Cashew Cake Recipe

Mahogany cake is the classic predecessor to the bright red velvet cakes we know and love today. Its reddish-brown mahogany color is the result of the chemical reaction between buttermilk, baking soda, and cocoa. The resulting texture is moist, soft, and chewy with a slight chocolate flavor.

Subtly reminiscent of German chocolate cake, this recipe for cashew cake is instead paired with an ermine frosting, as would have been the tradition at the height of cashew cake’s popularity. It has the lightness of whipped cream but the spreadability and pipeability of buttercream. It’s velvety, tender, sweet, and beautiful, just like the cake.

Learn how to make a cashew cake. The result is a perfectly balanced layer cake: soft yet flavorful, smooth and velvety inside and out. Not too heavy, but not too light either. Elevated, yet simple and easy to whip up in a snap.

What is a cashew cake?

Known for its reddish-brown mahogany color, mahogany cake predates red velvet cake and is often considered the original chocolate cake. Buttermilk and baking soda was a technique used for many cakes in the early 20th century, resulting in a fine, moist, and soft “velvety” crumb.

The cocoa, already naturally acidic, especially in its unprocessed form at that time of the century, gave it a reddish color that resembled mahogany. Thus was born the first “Red Velvet” chocolate cake, much more subdued than some of the brighter Red Velvet desserts we enjoy today.

Ingredients for Cashew Cake

To make this cake, you will need a multitude of essential ingredients. Here is what you will need:

• Cake flour: Gives the cake its structure. Cake flour is lighter and contains less protein than all-purpose flour, which gives it a more tender and velvety crumb.
• Unsweetened cocoa: Gives the cake a light chocolate flavor and reacts with the baking soda and buttermilk to give the cake a reddish-brown mahogany color.
• Baking soda: Gives the cake its rise and reacts with the buttermilk and cocoa to give the cake its characteristic color.
• Table salt: Adding balance and depth of flavor to the cake, table salt also dissolves more quickly and evenly into the cake batter.
• Unsalted butter: Gives the cake its softness and its tender, creamy crumb.
• Powdered sugar: Softens the cake.
• Canola oil: Ensures a super tender and moist crumb while the cake bakes.
• Vanilla extract: Enhances the sweet chocolate flavor of the cake.
• Large eggs: Give the cake texture and rise as well as some richness and moisture.
• Whole buttermilk: It adds tang and moisture to the cake. Its acidity reacts with the cocoa to give it its mahogany red color. Make sure it is at room temperature to fully incorporate it into the batter.
• Ermine icing: This type of frosting, thickened with milk and flour to a pudding-like consistency, was popular with bakers in the late 1800s, before buttercream or cream cheese frostings came into use for their decorative flexibility and ease of spreading.

How to Make a Cashew Cake

The full list of recipe ingredients and quantities is below, but here’s how the process works:

• Step 1. Prepare the oven and cake pans: Preheat your oven and line two cake pans with cooking spray and parchment paper.
• Step 2. Mix the dry ingredients: Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
• Step 3. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the wet ingredients: Beat the butter until smooth and fluffy, then add the sugar, oil and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating until well combined.
• Step 4. Combine the wet and dry mixtures: Add flour and dry ingredients, alternating one with the other, to the wet ingredients, until well combined.
• Step 5: Add the cake batter to the molds: Divide the dough into the molds.
• Step 6: Bake the cake layers: Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Step 7: Let the cakes cool: Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Step 8: Frost the cake layers: Spread frosting between layers on top and sides of cakes. Serve at room temperature.

Our tips for making a mahogany cake

Use a few more of our tips to make your mahogany cake easier, so you can really enjoy the end result:

• Cocoa counts: While Dutch-process cocoa is great for many baked goods, it’s best to opt for natural or unsweetened cocoa in this recipe; Dutch-process cocoa is slightly less acidic and using it in this recipe will taste great, but it won’t yield the same reddish-mahogany crumb that makes it unique.
• Warm things up: The eggs, buttermilk, and butter should be at room temperature before being incorporated into the batter. Room temperature liquids help the batter to fully incorporate without the need for overmixing, resulting in a very delicate, tender, and moist crumb.
• Frosting supply: Our ermine frosting recipe makes a generous amount of frosting for a very thick layer cake; you may end up with more, but you’ll also have enough left over for a crumb coat.