The BEST Chocolate Cake Recipe
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One of my all time favorites, this is my moist, fudgy, and completely from-scratch best chocolate cake recipe. It comes together in one bowl and pairs well with any frosting! Recipe includes a how-to video!
Why This is THE Chocolate Cake Recipe You Need:
- Ridiculously moist, even days later: Most cakes dry out by day two… not mine! Thanks to a strategic combo of buttermilk, oil, butter, and an extra egg yolk you’ll get a moist, tender crumb that stays soft, fudgy and rich, even straight out of the fridge!
- Bold chocolate flavor. No flat cocoa flavor here. By blooming the cocoa with hot coffee we unlock its full intensity. While the cake doesn’t actually taste like coffee, it has a deeper, more complex chocolate flavor in every bite.
- No mixer, no fuss, no fail! Made in one bowl with no special equipment required, this cake comes together so easily (though of course feel free to use your stand or hand mixer, if you feel so inclined!).
- This is the chocolate cake recipe you’ll come back to. This is the one I make for birthdays, holidays, or any time I need a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. It’s reliable, richly chocolatey, and just plain better than the rest (if I do say so myself). If you don’t believe me, here’s a recent 5-star review:
“Perfect as is no changes needed! This cake yields a tender, moist crumb packed with flavor. I used the hot coffee as suggested and it really helps the flavor pop. I topped it with the oreo icing and and even our picky eaters came back for seconds. Thank You!“
– Elayna
What You Need
Each ingredient in this chocolate cake recipe was carefully chosen to make for a moist and flavorful chocolate cake. Let’s go over the key players:
Note: This ingredient photo does not include ingredients for the frosting, as you can use your favorite (suggestions below!).
- Buttermilk gives my chocolate cake recipe intense depth of flavor and keeps it soft and moist. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can use my easy buttermilk substitute in a pinch–but real buttermilk is best!
- Oil and butter give us a moist cake with great flavor. This combination is especially important if you need to refrigerate your chocolate cake (which could dry out your cake). I originally used canola or vegetable oil in this recipe, but have learned avocado oil works just as well and this is my current go-to.
- An extra egg yolk contributes to the tender, fudgy, melt-in-your-mouth crumb. If you don’t want to waste your leftover egg white, save it to make some candied almonds.
- Cocoa powder. I recommend using natural cocoa powder for best results.
- Hot water/coffee will “bloom” your cocoa powder, fully developing its flavor. Note that using coffee won’t make your chocolate cake taste like coffee, but it will enhance the chocolate taste even more than plain hot water would (which is why I prefer it to water). On the other hand, if you really like coffee and want a coffee flavor, you can always frost this cake with my coffee frosting (I actually like to use the variation in that recipe to make a mocha frosting with this cake)!
Remember, this is just an overview of some of the key ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
SAM’S TIP: The best way to keep this chocolate cake recipe (or, any cake) moist is to not over-bake it. Make sure that your oven temperature isn’t running hotter than it is leading you to believe (I keep two thermometers in my oven to make sure the temperature is accurate), as an oven that’s too hot will over-bake your cake in your hurry.
How to Make The Best Chocolate Cake
Step 1: Reverse creaming (sort of!)
We are essentially using a modified version of the reverse creaming method (previously shown in my caramel cake!) for a super moist crumb. This means we first combine the dry ingredients (and the sugar, which is technically a wet ingredient) and then add oil and melted butter. The mixture will be thick and crumbly, but stir until all of the dry ingredients are completely moistened. An electric mixer makes this a bit easier, though I’ve done it by hand before with just a spatula.
Step 2: Add the rest of the wet ingredients
Eggs, an extra yolk, and a healthy pour of vanilla extract go in first. Make sure the eggs are room temperature, or they can make it difficult for the batter to combine, resulting in a wonky, uneven cake. Next stir in the buttermilk, the batter will thin a bit here, but it really becomes thin once you add the (hot!) coffee.
You can use hot coffee or hot water for this step, but the most important thing is that it’s, well, hot! The heat from the warm liquid “blooms” the cocoa, as mentioned in the “Ingredients” section above (see that section again if you’re curious about why I prefer coffee to water, too!).
Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl here so the batter is smooth and uniform. And it will seem thin! This is absolutely normal!
Step 3: Bake & cool (then decorate!)
Divide the batter into 8″ round baking pans and bake. I recommend using circles of cut out parchment paper on the bottom of my pans (in addition to greasing/flouring them) to ensure there will be no sticking when it’s time to remove the cakes from the pans (makes things so much easier and less stressful!). Once they’ve finished baking, let them cool in the pans for a few minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
If needed/desired you can level your cake layers (this is the inexpensive cake leveler (affiliate) I like to use) and then decorate with your favorite frosting. I have a post on how to decorate a cake if you need help with this step (but you can see I kept things pretty simple here).
SAM’S TIP: A crumb coating is always a good idea! To do this, apply a thin, even layer of frosting to catch all of your crumbs and then place the cake in the freezer for 15 minutes. Remove and finish frosting for a crumb-free finish!
Frequently Asked Questions
The secret to a truly moist, fudgy chocolate cake recipe comes down to a few key ingredients and techniques. Buttermilk (full-fat, and better if it’s the real deal and not a substitute) gives the crumb a soft, tender texture while a combo of oil and butter gives you the bet of both worlds — lasting moisture and rich flavor. An extra egg yolk adds a luxurious fudgy bite, and most importantly don’t overbake it! Pull the cake out of the oven when there are a few moist crumbs on your toothpick (but no wet batter), that’s when the magic happens.
Final tip: I recommend if you haven’t already, learn how to use a kitchen scale to consistently have best results with all of your baked goods.
I typically use chocolate buttercream or my favorite chocolate frosting; however my chocolate fudge frosting works just as well (and that’s what I used in the photos here!). The fudge frosting is thicker, richer and, well, fudgier, while the “favorite” frosting is lighter, sweeter, and more buttercream-esque.
Chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream, coffee frosting, brown butter frosting, peanut butter frosting, caramel frosting, or even Oreo frosting would also be good as decadent options, or lighten things up with fresh fruit and try my strawberry frosting, raspberry buttercream or even my blueberry frosting!
Yes, you can use my chocolate cake recipe for cupcakes, but my recommendation is to make my easy chocolate cupcake recipe instead; it yields a light, springy texture that suits the cupcake form so well.
However, if you want to make this cake as cupcakes, know you’ll get approximately 24 cupcakes. Fill your liners ⅔ of the way full and bake for 16-18 minutes.
Perfect Frosting Pairings:
This chocolate cake recipe has already earned hundreds of 5-star ratings, but I’d love to hear what you think of it! Leave me a comment and a rating once you try it (please!).
Enjoy!
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The BEST Chocolate Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale recommended
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cup (208 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (75 g) natural cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup (118 ml) neutral cooking oil, (use avocado, canola, or vegetable oil)
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (236 ml) buttermilk
- ½ cup (118 ml) hot coffee or hot water
- 1 batch chocolate frosting, see note
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare two 8" round cake pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing and flouring the sides. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) stir together flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.1 ⅔ cup (208 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, ¾ cup (75 g) natural cocoa powder, 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Add melted butter and oil, stir well. Batter may be thick, this is fine, just stir until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (118 ml) neutral cooking oil
- Add eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined. Pause occasionally to scrape sides and bottom of bowl.2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Gradually add buttermilk and stir well.1 cup (236 ml) buttermilk
- Add hot coffee or water, stirring carefully until ingredients are well-combined (be sure to scrape sides and bottom of bowl to ensure batter is uniform).½ cup (118 ml) hot coffee or hot water
- Evenly divide batter between prepared pans. Transfer to center rack of 350F (175C) and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack to cool completely before frosting with your favorite frosting (I recommend the one linked in the recipe above, or one of my favorites linked in the notes below!).1 batch chocolate frosting
Notes
- Two 9″ pans: Cakes will need to bake for less time, start checking at 27-30 minutes. Please keep in mind that if your pans are dark-colored the cake may need less time to bake.
- Three 8″ pans: Bake approximately 23-26 minutes.
- Three 9″ pans. Cake layers will be quite thin. Bake approximately 20-23 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Recipe originally published 02/27/2017. I’ve updated the post to have new photos, a new video, and more helpful information, but the recipe has been extensively tested and was not in need of improvement, so it remains the same!
I have a cake business and this is my go-to chocolate cake. I use to use the cake recipe on the back of Hershey’s cocoa. While delicious, it was too soft and crumbly for stacking and making cakes. This cake is perfect! It is moist yet firm and great for stacking and decorating. I think the combo of sugar/brown sugar and butter/oil and coffee do the trick! I also think *real buttermilk* is needed. It is superior in taste and rise to the homemade buttermilk method. Thanks Sam! You have replaced Sally’s Baking Addiction as my go to baking blog. Bravo!!
Thank you so much, Susan! That is so sweet. I am so glad you enjoy the cake so much. I hope you love everything else you try just as much. 🙂
Can you bake in two round 9 inch nonstick pans? What would be the bake time?
Hi Theresa! You can bake this in 2 9 inch round pans. The layers will be a little bit thinner. I’m not sure on the bake time. It will be slightly less than the 8 inch pans. I would just keep an eye on them. 🙂
Thanks!!! I made your German Chocolate Cake and it was sooooo good!!!! Looking forward to baking this! Thanks for your videos and recipes – love them!!
I know you are going to love this one too! 🙂
Hi! I plan in making this for tomorrow. Is there any part of this recipe I can make ahead? Thank you!
The frosting may be ok to make ahead of time, or mix just the dry ingredients together, but other than that it’s best to do it all at once. 🙂
Thanks Sam- looking forward to it! I’ve made two other of your cakes and they are fantastic!
This one definitely won’t disappoint. 🙂
How can I make batter 3 “8 inch cake pans? I have read that just doubling the recipe makes it bad because of baking soda. I love this recipe btw!
It is true that some recipes don’t double well, but that is not the case here. To make 3 layers you will need to increase the recipe by 50%. Enjoy! 🙂
Hi! I plan on making this for my daughter’s birthday today. I accidntally bought “light” buttermilk, will this be okay, or should I get regular buttermilk before making?
Hi Cassie! The light buttermilk has a lower fat content so it could potentially make the cake slightly dry, but it could work here. If you have whole milk and lemon juice you can make my buttermilk substitute as well. 🙂
Hi Sam I really want to try this recipe I am so excited thanks for sharing I love your videos
I hope you love it, Addy! 🙂
This is one of my favorite Chocolate cake recipe the chocolate cake is so moist and delicious, I enjoy making this cake, my daughter is super obsessed. thank you so much for all the great recipes.
I am so glad everyone enjoys it so much, Anele! 🙂
This recipie gave me the perfect sponge I was looking for . Much love and duas
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Hope! 🙂
So good. Grandkids want this for all future birthdays. First cake I have ever made from scratch. I don’t know why I waited so long. Very easy and so delicious.
Homemade is ALWAYS better! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it, Lucy! 🙂
Could you make this in a 13×9-inch pan instead of as a layer cake?
Hi Suzanne! Yes, that should be fine, I would start checking it around 30 minutes. Enjoy! 🙂
I’d love to try this recipe! Is it possible to follow the exact same batter recipe with 6 inch cake pans instead of 8? If so, what is the baking time for using 6 inch pans?
Hi Marah! This will make enough to fill about 3 6 inch pans. I’m not quite sure of the baking time though.
can i just use a whisk to make this recipe? i feel like doing it manually makes the batter less worked on
Hi Andres! It iight be a bit of a strain on the whisk when you add the butter and oil to the flour as it gets a bit stiff, but you could use a spoon or spatula at that point if needed. I often make this cake without a stand mixer, but with this recipe it is important that the ingredients be very well-combined and the batter be completely smooth and lump free. While you don’t want to over-beat the batter, this recipe is a bit different from traditionally creamed cakes like my vanilla cake where you have to be especially light handed with the batter.
I really want to try this recipe. After making the batter, is it okay to bake it after 40 minutes and leave it in the counter?
Hi Naomi! The batter should be fine to rest on the counter for 40 minutes. I would cover it with plastic wrap while it sits. 🙂
How much Buttermilk, in Metric,
Why is there so much sugar in this cake?
Hi Brenda! 1 cup = 237ml. There is a lot of sugar because it’s a big cake. 🙂
I have made this recipe so many times and it’s always such a huge hit! I’m making it for a gender reveal next month, and the mama to be is obsessed with those sprinkles of course lol. Any chance you would remember where they were from!?
Hi Chelsea! I actually buy them in bulk and make some mixes for myself. Congratulations on your little one! 🙂
Hi Sam! How did you get the perfect crescent moon shape, and clean sprinkles on the bottom? I’d love to make this exactly for my daughter’s moon themed birthday 😋
For the top I just kind of placed them. There wasn’t really any trick to it. For the bottom I take a big handful of sprinkles and press them into the side then clean up everything that doesn’t stick. 🙂
Thank you!! Looking forward to trying it!
So excited to make this! If I make use less batter for each of my 8” cake layers, do you think I would be able to get 3 of them?
Hi Karen! You could do that, but the layers may end up being pretty thin. You can just increase the recipe by 50% and make 3 normal layers if you want. 🙂
By hands down the bessssst chocolate cake I have ever made.. and I made 2 mistakes thanks to the interruptions.. I, added baking powder (not needed) and then I realised I forgot to add the sugar added just before the butter milk & coffee .. And it still it came out 10/10 🙌
I am so glad you enjoyed the cake so much! 🙂
I’ve made this cake so many times, and each time I do different frosting for it. The first time I used peanut butter as the middle layer frosting and my kids loved it. Now I’m always making it for my son’s birthday every year! Thank you for this amazing recipe!!
I am so glad everyone enjoys it so much, Susan! 🙂