Best Chocolate Cake

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This Best Chocolate Cake recipe is your new go-to cake recipe! Birthdays, Christmas, dinner parties, you name it – this cake is the perfect crowd-pleasing dessert.

I have a confession to make. I’m not a big cake fan. As a professional baking blogger, I know this is basically heresy.

But I just find the majority of cakes out there to be either dry and bland, sickly sweet and artificial tasting, or so light in texture that I would rather have a brownie.

That is, until I met this cake! This is the BEST chocolate cake recipe I’ve EVER tried!

I could eat this cake and the chocolate frosting weekly… for eternity!

When this best chocolate cake comes out of the oven, the tops of the layers are actually shiny and slightly crackled, almost like a brownie. That’s how fudgy it is.

The cake batter itself is so crazy easy to whip up. You don’t even need a mixer for the batter. That allows you to focus your energy on the Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which truly takes this cake to another level.

You could also have fun and get creative with flavors and fillings here. Maybe add some orange zest to the cake & frosting, some raspberries or jam to the filling, or some salted caramel for good measure?

But sometimes there’s nothing better than pure chocolate indulgence. You’ll want to go totally Matilda on this cake!

I hope you make this chocolate cake from scratch for someone special soon!

How to Make the BEST Chocolate Cake Recipe

What Kind of Chocolate is Best in Chocolate Cake?

We can’t make the best chocolate cake without paying attention to the chocolate ingredients! The cake contains:

• Both bittersweet chocolate AND Dutch-process cocoa powder, for as much chocolate flavor as possible.
• The chocolate frosting uses melted chocolate for the most intense and pure chocolate flavor possible.
• I like to use semisweet chocolate in the frosting but feel free to use milk or bittersweet chocolate, noting that this will also alter the sweetness levels.
• Just make sure you’re using the highest quality chocolate you can.

Do I Have to Use Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder?

I recommend sticking with Dutch-process cocoa as it works differently on a chemical level compared to regular natural cocoa. So why am I using Dutch-process cocoa with baking soda for this recipe? Shouldn’t it be baking powder? Here’s why:

• Dutch-process cocoa has more fat than most grocery store natural cocoa powder products, so it’s actually used for flavor and moisture in this specific recipe.
• The vinegar in this recipe activates the baking soda. Do not substitute or skip this.
• You can find Dutch-process cocoa at many gourmet food stores, like Target, Whole Foods, Sur la Table, and Williams-Sonoma.
• You can also buy it easily online from Amazon.
• If you can’t find it, you can use regular unsweetened cocoa powder – just remove the vinegar in the recipe completely.
• You can learn more about the differences between cocoa powders here.

Why is There Espresso Powder in Chocolate Cake? Can I Omit it?

• You may have noticed that some chocolate cake recipes utilize hot water or hot coffee.
• When hot liquid is combined with the cocoa powder, it helps to dissolve and ‘bloom’ the cocoa to bring out as much flavor with as few cocoa lumps as possible.
• In this recipe, I use a combination of hot water and instant espresso powder.
• The espresso simply enhances the chocolate flavor without actually tasting like coffee.
• Alternatively, you could use strong hot coffee for the same effect.
• I never have coffee on hand so for me, espresso powder + hot water is easier.
• If you don’t like the taste of coffee or espresso, just use hot water and omit the espresso powder completely.

What’s the Best Pan for Baking Chocolate Cake?

This recipe uses two 8-inch round cake pans. I love these Fat Daddios pans because they bake evenly and come out cleanly.

How to Make MOIST Chocolate Cake

The ingredients below all help to create a moist, tender, and fudgy cake, for the BEST chocolate cake ever.

Oil vs. Butter in Chocolate Cake

• This chocolate cake recipe calls for vegetable oil instead of melted butter.
• Oil creates an ultra-moist texture and open, slightly spongy crumb.
• Cakes made with oil feel more “moist” because the fat is a liquid at room temperature, so it coats the tongue and gives the sensation of moisture.
• Be sure to use fresh vegetable oil. Give it a sniff before using to make sure it doesn’t have any off flavors.
• Feel free to use melted coconut oil instead of vegetable oil!

Sugar in Chocolate Cake

This best chocolate cake recipe uses a combination of granulated and brown sugars. Here’s why:

• This sugar combination creates a flavorful, moist, and fudgy cake.
• Brown sugar is more hygroscopic, which basically means it draws and attracts moisture more than granulated white sugar.
• I also like the slightly complex butterscotch flavor it adds.
• Don’t reduce the amount of sugar in this chocolate cake recipe! Sugar does so much more than simply sweetening your baked goods. Learn all about sugar’s role in baking here.

The Eggs in Chocolate Cake

The more whole eggs in a cake recipe, the richer it’ll be. Since the yolk contains most of the fat in an egg, it also lends richness to cakes. Adding an egg yolk to this recipe also helps increase the fudge factor. Be sure your eggs are at room temperature so they blend into the batter smoothly.

Can I Bake a Chocolate Cake Without Eggs?

Eggs are a critical part of this particular recipe. If you replace them with a substitute, you’ll likely end up with a texture that’s much less rich and fudgy. However, if you can’t have eggs, check out my friend Gemma’s tutorial on replacing eggs in baking recipes.

Why Use Sour Cream in Chocolate Cake?

Sour cream also adds richness and a nice balance of flavor to this Best Chocolate Cake. It helps make the cake more tender and fudgy. Be sure to use full-fat sour cream that’s at room temperature. Full-fat Greek yogurt should work just fine if that’s all you can find. I haven’t tried any dairy substitutes.

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

• This recipe uses my all-time favorite frosting: Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
• It is a little more advanced, but the result is a frosting so silky, smooth, creamy, and not too sweet. It’s 100000% worth the effort.
• The ingredients & directions are included in the cake recipe below, but I also have an entire step-by-step tutorial on how to make chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream here.
• I think the best part about this buttercream frosting is how easy it is to work with. It just glides right onto the cake effortlessly.
• Since it is so silky, it’s not the best frosting to use for any super intricate cake decorating.
• If you don’t want to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream, you could make a double batch of this Dark Chocolate Buttercream instead, or even use my decadent chocolate ganache recipe!

Do I Have to Keep Best Chocolate Cake Refrigerated?

Since frosting acts as a protective seal that keeps the cake moist and fresh, frosted cakes can be stored at a cool and dry room temperature for up to 2 days. Here are my best tips:

• Cover Best Chocolate Cake with a cake keeper to keep the chocolate buttercream frosting intact.
• Don’t use plastic wrap, which will not only ruin your frosting but also create condensation that can cause the frosting to separate.
• I personally don’t worry about keeping frosting at room temperature since the sugar acts as a preservative, but if this concerns you, store the cake in the fridge.

How Can I Turn This Into Chocolate Cupcakes?

Lucky for you, I already have a Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe here! It’s the same base as this recipe.

More Cake Recipes You’ll Love:

• Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes (the cupcake version of this recipe!)
• Chocolate Bundt Cake
• Easy Chocolate Sheet Cake
• Chocolate Zucchini Cake
• Chocolate Lava Cakes
• Flourless Chocolate Cake

Find all my best Birthday Cake Recipes here!

My Favorite Cake Tools:

• Guittard Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
• Offset Spatulas
• Fat Daddio’s 8-inch Round Cake Pan
• Cake Turntable

This post was originally published in 2018 and has been updated with additional baking tips and recipe improvements. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.