National Chocolate Cake Day - The 10 Best Bakeries In America

A non-official holiday, National chocolate cake day, is celebrated annually on January 27th. The day commemorates everyone’s favorite sweet treat, chocolate cake, a part of American culture and society for over 250 years. The day helps us learn more about chocolate cakes, or more precisely, relish that extra slice of our favorite chocolate cake. After all, we do not need any occasion to enjoy some gooey chocolate cake, right? 

 

Who doesn’t love that extra big, soft, and warm slice of chocolate cake? We don’t know about you, but we are drooling right now as we write this. 

 

So, get your markers and calendars out and mark the date - January 27th. Don’t confuse the date with the joyous day from July, World Chocolate Day. We will relish some delectable warm chocolates on that day; right now, let’s focus on chocolate cakes. 

 

Why do we celebrate National Chocolate Cake Day?

 

Historically speaking, we celebrate National Chocolate Cake Day in January because the first recipe for chocolate cakes came out in the Eliza Leslie cookbooks back in 1847. 

 

Yes! Most believe that chocolate cakes have been around ancient or medieval times, but it is not true! 

 

In 1847, one of the first recipes for chocolate cakes was a revolutionary step for American households. However, still, Americans were not enjoying chocolate cakes until about the 1880s. After the 1920s, people began relishing that big gooey chocolate cake slice. 

 

The then-famous food corporation P. Duff and Sons made their first chocolate cake mix in a box. During the 1930s, they took a step further and created the devil food boxed cake mix, which would have blown the entire country away. But the plans quite did not work. World War II happened. Everything was put on hold because people began rationing during the war. After the war ended, Duncan Hines and General Mills took it upon themselves to revolutionize the markets once again with boxed cake mixes. This is when chocolate cakes really took off in America. 

 

Chocolate cake mixes flew off the shelves, and today they are a popular treat among people of all ages! Well, enough about the history! Let’s get to the point. Where can you relish that amazing, warm, gooey slice of chocolate cake on National Chocolate Cake Day? 

 

We will give you exactly what we promised. Here are the ten best bakeries in America where you can enjoy your warm slice of chocolate-y madness on January 27th. 

 

10 best bakeries in America to enjoy National Chocolate Cake Day

 

1. Dominique Ansel Bakery, New York City

 

 

Despite the long lines of patient people waiting outside their doors every morning for their famous Cronuts and breakfast pastries, you should be trying out their Mini-Me Cake! 

 

Ansel was a famous pastry chef at Daniel as well as the French patisserie Fauchon. Ansel today is hitting goals among the chocolate cake lovers community with their Mini-me cakes. 

 

The cakes come in four different textures of chocolates, sponge, mousse, miniature meringues, and ganache. Together, they mix and bring out the best flavors and textures in each other. 

 

Their cakes use 66% Valrhona chocolate and are probably reason enough to head straight to the bakery on National Chocolate Cake Day this month. 

 

2. Salty Tart, Minneapolis

 

Straight from the twin cities of the Midtown global market, Salty Tart is known for its freshly baked goods. Their vanilla bean pastry-filled brioche rolls, or as they like to call it a “crack-a-room,” and their cheddar-jalapeño bread is their best seller. 

 

But, we are not here to talk about that. We are on a journey to find the best chocolate cakes in North America. Their chef, Michelle Gayer’s special Surly Cake, is seriously everything you could think of from a chocolate cake and so much more!

 

The secret ingredient - Furious IPA by Surly, a local brewery, makes all the difference! Their Surly Cake is a fan-favorite because of their rich chocolatey flavors and deep aromas, all brightened by their secret ingredient’s notes of grapefruit and thyme, without the alcohol taste.

 

The reason why Gayer started baking the Surly Cake was to get men into chocolate cakes. Their three dense layers of chocolate cake are all separated with dollops of whipped crème fraîche, sweetened just right with the help of honey, and further frosted over with rich fudge and dried meringue. 

 

The surly cake is a favorite among men, women, children, the chef, and the entire state of Minneapolis. This national chocolate cake day, check out the bakery and order their Surly. 

 

PS: Surly is also sold as cupcakes!

 

3. Bluestem, Kansas City

 

Let’s just get straight to the point. Bluestem’s flourless chocolate pudding cake is one of the best we have ever tasted! The pudding is baked in a water bath so that the steam can reach inside and make everything warm, soft, and incredibly gooey. 

 

The executive pastry chef, and the bakery co-owner, Megan Garelts, calls this a gluten-free cake. The cake has a pretty rich palate and is tender and bittersweet in the right spots. All the flavors come together and create gastronomical constellations inside your mouth. When you visit the bakery, you will give this slice along with a scoop of truly amazing fresh mint ice cream. 

 

Truly their chocolate pudding cake is something everyone should try at least once in their lifetime. Also, while you are at it, for that extra kick, try out their chocolate devil’s food cake, layered all the way with white chocolate buttercream and some chocolate mousse sold during the holiday season. 

 

4. Hot Cakes Molten Chocolate Cakery, Seattle

 

 

The chocolate cake that literally launched this Seattle bakery! Autumn Martin was a chocolatier before she left her job at Theo Chocolate to open her own bakery and serve people what they really wanted to eat - a take-n-bake molten chocolate cake. They serve the cake in those small Pinterest mason jars; not only is it too cute to look at, but it is also fantastic for your taste buds! 

 

The bakery started its operations in 2012 in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. In the beginning, they started to sell out their original dark decadence cake, which also comes in a vegan version! 

 

The bakery and the chef are known for their flavorful surprises made out of local and organic ingredients. From cakes to caramels, boozy shakes, cookies, and their smoked chocolate chips, everything is beyond perfect. 

 

5. Avec, Chicago

 

One fine evening, while the pastry chef Dana Cree was having dinner with a few of her close friends, she found herself amid a debate over molten chocolate cake. A few years later, when she opened her own bakery in Chicago, she placed the debatable molten chocolate cake on her menu. She called it - Warm Chocolate-Olive Oil Cocotte. The cake was developed as an experiment while baking a warm chocolate cake in a cazuela, which then turned into a Cocotte, now a signature item on their menu. 

 

The cocotte is made out of cacao barry Guayaquil dark chocolate and the right fruity notes of olive oil. The simplicity of this cake is what makes it so complicated to master. The bakery puts a chocolate olive-oil truffle right in the middle of the cake, making it truly stand apart from other chocolate cakes in the city. Its molten sensuality will truly charm your “forks” off. 

 

The molten chocolate beauty is served with spiced data gelato, some sesame, and crisp rice. However, these accompaniments do change with the season. Get it right away before it is sold out quickly! 

 

6. Lady M, New York City, and Los Angeles

 

Known for their signature Mille Crêpes cakes, Lady M is a favorite among people in LA and New York. Their paper-thin, mind-altering doses of 20 soft and lacy French crêpes topped with a dollop of whipped cream is truly something people crave, even though they have not had it yet! 

However, we are talking about Lady M on this list not just for their crêpes but for their chocolate cake. 

 

Their chocolate cake comes in two layers - one with chocolate crêpes layers and the other pastry cream layer. Together, they form a surprisingly light, gooey cake with a spongy texture. Literally as soft as those mattress commercials over which you can jump! 

 

Don’t really jump, though. Don’t waste this delicious beauty. 

 

Another fan favorite by Lady M is their version of green tea. It is actually a cult favorite. And so is their Checkers cake. It is incredible. It is flavorful. It is the best! Upon being cut, the cake reveals this wonderful checkered pattern which you might want to keep staring at! The pattern is so perfect you cannot find one single flaw. All the little chocolate and vanilla layers just meet perfectly at the right angles! 

 

Lady M is a blessing for all who love sweet baked goods. Not only are they gorgeous to look at, but their cakes are also waited upon patiently by a really long queue of people every single day. 

 

7. Highlands Bar and Grill, Birmingham, AL

 

Southern restaurants are usually connected more with coconut cakes, but chef and owner Frank Stitt are hellbent on changing that notion. Frank is all set to revolutionize the taste buds of Birmingham with their amazing New Year’s Eve Cake. 

 

The New Year’s Eve Cake is everyone’s favorite. Their rich, delectably moist dark chocolate-covered layers with the Italian buttercream meringue, Bulleit bourbon flavors, further accentuated with sea salt notes, are gastronomically unique. The cake slices are served with candied pecans and a butterscotch sauce. 

 

The cake is always available, all year round, only when it is not sold out! Grab your slice quickly. 

 

8. Miette, San Francisco 

 

 

This one’s our personal favorite! Not only do we love our beloved Cali, but we also love a good, old-fashioned, almost original American, gooey chocolate cake. 

 

This quintessential cake is probably the reason why we celebrate national chocolate cake day. It is so perfect that it comes with its own cherry on the top! Their frosting is flavored with vanilla and marshmallows and is extremely rich, dense, and smooth. It spreads like a cloud over the top of the chocolate cake, which is also made from local and organically sourced ingredients produced by Guittard and Scharffen Bergen. 

 

Their chocolate cake is well-rounded, incredibly moist, and extremely simple in flavors. The texture of the cake is something that it is really known for. The flavor is achieved by adding their secret ingredient - buttermilk! 

 

It is sweet in the right spots, is well-balanced, and cuts beautifully! Seriously, get in your car and go there already! 

 

9. Cake and Spoon, Austin

 

After years of working at restaurants, Melissa Brinckmann, a Texas native, took it upon herself to start a commercial bakery. She wanted to give people what they were missing. To fulfill that, she opened the Cake and Spoon bakery. 

 

Cake and Spoon’s specialty? The 4-inch dessert cakes and their little tarts. Their dark chocolate cake, filled with espresso and chocolate-flavored mousse and covered with dollops of dark chocolate ganache, is as quintessential as it can get! 

 

Their chocolate cake recipe is based on the traditional Amish flavors with buttermilk, to which cocoa and chocolate are added to make the base. 

 

Mellissa and her chocolate cake fans call it the Texas sheet cake. 

 

You can relish their cakes around the state at Austin’s sustainable food center farmer’s markets, downtown, Cedar Park farmer’s market, and other locations. Google them and see where they are going to be! Head straight there this national chocolate cake day. 

 

10. Pearl Bakery, Portland

 

Portland’s darling, the Pearl Bakery, has stood its ground since 1997. They have received accolades for their pastries and loaves of bread but little did they know their Birthday Cake recipe would make them even more famous! 

 

Pearl Bakery’s original pastry chef, Lee Posey, developed the heavenly and chocolaty Birthday Cake, whose production today is led by Emily Stone. 

 

The cake is superiorly decadent and is meant for special occasions. But they will not tax you if you buy it on any random weekend! Their devil’s food cake is layered with bittersweet ganache, flavorful raspberries, and then some more frosted ganache! It is magical, pretty, and great. It is truly one of the best things in our lives and is a Portland favorite. Your birthday deserves this decadent beauty! 

 

In conclusion:

Cakes are a staple in our lives, birthdays, weddings, graduations, bake sales; you name it, it is there! Whether we are happy, sad, angry, terrified, or anything really, there is nothing like a good slice of warm chocolate cake cannot fix! 

 

Baking the perfect chocolate cake requires top-notch skills since it is an art form. But these ten bakeries have mastered the art! Don’t forget to indulge in these ornate and delectably gorgeous chocolate cakes this national chocolate cake day! 

 

Dig in. You will love it!