The Best Chocolate Cake
This is the best, easiest, chocolate cake ever! Hundreds of people have made it and declared it the best-ever for a reason…because it is!
Smothered Pork Chops.
Yellow Cake.
Frosting.
Spare Ribs.
Chocolate Cake.
Cream Cheese Coffee Cake.
Any idea what all of the above items have in common?
Well, just between you and me, they are currently on my list (among several others) of recipes I’m searching to find the PERFECT version of. The Best Of, if you will.
(Update: I’ve actually found best-ever versions of some of those! Smothered Pork Chops and Yellow Cake are off the list!)
There are many things (like Indian food and pasta dishes to name a few) that I’ll probably always try different versions of just for the fun of it, but my “search” list includes recipes I want to know are the best so I can turn to them when the time arises and know they will not fail me.
And wouldn’t you know that this week, I’m able to cross off TWO of them! The magical frosting that still visits my dreams was detailed yesterday and now today I’m letting you in on the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made.
I first made this cake nearly eight months ago for my son’s birthday but wanted to make it several more times to ensure it really is the best. And it is!
Hands down, it beats any other homemade chocolate cake I have ever made. Moist (unbelievably so!), dense with chocolate flavor but with a perfectly light and tender cake crumb, and with the perfect balance of sweet and rich chocolate, this cake was taken to new heights slathered in my new favorite frosting.
So perfect and so decadent and delicious, this is the only chocolate cake I need to worry about from here on out.
Actually, I probably should be worrying more about the effect of this chocolate cake on my thighs. Ignorance is bliss, I say.
One Year Ago: Oatmeal Pancake Mix
Two Years Ago: Chicken Tikka Masala
Unbelievable Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (106 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 ½ cups (355 g) all purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups (530 g) sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
- 1 ¼ cups warm water
- 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, making sure the baking rack is in the middle of the oven. Prepare two round 9-inch cake pans by cutting out a piece of parchment or wax paper to line the bottom of the pan. Grease the pans, place the parchment or wax paper in the bottom of the pan and lightly grease again. Dust the pans with flour (or cocoa powder if you don’t want the white dusting on the finished cakes). Set the pans aside.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, sift together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the eggs, yolk, warm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix on low speed (with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer) until smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cakes for about 32-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Do not overbake! Remove the pans from the oven and set the pans on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Gently run a thin knife around the edges of the pans and unmold the cakes, removing the parchment paper liners from the bottom of the cakes. Let them cool completely, top sides ups, on a wire rack.
- Trim the tops of the cake layers with a long serrated knife to make them level. Frost as desired (I highly recommend this life-changing frosting).
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Martha Stewart Living The New Classics
This is indeed a delicious cake! I tried it as a 9×13″ today, and it took about 52 minutes. (I lost track of exactly how many times I checked and reset my timer, but it was definitely more than 47 minutes!) :o) I baked it in a glass 9×13″ pan and the finished cake is almost to the brim on the edges and even higher in the middle! Maybe all the baking soda and powder make it a super-riser? OR, just thought of this–I used milk and lemon juice to make the “buttermilk”… I wonder if people who have had trouble with it rising too much and spilling over are all using lemon juice or vinegar to make buttermilk? And it works a little like a child’s baking-soda-and-vinegar-volcano experiment?? A little extra chemical reaction rising? Hmm… now I want to buy real buttermilk and compare the rising action!
Monica – I don’t think that would work, although if you feel daring, go ahead and try. I’ve only ever made this as the chocolate version.
Can this cake be made into a yellow cake by just leaving out the cocoa powder?.
also would I still use buttermilk or can I use 2% percent milk for a yellow cake version? the formula for this chocolate cake is so wonderful, it never gets dried out, the perfect texture , crumb & moisture stays, no matter how long it stays in refrig.
Gianna – I’ve never used kefir so I’m not sure how it would work as a substitution. I can’t taste the flour in the magical frosting…it’s delicious. Also, I’ve never used coffee in this recipe but have seen other recipes that do so I’m sure you could try it.
This recipe looks great!
Two questions: Do you think kefir could be used in place of the buttermilk…and have you ever tried hot, freshly brewed coffee for the water? You can’t taste the coffee, however it lends such depth tot he chocolate. Amazing! I can’t wait to try the Magical Frosting as well! You can’t tell there is flour in it?
Linda – hmmm, to be honest, I really don’t know the exact time but I’d be willing to guess it’s somewhere between 28-42 minutes. That’s a wide range but I’d start checking on the earlier end and just keep a close eye on it.
This looks heavenly & I’d like to make it in the 9×13 size for my niece’s birthday. Would you happen to remember how long it bakes in a 9×13 pan? Thanks so much for sharing all your wonderful recipes.
Monica – I’ve never made the changes you are asking about so I can’t answer with 100% surety on how any of those things would affect the outcome. It will really come down to just testing it to see. I’ve never transferred this amount of batter to a loaf pan so you’ll have to judge how best to fill it and how long to bake it. I’m guessing 1/2 of the magical frosting recipe would be enough, but again, I’ve never made it that way so I can’t be 1005 sure. Good luck!
questions about this choclate cake recipe: how would substituting cake flour for all purpose affect the outcome of this cake? if i need to bake this cake in a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan would I only fill it 2/3 full as I would for a standard 9 inch round cake pan? also how long would I bake it in a loaf pan does this pan conversion increase or decrease baking time? also how much frosting would I need to frost
a 9 by 5 loaf cake? If i just make 1/2 recipe of your best cooked frosting would it be sufficient or would I have a lot left?
Any – try whisking the dry ingredients together very well. The cake might be slightly more dense from not sifting but it will probably still be fine.
Will this work if I don’t have a fine mesh strainer? If so, what do I do? Thanks 🙂
I’ve made this cake several times and it’s amazing. I’ve also made it a white cake by putting 3 3/4 cups of white flour and it’s just as amazing as the chocolate!! (plus i’ve changed this recipe so to make it even better!!!!)
Oh and I didn’t have buttermilk, so I substituted the milk and lemon juice after it sat for ten minutes and it was AMAZING! Best chocolate cake ever! The batter was pretty thin, but I used 9″ pans and it worked perfectly between the two. I used vanilla frosting and it was a great combo!! Thanks again Mel! Your blog is my go to cooking blog 🙂
I made this tonight for our daughter Vera’s birthday party. It was fantastic! So moist and delicious. I am normally not a cake person, but for this cake, I definitely made an exception!! I got so many compliments on it and will be referring everyone to your website! Thanks for another great recipe Mel!!!
I’ve made this cake several times now and it is amazing! One change I made to it was to scale it down a bit so that the measurements weren’t so odd, and to prevent the spillage issue. These were the new measurements: 1 cup cocoa, 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 2 large eggs, 1 cup warm water, 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup oil and 1 tsp vanilla. If you use these quantities, you can easily make a half recipe and bake it in a square pan. You can also substitute sour milk for the buttermilk, although it won’t rise quite as high.
KP – I’ve never made this recipe into cupcakes (although I believe commenters above you have so you might look at their comments for suggestions). I have another great chocolate cupcake recipe that makes the most beautiful, domed cupcakes:
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/04/perfect-chocolate-cupcakes.html
I would like to try this chocolate cake as a cupcake. Do you know if it gives a good amount of volume and domes nicely for piping? I’ve made cupcakes in the past that have appeared wimpy in volume as they were almost too dense and moist.
I made this with great success with buttermilk powder, and it got me to wondering if I could mix the dry ingredients and put them in some sort of pretty container with a ribbon and give as a gift at Christmas. All they would need to add would be water (2 1/2 cups to account for the buttermilk), oil, eggs, and vanilla, which is, except for the vanilla, what you add to a store-bought cake mix, but this tastes so much better.
I will be making this cake for the second time today to honor my four-year-old boy’s birthday. He wants it frosted to look like a construction zone. 🙂
Samantha – I haven’t made this into a marble sheet cake mostly because I don’t have a really great go-to white or yellow cake besides the homemade yellow cake mix. If you want a tried and true marble recipe, you might want to google a specific recipe. Good luck!
I am wanting to try this recipe or the vanilla cupcake recipe. However, I am wanting a marble sheet cake. Any suggestions? The finished cake is going to be a number one shaped birthday cake.
I just need to comment again. My co-workers couldn’t stop talking about the cake. I frosted it with cappuccino swiss meringue and it turned out fabulous!! Thank you so much! Everyone wanted the recipe so I printed this and shared. I can’t take credit, you know! =)
Hi! I just took the pans out of the oven! They smell good! Yum! The only problem I had was that one pan needed to stay longer (the toothpick came out with chocolate goo). It’s weird how the other one cooked perfect but the other one that needed extra time, the middle sank a little bit. Maybe it’s my oven.
Hi Bec – I’ve never tried it but I don’t see why not. Good luck if you try it!
Hey mel ,
I was wondering if you could make cake pops out of this chocolate cake recipe 🙂 thanks
I made this for the first time for my Mother In-Law’s birthday with your vanilla buttercream frosting. I have never made a chocolate cake from scratch, and now I don’t think that I will ever make boxed cake again. This is so incredibly moist and delicious. Just amazing. And I made it in a 13×9 pan. I probably had to bake it at least an additional 10 minutes. It really took a while for the middle of it to bake! Worth every minute of waiting though!
I use homemade (wrap wet papertowels in aluminum foil and wrap it around the pan) bake rite strips when I bake my cakes so they bake flat. I was a little worried about the amount of batter in the pans, but with these I didn’t have any problem at all.
Julie – how much did the middle sink? Just slightly, like a small indent, or did it sink nearly all the way to the bottom of the pan? It’s probably too late to put it back in the oven if it sank that much but chances are you might have needed to bake it slightly longer. If it is only slightly sunk, it should be fine, especially because with a specialty pan like that, you’ll be turning the cake out to frost and the sunken part will be on the bottom.
I made this cake today in a Wilton Elmo cake pan. I didnt have to use all of the batter as it would have spilled over I think…although when I took it out the middleis sunk in a bit. Do I put it back in to bake longer? We live in Az and elevation is not high so thats not a factor. Help?
Mel, omg, Thank you for such an amazing Chocolate Cake recipe, I have never been one to bake, my gram was the baker lol but I LOVE to cook but decided to take a stab at baking when I came across your site. I made this cake yesterday and my husband raved over it!! I sent a piece over to my elderly neighbor who makes chocolate cake from scratch and she praised the cake so much, saying what an amazing taste and how unbelieveably mosit it was!!! Thanks!!
I just made cupcakes with this recipe. They are wonderful! this is my new favorite chocolate cake recipe. Thank you!
Ooh-la-la!
This looks scrumptious!
I want to make it, with the milk and lemon substitute for buttermilk and with the Magical Frosting recipe!
Kelly – I’ve made this the day before with no problems but that’s the farthest in advance I’ve made it. If it will be completely frosted and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, that will help the freshness but I would try not to make it more than two days in advance.
This cake looks delicious! But I have one question, how long does the cake stay good for? I need to make and ice the cake a few days ahead of time. Do you think that would be a problem? And would you recommend leaving it in an airtight cake container in the fridge, or leave it in the fridge uncovered? Thanks!
mmmmm….mmmm…mmmmm! I made this cake, along with the life changing frosting for my husband’s birthday yesterday and it was THE BEST! I am a terrible cook and baker and since I’ve found your blog I’ve had renewed hope that maybe I can become better at it. In the past I’ve had to beg my husband for a compliment but since I starting making your recipes, he’s been dishing out the compliments left and right! 🙂 I always tell him it’s one of your recipes 🙂
Anyway, back to the cake! It was to die for. seriously. Thank you so much. I think I had about 10 people tell me, “oh, that cake is SO good! did you make it??” Thank you, Thank you!!!!
Jessi – I don’t think you should leave out the buttermilk. If you are in a pinch you could try the substitution of 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar for every cup of buttermilk called for in the recipe (mix the milk and lemon juice together and let it sit for 5-10 minutes). I haven’t tried it so I can’t guarantee the results but I know that is a popular buttermilk substitution.
Mel, sorry if this question was already answered; I haven’t read all the posts! Do you think this cake would be okay if the buttermilk was omitted or if something else was substituted? I’m thinking maybe not since it calls for more than a cup. I just have never used buttermilk and do not have it on hand. Thanks 🙂
I’ve never cared much for chocolate cake because it’s usually dry and a little bland. I knew when I saw your recipe that I had to try it. I used Hershey’s special dark cocoa and it was amazing!
After making this Chocolate Cake for hubby’s birthday, I am a fan of your website and I will use it often. The cake was fantastic!! I used the suggested frosting and it was also a hit. I used cocoa and semi-sweet chocolate chips in the frosting.
The cake formed a “crust” against the walls of the pan which was also a hit with the fam. I didn’t want to run out for buttermilk, so I used 1 cup of milk with 1 tsp of vinegar and 1/4 cup of yogurt.
There was too much cake batter for my 9″ round pans, so I made 10 cupcakes which were equally wonderful. ( thanks for the “over-flowing” warning – it saved me over filling the pans)
There was too much frosting – I will cut it down next time.
The cake is so good, it doesn’t really need frosting.
Thanks again.
Truly awesome chocolate cake! So moist…my family are TRUE chocolate cakeaholics & this went over VERY well. Not too dark, not too milk…Perfect chocolate flavor and texture 🙂 Baked this for an impromptu get together to celebrate my son’s birthday with grandparents! Everyone loved it, as did I. Thanks for ANOTHER great recipe Mel…
I finally made this cake after seeing the recipe months ago. I LOVE this cake. In fact, I’ve made it twice in the last five days. It is AMAZING. Thank you for sharing!!
Okay. The is my new ALL TIME FAVORITE chocolate cake recipe. Seriously. I have literally thrown out the others. If I’m going to make / have chocolate cake, from now until the end of time I want it to be THIS one.
I was looking for a new chocolate cake recipe for my husband’s birthday. The epicurious double chocolate layer cake with the coffee, buttermilk, Callebaut, and chocolate-ganache frosting was my old go-to, but honestly it is SO dense and rich and thick and heavy…well, I just wanted a deep, rich chocolate cake that was moist and dark but a bit fluffier and not so dense.
I followed your recipe exactly – including your recipe for the magical frosting, which was indeed MAGICAL and unlike any frosting I’ve ever made before.
Let me just say that this cake and frosting knocked off many a sock at my husband’s party this past weekend, and if compliments were dollars, I’d have made a bundle.
This is it! This is THE ONE. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and the frosting recipe as well – I am utterly under its spell. I practically had to ask for complete silence just so that I could thoroughly enjoy this properly, without distraction. It’s that good.
Made this cake for dinner guests yesterday. Not only was it SO easy to put together, but it was so fabulous I had dreams about it! I highly recommend Penzey’s natural cocoa powder, which is phenomenal. I used 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar and 2/3 cup Agave nectar since I don’t use white sugar, and used coconut oil rather than vegetable oil (maybe coconut is a vegetable?), but those are the only things I changed, which is saying something for me! I made a chocolate cream cheese frosting from cupcakeproject which I altered by cutting the powdered sugar to 3 cups, increasing the cocoa to 1 cup, and added 1/4 cup plain yogurt. The frosting was very sweet, and the plain yogurt gave it an excellent zing. It did turn out very runny, almost like a ganache, but worked really really well with this cake. You could seriously sell this cake in a bake shop. I used 9″ rounds and the batter amount was perfect. My silicon rounds also didn’t need parchment or flour, just some olive oil spray.
Awesome, thanks for the advice, cake is in the oven now – batter tasted d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s 🙂 Will report back on how it all goes! Thanks so much!!
Hey Mel – My sister’s birthday is over the weekend and she requested “chocolate cake with vanilla frosting”…no surprise, I find that exact combo here 🙂 I’m salivating at the thought of making these. Quick question – I want to make them ahead if possible…would you recommend I freeze the cake and then make the frosting the day of, or can I make the cake and frost it and then freeze it already decorated? Thanks! Can’t wait to report back on the results!!
Hi Deb – this cake fares great being made ahead and frozen. I wrap each cake round in a double layer of plastic wrap and throw each one in a freezer ziploc bag. I take them out about an hour before I want to frost them so the chill is coming off but they are still firm. I would definitely recommend making the frosting the day of, if you have the time. I’ve never frozen the cake already frosted and I have a feeling the frosting would have a tendency to “weep” – develop bubbles of moisture on the surface – if thawed and the texture might be a little funny. Good luck! This is one of my favorite cake/frosting combinations ever!
That’s so strange, I’ve made this recipe at least 20 times and I’ve never had that problem. Don’t give up! This recipe is so worth figuring out what went wrong!
I had the same problem with the cakes spilling over, even though I hadn’t used all the batter (I reserved some to avoid spilling over!) and had to bake the cakes a bit longer. I live at sea level. I wonder if it has something to do with the type of pans I used– foil ones rather than hard sided ones?
Still yummy, but a big pain.
Kelly – pans can make a huge impact on the outcome of the cake. My cake pans are at least 3 inches deep and I’ve made a note that if your cake pans aren’t that high, you might want to split the cake into 3 pans or use leftover batter to make cupcakes. But I am with Jnl2211 – I haven’t had the spillage problem ever and so it probably is due to the type of cake pans you are using. Foil pans aren’t as insulated and sometimes cause the cake to bake unevenly. Sorry for the mess!
Just to add …. I made this into a molded airplane shape cake for my son’s birthday but cutting and carving up (2) 9×13 cakes and it worked great for it! I frosted with my own butter cream recipe. Thanks so much for the recipe!
By far the best chocolate cake ever!!!! Better then any bakery or homemade cake I have even eaten. I am not an experienced baker either and it is so easy to make! I will never make another chocolate cake again! All my friends and family want the recipe!
I made chocolate mousse filled cupcakes with your “magic” frosting out of this recipe….heavenly!
I made this into a 3 Layer cake with wonderful, successful results!