you!
    Gerry

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 6, 2018

      Hi Gerry, I haven’t tried that but I do think this cake would be sturdy enough for fondant.

      Reply

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