This is my BEST Chocolate Cake Recipe! With chocolate buttercream frosting and a chocolate sauce drizzled on top, you are going to love this moist chocolate cake.
An Easy, Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe
This is what dreams are made of. My easy homemade Chocolate Cake is layer after layer of chocolate fantasies, kicking your sweet tooth to the curb! Every bite has a deep, robust flavor that is irresistibly moist.
But best yet, this recipe is so easy to make! Put the electric mixer away – all you need is a handheld whisk and a spoon! We’re going to combine melted dark chocolate, butter, oil, and eggs and mix them together with simple dry ingredients for a melt-in-your-mouth experience.
It’s All About the Buttercream
A beautiful chocolate cake like this needs a decadent frosting! Buttercream is an easy icing that combines unsalted butter and powdered sugar. There are many additions you can include to elevate a simple buttercream, such as vanilla extract, milk, espresso, caramel, peppermint extract, food coloring, and much more.
Use my recipe for Easy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for this cake if you want a double dose of chocolate. It’s a sweet and creamy mix of unsalted butter, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt, powdered sugar, and evaporated milk. It is perfect for those of us who love chocolate on chocolate!
For an elegant detailing, add a drizzle of my quick and easy homemade Chocolate Sauce to the decoration on top!
Recipe Ingredients
This chocolate cake may look fancy, but it’s made of nothing but common baking ingredients! Everything on this list is easy to find at the store or is probably already be in your pantry:
- All-purpose flour
- Cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Water
- Sugar
- Dark chocolate
- Unsalted butter
- Vegetable oil
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
What Makes This Chocolate Cake So Moist?
Unlike a typical cake recipe, we aren’t using many tools, meaning we don’t run the risk of over-mixing the batter (making the cake dry or dense). We’re using heat to dissolve sugar into water, melting chocolate and butter into the mixture, then combining it all with oil, vanilla, and eggs. Since the batter is more wet than dry, we end up with a cake with double the moisture than an ordinary recipe!
How To Make Chocolate Cake
I promise you’ll have a ton of fun creating this beautiful chocolate cake. Follow these easy directions to get started:
- Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans. Set aside.
- Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Dissolve: Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar dissolves (about 1 minute).
- Lower The Heat: Remove the saucepan from the heat and add in the chopped chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until melted.
- Wet Ingredients: Whisk in the vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Crack the eggs into the mixture, beating them quickly to avoid cooked or scrambled eggs. Stir in the dry ingredients until the chocolate cake mix is smooth.
- Bake: Divide the cake batter evenly between the 3 prepared pans and bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool: Let the cakes cool in the pans until they’re all cool to the touch.
Can I Make this Cake in Two Layers?
Absolutely! Butter two 8-inch round cake pans instead before baking. Divide the batter evenly in both cake pans, filling to about half-full in each. The baking time may need to be extended to 30-35 minutes.
Tips For The Best Chocolate Cake
- Use a high-quality cocoa powder and dark chocolate for the best tasting cake.
- Let the cake cool completely before decorating, otherwise, the icing will melt. The cake layers can be made a day before adding the frosting.
- Use room temperature eggs to help the cake rise better.
- If you’re looking for extra protection in your cake pans, flour the edges of each pan after you’ve buttered them and/or add a circle of parchment paper to the bottom. There’s will guarantee your cake will not stick!
- After you’ve finished decorating the cake, allow it to set in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Recipe Modifications
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake: Use the same amount of a gluten-free flour blend instead.
- Dairy-Free Chocolate Cake: You’re in luck! This cake is naturally dairy-free, as high-quality dark chocolate and cocoa powder both contain no dairy. You will need to use a different frosting recipe or sub the evaporated milk for coconut milk.
- Cake Without Eggs: Yes, it can be done! Check out my recipe for Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake where I substituted oil and raw eggs for mayo. Alternatively, leave the eggs out of this recipe and replace them with ¼ cup of plain yogurt. It’s not exactly the same, but will work in a pinch!
- Espresso Powder: Adding 2 teaspoons of espresso powder to the dry ingredients will only enhance the chocolate flavor and NOT make the cake taste like coffee. Or, add a couple of tablespoons of espresso powder for a chocolate coffee cake!
- Peanut Butter Frosting: Add a nutty flavor by using my Peanut Butter Frosting instead of Chocolate Buttercream!
How to Store Chocolate Cake
This cake is so good I doubt you’ll have any leftovers, but if you do, cover the cake with a lid or plastic wrap and keep it in your fridge. It should stay fresh for up to 3 days.
You can freeze chocolate cake as well. Bake the cake layers as normal, wrap them individually in plastic wrap once cooled, and freeze for up to 3 months. A frosted cake will last just as long when kept covered in the freezer. To thaw, leave it in the fridge overnight and serve cold.
Chocolate buttercream can be made up to 4 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge, then let it sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before using. You can also freeze the buttercream for up to 3 months.
I know you are going to love this cake almost as much as my family does — they are Chocolate Cake fanatics! We have been making this for birthday cakes for years and it never disappoints. It’s a great versatile cake that will hold up to many different flavors of frostings so you can change it up for each special person’s birthday.
Please leave a review or comment below letting me know how this recipe turns out for you!
BEST Chocolate Cake
Sharing my BEST Chocolate Cake Recipe with chocolate buttercream frosting and a chocolate sauce drizzled on top. You will enjoy bite after bite of this moist chocolate cake!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 oz dark chocolate, chopped
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Toppings
- 1 batch chocolate buttercream frosting
- 1/2 batch chocolate sauce
- rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 8 inch round cake pans and line the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper cut to fit the bottom of your cake pans. (This ensures your cake does not stick.) Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally, until melted.
- Whisk in vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Quickly beat in eggs (do this quickly so they don’t cook) into the chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in dry ingredients, until smooth.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool in pans until cool to the touch – then frost as desired!
Notes
If you like a lot of frosting on your cake, I reocmmend making 1.5 batches -- or even doubling the recipe for the chocolate buttercream frosting.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12 servingsServing Size:
1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 377Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 509mgCarbohydrates: 60gFiber: 2gSugar: 41gProtein: 4g
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Hi, just wondering what cocoa you use for this recipe, natural or dutch processed? Also what percentage dark chocolate do you use?
Hi Danielle! I use a natural cocoa powder in this recipe, I usually go for the standard Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder. And I use a 70% chocolate bar or baking chocolate bar.
What is the conversion for cake flour instead of all purpose flour.
Also can this be made in 4” rounds
Hi Shari, I’m sorry but I developed this recipe with all purpose and don’t feel comfortable instructing you on using cake flour without trying it myself as I can not guarantee the results. However, yes you can bake it in 4″ rounds, your baking time will be reduced though!
Thankyou, I’ve made lots of chocolate cake recipes over the years. This is definitely one of the best. It has lots of flavour, a nice soft texture and it doesn’t have the oily ‘wet’ texture you can get from all oil cakes. It also tastes great straight out of the fridge. Do you think it would hold up under fondant?
Glad you enjoyed it Danielle! Yes, I do think it would hold up for fondant.
Wonder how a raspberry filling would taste ?
Oh I’m sure it would be delicious!
Can this be used to make a 1/4 sheet cake and cupcakes and still turn out moist?
Hi Kitty, yes it should still turn out moist!
You said it’s a dairy free recipe, but there’s butter in the cake, so it can’t be. Could I swap the butter for butter flavored Crisco?
Yes you can!
Hi! I really enjoy your vanilla dream cake recipe. I use it very often!! Would you say this chocolate cake recipe is dense enough to pair with the vanilla dream cake for a chocolate & vanilla cake? Thanks so much!
Hmmm. I think so! That sounds delicious! If you do it, please come back and share a photo!!
Hi Jessica!
I’ve made this cake and my family and I have absolutely loved it! I am curious if you’ve ever tried this recipe in a 9×13 pan? If so, what changes if any, did you make?
Thank you!
-Hilary Neff
Hi Hilary! I haven’t made it in a 9×13, but it should work just fine! Watch the baking time and I’d start checking in on it around 28-ish minutes and use a toothpick check to make sure when it’s cooked through!
This cake was the bomb!!! According to my brother this is the best chocolate cake ever!!
I’ve made this recipe a couple times over the years, and it always turns out AMAZING. So moist and rich and delicious. I usually use two 9″ pans because that’s all I have, but it’s no problem. Just have to watch the bake time
If you want something truly ~decadent~, one of the times I made this I used a salted caramel buttercream with a chocolate ganache on top.
Love the salted caramel buttercream on top! Brilliant!
I love this Chocolate cake recipe. Thank you for sharing it. Made my husband’s birthday!
Did you feel one batch of frosting was good? Or did you double the frosting recipe?
Yes, but you can always make a batch and a half to ensure you have lots of frosting!
Looks great but it would be nice if you could share the metric version of the recipe as well. I will never understand why so many people just ignore the fact that many people (myself included) much prefer to bake the British way. It is really much better!
Hi Fino! I understand your request, but as my viewership is US based, I provide measurements in cups. It’s not ignoring anyone, it’s just going with what the majority (in my case – 89%) wants and follows. I’m sure you can find plenty of British based bloggers! Thanks!
I made this right after you posted it since I am still social distancing and WOW it’s good! I followed the directions exactly except I let my baked cake sit overnight before I frosted it because I ran out of time. It was so moist and delicious!
Oops – I meant Jessica, not Jo!
Hi Jo,
Could espresso powder be used in this chocolate cake recipe? Is so, how much?
Thanks!
Hi Shannon!
Espresso Powder: Adding 2 teaspoons of espresso powder to the dry ingredients will only enhance the chocolate flavor and NOT make the cake taste like coffee. Or, add a couple of tablespoons of espresso powder for a chocolate coffee flavored cake!
Oh my goodness! I’m not a baker, especially from scratch but I might just have to try this cake.
Do we need to add the eggs in while the mixture is hot or let it cool first. Can you all tell me the measurement in grams please.
I am planning to make this for my son’s birthday.