This Brick Street Chocolate Cake copycat recipe makes a tall, intensely chocolatey layer cake with moist buttermilk-and-coffee cake layers and creamy chocolate buttercream. Bake the batter in three 8- or 9-inch pans, split each cake horizontally, and stack the pieces into a dramatic six-layer dessert that serves beautifully at birthdays, holidays, and dinner parties.
The cake is tender, fudgy, and balanced rather than overly sweet, while the coffee deepens the cocoa flavor without making the cake taste like coffee. Plan on about 35–45 minutes of preparation, 28–35 minutes of baking, and 1 1/2–2 hours for cooling and assembly, for an approximate total time of three hours.
Jump to RecipeWhy You’ll Love This Recipe
This copycat cake captures the signature look of Brick Street Cafe’s famous Greenville, South Carolina dessert: a high, dark chocolate cake with many visible layers and generous chocolate buttercream. The recipe uses three round cakes, then transforms them into six thinner rounds with a simple horizontal cut.
Every bite has a soft, moist crumb because the batter combines buttermilk, oil, eggs, and hot coffee. Buttermilk adds gentle tang and tenderness, oil keeps the cake supple after chilling, and coffee gives the cocoa a fuller, more rounded flavor.
The finished cake is impressive without requiring advanced decorating skills. A smooth coat of frosting is enough, although you can add decorative swirls, chocolate curls, or a light dusting of cocoa for a special occasion.
If you are planning a dessert table, a smaller chocolate treat such as these chocolate bark cupcakes gives guests another rich option alongside this towering cake.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The cake ingredients are straightforward, but each one has an important job. Use unsweetened cocoa powder rather than sweetened drinking cocoa, and measure flour and sugar carefully for the best texture.
- Flour: All-purpose flour provides enough structure for six tender layers.
- Cocoa powder: Choose a good-quality unsweetened cocoa for a deep chocolate taste.
- Leaveners: Baking soda and baking powder help the thin batter rise evenly.
- Buttermilk: Its acidity contributes tenderness and works with the baking soda.
- Oil: Neutral vegetable oil keeps the cake moist without adding a distracting flavor.
- Coffee: Hot, strong brewed coffee intensifies chocolate flavor and loosens the batter.
- Buttercream basics: Softened unsalted butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, milk or cream, vanilla, and salt create a creamy finish.
Have the eggs and butter at room temperature before beginning. Room-temperature eggs blend more easily into the batter, while softened butter produces a smoother frosting with fewer lumps.
The restaurant’s exact formula is proprietary, and published copycat versions vary in flour, frosting quantity, and layer count. This version follows the commonly repeated buttermilk-coffee cake and chocolate-buttercream method.
How to Make It Step-by-Step
Step 1: Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C), then grease three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment and lightly grease the parchment as well, because this batter is unusually thin and can cling to an unlined pan.
Step 2: Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and fine salt to a large mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly so the cocoa and leaveners are evenly distributed before any liquid is added.
Step 3: Add the room-temperature eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Beat the mixture for about 1–2 minutes, just until it looks smooth and no dry streaks remain.
Step 4: Slowly pour in the hot, strong brewed coffee while mixing on low speed. The batter will become very thin, which is expected; stop mixing as soon as the coffee is incorporated to avoid unnecessarily developing the flour.
Step 5: Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared pans. For especially even layers, weigh the pans after filling or use a measuring cup to distribute the batter in several passes.
Step 6: Bake for 28–35 minutes, rotating the pans only if your oven has noticeable hot spots. The centers should spring back lightly, and a cake tester should come out with a few moist crumbs rather than completely dry.
Step 7: Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Turn them out onto wire racks, remove the parchment, and allow them to cool completely before slicing or frosting.
Step 8: Make the buttercream by beating the softened butter until creamy. Add the cocoa, sifted powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt in batches, alternating with milk or heavy cream, then beat until light and spreadable; use the lower amount of liquid first and add more as needed.
Step 9: Level the cake tops with a serrated knife if they have domed. For six layers, slice each cake horizontally in half, using a gentle sawing motion and turning the cake as you work.
Step 10: Put one layer on a serving plate and spread it with a thin, even layer of buttercream. Continue stacking cake and frosting, finish with frosting on the top and sides, then chill the cake for at least 30–60 minutes before cutting.
Pro Tips for Tall, Neat Layers
The most important technique is careful handling. Thin cake layers can bend or crack, so use a large cake lifter or two wide spatulas when moving them from the rack to the serving plate.
- Use hot coffee: Coffee intensifies the chocolate notes but does not make the finished cake taste like coffee.
- Line every pan: Parchment makes release much easier and protects the delicate cake edges.
- Watch the baking time: Remove the cakes when the tester has moist crumbs. A completely dry tester usually means the cake has baked too long.
- Keep frosting layers thin: Thin, even buttercream bands create the recognizable many-layer appearance and prevent the cake from leaning.
- Chill before slicing: Cold buttercream firms up and helps the layers stay tidy when cut.
For a twelve-layer presentation, slice the baked cakes into very thin rounds rather than simply cutting each one in half. This version looks spectacular, but it requires extra care because the layers are more fragile and the cake is taller.
Use a cake turntable if you have one, but it is not essential. A flat plate, offset spatula, and a chilled cake are enough to create a polished homemade finish.
For a dessert spread that balances richness with fruit and cream, you can also serve this cake with our pineapple cheesecake cake as a contrasting centerpiece.
Storage, Chilling, and Slicing
Chill the fully assembled cake for at least 30–60 minutes before slicing. This short rest firms the buttercream, settles the layers, and makes clean wedges much easier to achieve.
Store leftover cake covered in the refrigerator. Because the cake contains buttercream, refrigeration is the safest choice for longer storage, but let each slice sit at room temperature briefly before serving so the frosting softens.
The cake is best enjoyed within several days while the crumb remains moist and the buttercream tastes fresh. To protect the cut surface, press plastic wrap directly against exposed cake before covering the whole dessert.
If you are preparing a complete meal, a light starter such as tomato soup with cauliflower can come well before this rich dessert without competing with its chocolate flavor.
Serving Ideas and Finishing Touches
Serve narrow wedges because this is a tall and substantial cake. A small scoop of vanilla ice cream, a spoonful of softly whipped cream, or a few fresh berries can provide a cool contrast to the dense chocolate and buttercream.
For a classic bakery appearance, leave the sides softly swirled with an offset spatula. For a more formal finish, smooth the frosting and scatter a few chocolate curls over the top just before serving.
Use a sharp knife warmed under hot water and wiped dry between cuts. Make one confident downward slice rather than sawing repeatedly, then clean the blade so each layer remains visible.
After a savory main course such as this chicken Cobb salad, a chilled slice of Brick Street-style cake makes a memorable finish. For another lighter dinner idea before dessert, these crispy cod fish sticks offer a family-friendly option.
Brick Street Chocolate Cake Recipe (Copycat)
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and parchment-line three 8- or 9-inch round cake pans.
- Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Beat for 1–2 minutes, until smooth.
- Slowly mix in the hot coffee just until incorporated. Divide the thin batter among the pans.
- Bake for 28–35 minutes, until the centers spring back and a tester shows a few moist crumbs.
- Cool cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them onto racks and cool completely.
- Beat softened butter until creamy. Add cocoa, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt in batches, alternating with milk or cream, and beat until spreadable.
- Level cakes if needed and slice each horizontally in half for six layers. Stack with buttercream between layers, frost the top and sides, and chill before slicing.
Notes
Final Thoughts
This Brick Street Chocolate Cake copycat is all about contrast: delicate, moist chocolate layers paired with creamy, deeply flavored buttercream. The thin batter may look unusual at first, but it produces the tender texture that makes this cake so memorable.
Give yourself enough time for the cakes to cool completely, assemble the layers patiently, and chill the finished cake before slicing. Those simple steps make the difference between a messy stack and a beautiful six-layer dessert with clean, bakery-style slices.
Whether you make six layers for a manageable celebration cake or carefully create twelve thin layers for the full dramatic effect, this recipe is a reliable way to bring a beloved Greenville dessert style into your own kitchen.