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
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
Recommended Equipment
- Kitchen Scale recommended
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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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!
Juan
How much would I multiply this recipe to fit into three 8 inch layers?
Sam
Hi Juan! You just need to increase the entire recipe by 50%
Ellie
Your recipe is amazing and the instructions you provide are easy to follow. I was able to make my first cake and everyone in my house loved it. It was so good I wanted to eat it all. Thank you for the recipe and all the work you put into the directions. The video was also really helpful.
Sam
You are so welcome, Ellie! I am so glad the cake turned out so wonderfully and everyone enjoyed it! 🙂
Brian
Yes! Yes! This executes the best flavor, best texture, and bakes amazingly! I appreciate you sharing this sam. So far, all your recipes I have followed has came out just like you showed. Flawless!!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Brian! 🙂
Gabriela
This is, in fact, the best chocolate cake that I have baked. I always wabtwd to get this softnes, moist and flacoeyin a chocolate cake. Thank you, this is from now on my chocolate cake recipe by default
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Gabriela! 🙂
Janet
ANOTHER delicious recipe ! I’ve never been a good baker . Any Time I tried to bake anything it never turned out but ever since I found this page I have become the family baker 😆 We have not had to have store bought goods because anytime I get a craving I come here . Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us & for going into such detail that even people like myself who could never bake before make delicious baked goods my family loves !!
Sam
I am so glad you have enjoyed everything so much, Janet! 🙂 I hope you continue to enjoy all of the recipes and hope you’ll continue to follow along. 🙂
Patricia Clark
I made this cake, delicious!
I ran out of eggs, and substituted with greek yogurt.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Patricia! 🙂
Maariyah Baksh
Hi, how many cupcakes would this recipe make ?
Sam
Hi Maariyah! It will make rough 22-24 cupcakes but I would recommend using my easy chocolate cupcake recipe instead. This one tends to fall apart when being made as cupcakes. 🙂
Marina
I made this once but I was wondering what to do if you don’t have brown sugar
Sam
You can just substitute granulated sugar. You will lose a little flavor and moisture but it will still be good. 🙂
Cindy
This recipe is So great!! I use it all the time. whenever i’m making chocolate cake I use this.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoy it so much, Cindy! 🙂
Sophie
Another fabulous recipe! Paired it with salted caramel frosting and it was spectacular. I made my own buttermilk and it worked beautifully – thank you Sam!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sophie! 🙂
Simone
I would to try this but I only have Dutch process cocoa and the stores a mad crazy right now. What can I eliminate so I can use Dutch process? Thank you in advance!
Sam
Hi Simone! I haven’t tested it so it would actually be pretty tough for me to tell how to alter the recipe and still get the best results. 🙁
Novs
I tried this recipe twice and it’s so yummy!! Perfect as a bday present.
First time I made, it cracked. However on the second one, I sliced the bulky top part before I cool down the bottom. And this made perfect like the one on your photo.
Thank you for all your recipes (carrot cake, ganache & choco), always reliable specially when you have videos too. Love it 😍
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Genevra
Hello! I just tried this cake and it sunk like crazy in the middle. I’m at 6000 ft. in elevation. What are you at? I can tell that this is such an amazing recipe so I want to try it again and maybe adjust some stuff depending on what your elevation is. I may try using cake strips as well. 😊
Sam
I am at about 1000 feet. Unfortunately I am not sure what kind of alterations need to be made for high altitude. I would love to hear what you changed and I hope you love the cake! 🙂
Simone
Hi there! I’m such a big fan of your carrot and vanilla cupcake and I have to try your chocolate cake. Based on other people’s comments that it’s supper moist and soft. But is it stable enough to stacked layered cakes and covered with fondant?
Sam
Hi Simone! This cake is a pretty sturdy cake so you shouldn’t have issues stacking it and covering it with fondant. 🙂
Diane
I just made the above cake and followed instructions to a ‘TEE” When I inverted the cake they
cracked almost all the through. I’ve made many many cakes, why did this happen.
Thank you
Am about to repair cracks with above recipe for cho. frosting.
Sam
Hmmm I am so sorry this happened, Diane! I have honestly never encountered this issue but I have a few guesses. Was the cake too hot when it was flipped? Or was your pan greased throughly enough so it could come out easily? I hope you’ll be able to fix this issue and not run into it again. 🙂
Lilly
Hi you mentioned about using just all purpose flour. Whenever I use all purpose gold brand flour my cakes turn out hardly edible and taste horrible. Do you use a specific brains of all purpose flour? I read pillsbury makes a great one? What are your thoughts? Thank you! Can’t wait to make this delicious cake
Sam
Hi Lily! Hmm, I use a range of flours, usually generic (I go through a LOT of flour, the ads on my recipes help pay for it but it gets really expensive really fast), sometimes Pillsbury and sometimes gold medal brand and I honestly have never noticed a difference (and I bake a LOT) so I don’t really recommend a specific brand. Is this every time you use gold medal brand?