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!
Bitsie
Hi Sam,
I know I am always asking this, or a similar question, how much is a cup of buttermilk?
Thank you for another lovely looking cake recipe!
Bitsie
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Bitsie! One Cup of Buttermilk is equal to 8 oz. I hope that you enjoy the Chocolate Cake! 🙂
Barb
Hi Sam- want to make this today. I don’t have coffee but I do have espresso powder. Can I use hot water and maybe 1/2-1 tsp. expresso powder? Thanks Sam!
Sugar Spun Run
Hey, Barb! I have never made it was expresso so it’s hard to say. I think it will work fine mixed with hot water. I hope that you enjoy the Chocolate Cake. 🙂
Cheryl
I use espresso powder, just mix it with your dry ingredients and then use hot water as Sam says. No need to try and mix the two together
Karen
Hi, can I slice the layers on half to make a 4-layer cake or would the layers fall apart?
Sam
The layers are pretty sturdy so I think you should be fine to slice them in half. I would probably chill them (wrap in plastic wrap first so the cake doesn’t dry out) before slicing, though.
Nidhi
Hi…
Can you please suggest me a replacement for eggs?
Sam
I’m sorry, Nidhi, but I’m not sure what would work as a good replacement for the eggs in this recipe. I’m hoping someone else can chime in, though!
kinga
Made this chocolate cake and the fam loved it. Smothered it in ganache and salted caramel. The only thing I changed was I just added three eggs instead of 2 + yolk. This will definitely be my go to reipe. Thanks.
Sam
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!! Thank you so much for commenting, I appreciate it 🙂
Joy
Good morning! Would this recipe be good for mini-cupcakes? I will be using baking cups and a Wilton pan.
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Joy! Yes, it will. I would just keep an eye on the bake time. Enjoy! 🙂
Katrina Huntley
How could I use self raising flour instead of regular flour? I have so much in the pantry I need to use up!
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Katrina! I don’t recommend it for this recipe.
Connie
Hi Sam I made your chocolate cake on my birthday its turn very nice everyone like it. It was mouth watering thank you for sharing your recipe.
Sugar Spun Run
Happy Birthday, Connie! I am so happy that you enjoyed the Chocolate Cake. I hope that you had a nice birthday celebration! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Brooke
Can I use something besides coffee?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Brooke! Yes, you can! You can use hot water instead. However, it is important that you use hot liquid, whether coffee or water. The reason for this is that the hot water will “bloom” your cocoa powder, fully developing the chocolate flavor in this cake. I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂
Roxy B
This is a great cake – I just made it and it is delicious.
Sugar Spun Run
Hooray! I am so happy that you enjoyed the chocolate cake, Roxy! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
Susie
I am looking forward to trying this recipe but my oven will not fit both pans on the same level. Can I put one pan in and then once that has baked put the second pan in?
Sam
Hi Susie! That should work just fine. I hope you love the chocolate cake. 🙂
Kurt Verbruggen
How large are the eggs that you use?… different locations have different egg sizes. In the UK a large egg is e.g. about 64 grams without shell, while in europe mainland those eggs would be extra large eggs. In europe mainland the large eggs are around 50 grams without shell.
Sam
I will have to weigh them and see.
Chetana Shetye
Standard weight is 55grams
Maria Zammit
Thanks for the lovely recipes!
I plan to cook all the batter together rather than split in two.
How long should I keep it in the oven for?
Thanks.
Regards.
Sam
Hi Maria! It will fit in a 9 x 13, but I am not sure how long it would need to bake. I would just keep an eye on it. 🙂
Jean
This chocolate cake is very good, and has a nice rich chocolate flavor. I’ve tried several of your cake recipes and each of them is fantastic! 😋 I haven’t tried making the vanilla cake yet…but that cake recipe is next on my list! Thank you Sam, for all the great recipes.
Sam
Thank you so much for the kind comment, Jean! I am so glad you are enjoying all of the cakes. 🙂
Deloris Dale-Kitson
Hi Sam, I’ve just ran out of unsalted butter, if I use salted butter should I just omit the salt from the recipe pls?
Del
London UK
Sam
Hi Deloris! I would cut the salt by about 1/4 teaspoon here. You don’t want to omit it fully since you are only using 1/2 cup of butter. 🙂
Poulami
Hi. Such a lovely recipe. Came out good every time. If I use a 6 inch round pan, should I take 4 pans?
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Poulami! Yes, you can use 6″ pans. The bake time will vary, so just keep an eye on it! You may find this baking guide helpful. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Poulami
Hi. It turned perfect. Love your recipe so so much.. I m again baking it today.. thank you for such a perfect recipe. Much love to you. 😊
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Poulami! I am so happy that you liked it that much! This chocolate cake is a favorite of mine too. Enjoy! 🙂