What is a German “Wolke-Kuchen” (Cloud Cake)?
Have you ever tried it? That unbelievably delicious, moist, and pillowy-soft chocolate “Cloud Cake” (Schoko-Wolkekuchen) made with heavy cream instead of butter, sold in German supermarkets as a boxed baking mix for nearly €3?
That cake is pure bliss – once you take a bite, you never want to stop eating it. However, paying €3 for a simple cardboard box containing little more than flour, sugar, starch, cocoa, and baking powder always struck me as overpriced. So I set out on a kitchen mission to recreate the ultimate homemade Cloud Chocolate Cake from scratch!
Attempt #1: The Classic Whipped Cream & Cornstarch Method
In a baking forum, I found a fellow baker who had reverse-engineered the ingredient ratios of the boxed mix:
- 1 cup (200 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 3 eggs
- 200 g sugar
- 100 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g cornstarch (Speisestärke)
- 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 15 g baking powder (1 packet)
- 1 pinch of salt
Baked at 200 °C (390 °F) for 45–60 minutes, the cake rose beautifully just like the boxed version. While it tasted like a lovely traditional chocolate sponge cake, baking it for the full hour made it slightly drier than the ultra-moist cloud texture I was chasing.
Attempt #2: Buttermilk Chocolate Cake with a Warm Cream Soak
Next, I remembered a classic German buttermilk sheet cake known for its extraordinarily moist, tender crumb. I adapted that base with rich cocoa and a warm heavy-cream soak:
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- 1 packet baking powder
- 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- For the moisture boost: 2 cups (400 ml) liquid heavy cream poured over the hot cake
Bake the cake at 200 °C for 30–40 minutes. Take it briefly out of the oven, pour the two cups of liquid heavy cream evenly across the top, and return it to the hot oven for just a few minutes until all the cream is absorbed into the sponge.
The result rose wonderfully and turned out super fluffy and deeply moist! Part of my 13-Week Project.
🍫 Recipe Card: Homemade Fluffy Cloud Chocolate Cake
🛒 Michi’s Moist Buttermilk & Cream Version
- 3 eggs & 2 cups sugar
- 1 packet vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla)
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 4 cups flour & 1 packet baking powder
- 20–30 g Dutch-process baking cocoa
- Cream Soak: 400 ml liquid heavy cream
👩🍳 Tips for Cloud-Like Softness
- Whip eggs thoroughly: Beat eggs and sugar for 4–5 minutes until pale and airy.
- For Version 1 (Starch & Cream): Whip the heavy cream until semi-stiff before folding it in, and check with a toothpick after 35 minutes so it stays moist.
- For Version 2 (Buttermilk Soak): Poke the hot cake all over with a wooden skewer before pouring the heavy cream on top so the cream infuses every bite!
