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
Hi! I’m going to make this on Father’s Day but want to make it as a sheet cake. How big of a pan will this recipe make, and how long will I have to bake it for? Thank you!
Hi Peyton, it should bake fine in a 9X13-inch pan – or for a much thinner cake, you should be able to bake it in a half sheet pan.
Thank you for the note about the cake overflowing! It saved me from getting burnt cake in my new oven, so I appreciated it! I have been a silent stocker of your blog for awhile now (aka using all of your recipes but not commenting). The way I talk, people probably think we’re best friends…”oh you like it? Yes, it’s one of Mel’s recipes. Good old Mel!” Instead of what we actually are; complete strangers I don’t usually follow food blogs, just Google recipes as I need them, but I’ve come to trust your recipes completely because they always work! I especially appreciate your love of coconut and curry and breads and dessert… Okay, all of it. My recipe board on Pinterest is a testament to that, with pretty much every recipe I use being yours. It’s basically a small Mel’s Kitchen Cafe shrine. So, thank you, thank you for sharing your talents, throwing in humor, and being you. I am grateful for it!
Thank you, Charlotte – I’m grateful for YOU!
This cake was SO chocolatey and moist! I did not have the overflow problem that others talked about. I frosted it with a peanut butter frosting recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. I made it for my husband’s birthday and everyone absolutely loved it! Definitely will be my go-to chocolate cake recipe from now on! I can always count on you, Mel, for awesome recipes!
I absolutely love this cake. Sally just came out with a 6 ” cake and I would love to have this one as a 6″ cake. What are the possibilities?
Just briefly glancing at Sally’s recipe, it looks like if you made 1/5th of this recipe, it would have about the same measurements as the one she posted (but I haven’t tried it with my recipe and can’t 100% guarantee results). 🙂
Thanks to your note- I avoided disaster and made 6 cupcakes in addition to my cake layers. I think my cake pans are very shallow compared to the one in the link you included. Making this for the hub’s b-day tomorrow. Not sure what frosting I’ll use. My goal for 2021 is to invest in better baking pans. I currently have a hodge podge of varied pans usually bought at the grocery store at the last minute when I needed it. Not bad, but not really quality and I think I’m at that point in my baking and cooking skills that I can appreciate better quality pans. So that’s that. lol
My cake turned out lovely despite a few technical issues. lol My pans were so shallow and it puffed up really high in the middle (but it didn’t fall!) that it took about 8-10 minutes longer to bake to make sure the center wasn’t still wet. I was really worried it would be overcooked on the edges. I really do blame the shallow and inferior quality pans I had.
That said- I prevailed. It tastes amazing and my husband loved it. He wanted cream cheese frosting so I used the one from your carrot cake recipe. I also goofed that up, by remembering I was going to need to double it to cover the layer cake. So only one brick of cream cheese was room temperature. (womp womp) But it still tasted fantastic, it just had annoying lumps I couldn’t beat out. The 6 cupcakes I made with the excess turned out fantastic as well.
I really do recommend deeper pans and use an oven thermometer and don’t let your stomp footed husband walk into the kitchen when it’s baking. lol
Apparently, I do NOT know how to frost a layer cake. Thank goodness it was delicious, because it looks like something you give a 1 yr old for their first birthday. lol
I almost lost my mind trying to find this recipe. I first discovered it when my son was 1 and I wanted to make it for his 11th birthday. Whew it’s still here, I cam breathe easier! I wonder why it didn’t show up when I searched chocolate cake? Anyways, Mel I want to make a 6′ cake with 3 layers. Would it be possible to get all 3 cakes without doubling this recipe?
Yes, this should fill 6-inch cake layers (three of them) just fine! I’ll look into why it isn’t showing up in search results. 🙂
I need to leave a comment since I’ve made this cake for my two kids’ last four birthdays and everyone always raves about it. I’ve doubled it, halved it, and turned it into cupcakes. It turns out perfect every time. I use Penzeys high fat cocoa powder, which I think really brings this recipe to life. It also freezes beautifully. I highly recommend doubling the batch and saving some cupcakes in the freezer for those nights when you really need a treat–which is most nights. It is 2020 after all.
I was going to try to turn these into cupcakes. Do you remember how long you baked them for? The original recipe says to bake it 32-35 minutes, but I assume cupcakes would need less time?
Hello! I want to make this cake, what type of cocoa powder do you suggest?
I almost always use natural, unsweetened cocoa powder (like Hersheys)
This is my go to chocolate cake recipe! I have been using it for two years now, and anytime my husband or son wants chocolate cake, I bust this out! This will be a family favorite for years to come!
Thanks, Megan!
Made this cake vegan tonight and it turned out great! Substituted almond milk plus 1tsp ACV for the buttermilk and aquafaba drained from a can of white beans in place of eggs (3T aquafaba=1 egg).
want to join
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This the best cake I have made by far. It is extremely moist, very dark chocolate appearance and in taste. I made your magical frosting and it was excellent as well!!
Very, very good. I would highly recommend this cake!
Hi Mel! I made the cake for my son’s 11th birthday and it was a huge hit. Everyone raved about it and my niece told me the next day that she couldn’t stop thinking about it and asked me to make it for her birthday. Thank you for sharing a wonderful recipe.
Wonderful cake! Made it in 3, 8” cake pans and subbed strong coffee for the water. The texture was perfect. I topped the cake with espresso buttercream and chocolate covered coffee beans. Will be making this again!
I’m going to try making this cake this weekend and had a quick question – you mentioned using cake flour would I use the same amount as the recipe has for all purpose flour?
Thanks!
Yep! (Although it is really delicious with all-purpose and I don’t think benefits much from cake flour, in my experience).
Made this cake for Mother’s Day. I have a similar chocolate cake recipe I love but have found it does better as 9×13” cake instead of a layer cake. Tried this recipe as a layer cake and am happier with it. The texture and flavor were fantastic. If you like Magleby’s chocolate cake you will likely love this recipe. I did use a favorite chocolate frosting rather than the one that accompanies this recipe because we are major chocoholics. Thanks for another winner and ‘best’ recipe Mel!
I baked this in three 8″ pans for exactly 30 min. I did not experience an issue with overflow, but the batter did climb most of the way up the sides of all three pans.
Mine did fall in the middle but it was my fault for opening the door too early, a problem easily fixed by leveling the tops. The cake has an excellent deep chocolate flavor and tender crumb. I will definitely make this recipe again!
I did my pans 2/3 full and they still overflowed! It’s in the oven now
This is BY FAR the BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted!! To say it is amazing doesn’t do it justice! I also chose the LIFE CHANGING ICING and it is the perfect choice for the decadent chocolate cake!! I have a very similar recipe that I love but you never know what you’ll end up with because the flour mixture/cooking and then blending together is never consistent…sometimes perfect, most of the time grainy. This method gave the same taste but cooking it all together made it a much easier process that’s sure to be great everytime!! My hubby says it’s the best icing he’s ever had! As far as the comments about the cake sinking…I’ve made this twice and it’s made huge, even layers, both times! I also see where people have suggested adding different, but there’s no way I’ll ever chance that considering it’s FABULOUS as is and every person who has tasted it has asked for the recipe, claiming it’s the best ever! Thanks for sharing this recipe! It will be my “special event” go to! ❤️
This is the best chocolate cake ever! I have made it whenever people ask for a chocolate cake. Recently I made it for a 4-year-old, and she kept taking more pieces. 🙂
I made this cake for a colleague’s birthday, wanting it to be special because we’ve had a tough year at work. I used the whipped chocolate frosting on it and that, too, will be getting a 5-star rating!
I had people running up to me in the hallway telling me it was the best cake they’d ever had. Even those who don’t usually like cake (or chocolate–how can that be?) LOVED this cake, including the recipient’s husband. A big success and easy to make!
Thank you so much, Lois – and way to go! Sounds like it was a total hit!
I was wondering if you’ve ever used this for cupcakes & if so how long should I bake it?
I am about to make this delicious looking cake for my son’s first birthday. We live in Denver, would you recommend any high altitude adjustments? Thank you!!
You could try googling high altitude adjustments for cakes – I’m not a high altitude baking expert since I live at around 2,500 feet. Good luck!
I live in Northern New Mexico, the first few times I tried this recipe it kept falling in. I do badly wanted it to work, so we added 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup, 1 cup….finally were up to 1 3/4 cup and it is perfect. We don’t add anything else except the extra flour. I hope this helps you, my elevation is 6467 ft I’m 5 miles from the Continental Divide.
Happy caking!!
So rich and so moist!!! Mine did spill over, but that’s ok. LOVE this cake.
We love love love this cake! It’s pretty much my go-to for birthday cakes (if I’m not making one of your cheesecakes instead, that is). I’ve made it into pickup trucks, dinosaurs and “chocolate covered strawberries”. It’s absolutely delicious and EVERYONE raves about it every time. Thank you for finding and sharing the best ever chocolate cake! (P.S. I have had the overflow problem before, but as long as I make sure the pans aren’t too full, they come out perfect in every way.)
Hi there, does this recipe do well in a 9 x 13 pan or should it be doubled?
This is the most amazing chocolate cake
I have ever had…I did change the water
To hot strong black coffee and it enhanced the chocolate flavor…very
Moist….
I made your recipe for my husband & I, it is absolutely fantastic! Thanks
Hi
If to substitute butter instead of oil , should it be melted and be exact amount , 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp ?
Yes.
Awesome cake. I subbed coffee instead of water, butter instead of oil and I always use extra large eggs. This gave me 3 9 inch layers. It was a perfectly moist cake that everyone raved over. Thank you for the best recipe i’ve tried in a long time.
You should never bake on wax paper, it is not meant to be put in the oven. You should only bake on parchment paper or a silicone oven safe mat!
Made this for a birthday cake, followed everyone’s suggestions. Substituted coffee for water, added 2 more tablespoons of flour to help the sinking others noted. And only put 3 cups of batter in each pan, made 6 cupcakes. I still sank. The cake was delicious, everyone loved it. They want me to make again. Think next time I’ll add another teaspoon of baking powder to stop the sinking or may try turning down to 325.
This really is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. It didn’t even need frosting. I went through “your best of” and will definitely be trying a bunch of them. Thank you.
Thanks, Kathie!
I have made this cake twice now, and both times the centers collapsed. What am I doing wrong?
Hey Jenna, there are a lot of reasons cakes can sink in the center. Sometimes opening the oven door to check on the cake too early can cause this (I’ve noticed this in my own baking!). Also, if you live at high elevation, that can be a culprit. Do you live at high elevation? Sometimes adding a few extra tablespoons of flour can help at high altitude.
Please have adjustments available for high altitude cooking when baking! Similar to what they do for boxed cakes.
I am a mile high 5280′ above sea level. Cakes and cookies generally have to be adjusted for less baking soda, baking powder, sugar and more flour and water. I need to know how much each adjustment should be for this cake to come out right.
At the very least, let readers know that the recipe is for ‘sea level’ cooking so they don’t frustrate themselves wasting a day trying to make it.
Hi Deborah, I can’t provide that information in good conscious without testing each recipe I post at high altitude and unfortunately, I live at 2,500 feet and can’t travel to high altitude to test the recipes; I would hate to lead anyone astray with bad advice. The good news is there are lots of really great high altitude baking tips online from reputable sources if you do a quick google search. Good luck!
I don’t quite know how long ago I found this recipe, but I’ve made it at least a dozen times and it’s always turned out wonderfully! It’s a little more than needed for a 9×13 pan, but the rest just turns into a mug cake for me to eat while waiting. This is the first chocolate cake recipe I’ve come across that didn’t even need any frosting to be delicious, but your magical frosting just makes it even better. Often times either the cake or the frosting won’t be just quite as good or will take away from the other a bit (like overly sweet frosting or too dry cake), but these two are both fantastic by themselves and make the other even better!
I use coffee instead of water, and it’s even better than the first time I made it with just water (even instant coffee disolved in the warm water adds just as much as brewed coffee!). This time I didn’t sift my dry ingredients together, but thoroughly whisked them instead. There were a couple cocoa powder lumps that I picked out before it went in the oven, but other than that it seems okay.
This definitely deserves it’s place of best chocolate cake.
Thanks so much for the review! (And details!).
This cake reigns supreme in our house. It is flawless. I usually sub a 1/4 cup of coffee for some of the water. It enhances the chocolate flavour. The first time I tried the “miracle” frosting, all I tasted was butter though I loved the texture. The next time I decided to add 3oz of melted, unsweetened baking chocolate. OMG. The flavour was perfect and it elevated the frosting to a whole new level. Thank you again for your genius Mel!
Can I exchange the warm water for coffee?
Could definitely try! I’ve never done that but I know coffee amps up the chocolate flavor in a lot of baked goods
Thank you so much, they’re in the oven now! I’ll get back to you with how it came out!
I loved this cake and will definitely make it again. It was really moist and tasted great. I used the version posted by Anna below (not too far, if you scroll down). She figured out that if you take 4/5 of the listed ingredients, the measurements are more standard and it’s less trouble overall to make the cake. I didn’t have buttermilk so I used my usual substitute (1T white vinegar plus milk to make one cup). The batter fit perfectly into two 8″ pans, which I baked about 33 minutes. (Side notes: I did not care for the buttercream recipe linked in the recipe, so next time I’ll try something different for frosting..Also, I didn’t prep the pans as directed–I used baking spray and the cakes came out easily.)
Made this cake today as part of a layered chocolate/yellow cake with mocha buttercream filling between layers and chocolate buttercream frosting on the outside for my son’s 14th birthday. Simply amazing chocolate cake. Perfect taste and texture. Left the comment for the ‘Best Yellow Cake’ on that post. Thanks for the two recipes!!!!
Have you ever made this as a Bundt Cake? If so, my changes to the to the recipe Andy how long would you bake it?
I haven’t, sorry!
Is this Dutch processed or natural cocoa? How do I adjust this for 5000 ft altitude?
I use natural unsweetened cocoa powder. You might try googling high altitude adjustments to see if there are tips that can help!
Hi Mel! Any idea how long to cook this if it’s divivded into 3 eight inch rounds?
Probably right around 20 minutes, I think
I baked three 8” rounds and the time was 32 minutes. I checked them at 20 minutes and they were half baked. Turned out great.
This recipe was super easy to follow and was delicious! It is a very rich cake in my opinion! I also hand mixed everything and it turned out really well so if you don’t have a mixer don’t worry!
Can I make this into one 9×12 cake? What about cupcakes? Would it work just fine?
This is our favorite and my go to chocolate cake recipe! Thanks so much, Mel!
I recently made a discovery about this recipe that I wanted to share.
I really like the chocolatey flavor and moist texture of this cake, but I have noticed that it seems to yield a large amount. The first time I made this recipe was in a 9×13 pan, and the cake was so deep that it took a while to bake. Since then, I have always split the batter up into more than just two 9-inch rounds.
I have also noticed that this recipe seems to have a lot of odd amounts — 1 1/4 cups of cocoa, 2 eggs plus an egg yolk, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of oil. I experimented with multiplying the recipe quantities by different fractions, and when I multiplied it by 4/5, voila! almost all the quantities became nice round numbers!
1 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup warm water
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla (the calculated amount was 1.2 teaspoons, so I thought 1.25 would be fine)
Using this scaled-down version of the recipe, I baked the cake in a 9×13 pan, and it turned out great! The round numbers made it really easy to make, and the quantity of batter seemed just right for a 9×13 pan. I bet it would be the right amount for two round cake pans too, although I haven’t tried that myself yet.
I’m guessing that I stumbled across the original recipe, and for whatever reason someone (Mel? Martha Stewart? I don’t know) expanded that recipe to get the version Mel posted. But if you want a cake that’s easier to make and easier to bake with the same great flavor, just use the 4/5 version of the recipe.
Worked perfectly, I used 2-9″ round pans. Thanks for doing the math!!
Thanks so much for the measurement conversion!
I used your measurements & baked mine in a 9×13 glass pan and it took 55 minutes. It turned out great 🙂
Anna, thank you so much for this! It really is less fussy and the cake was SO good. I had 8″ pans and I baked the cakes about 33 minutes (if I recall correctly).
Anna, thanks for the conversion! Fit my 9X13 pan perfectly. I just wanted to note that I baked mine in a glass pan at 350 for about 35 min and it is overbaked- bummer! I should have watched it closer but I thought it would take longer in the larger pan. Still looks and smells delicious!
Hi Anna
Thank you for simplifying this recipe. I just made it your substation way and I just put it in the oven @350 in a light aluminum foil 9×13 pan. Can you please help me and let me know how long to bake it? Thank you.
This cake and frosting were simply delicious! Perfect! Thank you.
I made this for my husband’s birthday, everybody love it with the frosting posted herein, thank you for sharing your recipes =)
Made today for my son’s first birthday–did one 9 inch cake pan and the rest cupcakes because I only have one cake pan that size, and it is perfect! Read lots of comments about the middle falling, but didn’t have that problem at all! It looks gorgeous!
Love this! And I love the way the chocolate cake tastes! I’m wanting to make a layered cake for a birthday and thought about just using this cake part recipe and maybe making triple the amount. Is there any reason I shouldn’t expect it to taste just as amazing?
Hi! I’m excited to try this! Is this cake dense enough to stack several layers of it? Or do you think it’s too moist? Thanks!
Yes, it’s definitely stackable!
Truly a heavenly cake!! People at work died when they ate this!! So many people were asking for the recipe!
Just made this today, I only had 8 inch pans and so I used 3, came out perfectly! I cooked for about 23 minutes. Thanks Mel!