Maulwurfkuchen -

If you love chocolate cake, bananas, and whipped cream, keep reading! The perfect Maulwurfkuchen recipe.

This is my favorite German cake, and that’s saying a lot because I really love Black Forest Cake. Maulwurfkuchen or “mole hill cake” just has so many of my favorite things: chocolate cake, whipped cream, bananas, chocolate sprinkles! It’s light and airy yet still decadent. And it’s adorable! It’s meant to look like a little mole hill in your yard. It’s about time that America learn the wonders of Maulwurfkuchen.

If you’ve never indulged in a German cake before, you’re in for a real treat. Germany really knows their cake. They love cake so much in fact that it’s customary to have cake and coffee around 3 pm, much like the Brits have tea. How posh is that? I’m half German and eat a lot of cake, and I’m telling you: not only is this one of my all-time favorite German cakes, this is one of my favorite cakes, period.

First you bake a very simple one-bowl chocolate cake. This cake is very moist but it isn’t large so don’t panic that there isn’t much batter in your springform pan. That’s totally fine. You get a lot of height from the whipped cream.

Once your cake has cooled, you scoop the top out to form a bowl. I like to use a small knife to cut a circle and inch from the side, then use a spoon to scoop out the center, reserving the crumbs for the topping. Be sure to leave enough so that you will have a decent cake “crust” at the bottom. It’s quite fun to immediately destroy a cake after baking it. You don’t see that in every recipe!

Next, slice bananas and mix with a bit of lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. (You won’t taste the lemon.) Arrange the slices in your cake bowl.

Whip cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. You want really pillowy whipped cream here. (Note: DO NOT substitute frozen whipped topping. It will not work.) If you’re thinking, “How will this work? Whip cream falls!” then you have never made my whipped cream before. Powdered sugar actually stabilizes whipped cream. It will keep for days in the fridge.

Next, fold the chocolate sprinkles into the whipped cream. You can get any old chocolate sprinkles from the store but if you want the authentic cake, order De Ruijter chocolate sprinkles from Amazon. The box is quiet large (it’ll last a while) and it’ll come in a day or two with Prime shipping. Totally worth it – these are hardly comparable to the American sprinkles. They melt in your mouth, becoming one with the whipped cream. They’re amazing.

Finally, pile the whipped cream onto the cake, forming a mound. Top with cake crumbs. Now a true Maulwurfkuchen would be fully covered by cake crumbs but what can I say? Spatial ability is not my strong suit. I could have scooped a little bit more out of the cake for a more “buried” look but either way, your cake will taste phenomenal.

Whether you are baking this cake to celebrate Oktoberfest, a birthday, or just a Tuesday, I hope you love this cake as much as I do!

The Rose Table’s Maulwurfkuchen (Mole Hill Cake)
For the cake:
7 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 dark cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperatureFor the filling:
2 bananas
1/2 a lemon
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup Schokostreußel (chocolate sprinkles)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease the bottoms and sides of a 9″ spring form pan. Line with a round of wax paper and grease that too.
Cream together softened butter and sugar until sandy. Add flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Beat in milk and vanilla, then add eggs one at a time. Mix until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out smooth. Cool completely on a wire rack, then remove from the springform pan and remove the wax paper from the bottom.
Flip the cake upside down and set on a plate. Scoop out the center of the cake, leaving about 1″ rim around the sides. Be careful not to scoop too deep – you still want cake at the bottom! Reserve cake crumbs.
Slice two bananas and toss with the juice of half a lemon. Fill the cake with banana slices.
Whip cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Stir in chocolate sprinkles. Pile the whipped cream on top of the cake to form a mound. Top with cake crumbs. Store in the fridge.