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I have had different chocolate cakes every single year for my birthday and every other celebration, but this is the absolute best one I’ve ever eaten.
The cake is moist, soft and intensely chocolatey. There’s literally double the amount of chocolate in the cake batter compared to conventional recipes like the famous Hershey’s cake. Even being packed with chocolate, the cake manages to somehow be fluffy and fudgy at the same time, creating a melt in your mouth crumb. Paired with a fluffy mousse-like chocolate frosting that’s creamy yet bittersweet, it’s just heaven in a bite.
The best part about this recipe is it’s ease. Both the cake and frosting are one-bowl recipes, and take minutes to mix up. Once you make this recipe, you won’t want to make a different one.
Why you’ll love this cake
- Three tall layers of moist rich cake.
- Fluffy silky frosting that’s full of chocolate yet not too sweet.
- The cakes bake up perfectly flat.
- Super simple to make.
Ingredients
Cake:
- Vegetable oil: Oil is used as the fat in this recipe rather than butter because it keeps the cake softer and gives a more moist texture.
- Sour cream: Sour cream helps the cake stay moist.
- Espresso powder: Espresso amplifies the chocolate flavour for an ultra-chocolatey cake.
- Water: Water makes this cake moist.
- Natural cocoa powder: Cocoa powder adds chocolate flavour. Do not substitute with Dutch-processed cocoa powder in the cake, as it interacts differently with baking soda.
- Unsweetened chocolate: Similar to how brownies and flourless chocolate cake are commonly made with chocolate to get a fudgy texture, this cake also has chocolate to achieve its fudgy texture.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar contains molasses, which adds a greater depth of flavour than granulated sugar. The sugar also keeps the cake moist.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla extract enhances the chocolate flavour.
- Table salt: Salt balances the flavours in the cake. If using kosher salt or sea salt, double the amount listed in the recipe.
- Eggs: Eggs make this cake fluffy, tender, and rich.
- All-purpose flour: Flour gives the cake structure.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch makes the cake more soft and tender.
- Baking soda: Baking soda leavens the cake so it’s nice and fluffy.
Frosting:
- Milk chocolate: Milk chocolate is used to get a creamy chocolate flavour. Do not substitute with dark or white chocolate, as the cocoa percentage is different.
- Water: Water thins the chocolate to get the frosting’s texture.
- Unsalted butter: Butter adds flavour and texture.
- Natural cocoa powder: Cocoa powder adds extra chocolatiness without sweetness. Since there are no chemical leaveners, you can switch it out of Dutch-processed cocoa powder if you prefer.
Variations
There’s quite a few ways to play around with this recipe. To find more ideas on variations, check out this post.
- Change the frosting: Replace the frosting with any frosting of your choice! Vanilla, coffee, and berry are flavours that pair well with chocolate cake. If you want a less sweet frosting, make a whipped ganache or a European style buttercream like Swiss meringue buttercream. For a sweeter frosting, make American buttercream.
- Add a filling: Pipe a circle of frosting around each cake and fill with any filling you’d like. Curd, jam, ganache, or a thick caramel would all work.
Equipment
Please note that you will need an electric hand-mixer or stand-mixer for the frosting. If you don’t have one, feel free to make a different kind of frosting!
Baking pan material can affect the cake. If you use a dark coloured baking pan, the cake edges will bake and brown faster than if using a lighter pan, so keep a close eye on the cake. If the edges are baking too quickly, you can reduce the baking temperature by 25F.
Make sure you have a kitchen scale for this recipe since most of the measurements are in grams. Using a kitchen scale ensures you get the same results I have! Learn about why I use a kitchen scale here.
Storage
Store this cake in an airtight container in the fridge or freeze for up to a week. The frosting is too soft to be stable at room temperature for prolonged periods of time. If you want the cake to warm up quickly after taking it out of the fridge, you can heat a slice on low temperature in the microwave for maximum 10 seconds.
If you’re making the cake layers in advance, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.
FAQ
If you mismeasured the flour using cups (this won’t happen with a scale), the ratio of dry to wet ingredients could have changed. It’s also possible that the cake was overbaked. Either way, you can soak the cake in a plain or coffee simple syrup (sugar dissolved in water in a 1:1 ratio) to add more moisture to the cake.
Yes. If you don’t have espresso powder, you can use coffee instead of water. If don’t want coffee at all, you can simply remove it from the recipe. However, it does help the flavour of the cake without adding any coffee flavour, so I highly recommend keeping it in.
Different types of chocolate will require different ratios of ingredients so do not substitute the unsweetened chocolate for milk chocolate. If you can’t find unsweetened chocolate (usually in the baking aisle), use dark chocolate with the highest cocoa percentage.
Around a week if stored in an airtight container. If not stored in an airtight container, the fridge will pull moisture out of the cake and make it too dry. If storing for longer, you can freeze the cake layers (wrapped in plastic wrap), individual slices or the entire cake (freeze to set the frosting, then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze). The cake will last in the freezer for a couple months.
Let’s bake!
This chocolate cake is so moist, fluffy and delicious. It’s perfect for celebrations, but also as an everyday dessert.
When you make them, tag me on Instagram @bakewhenitrains so I can see your cake!
Also, don’t forget to leave a comment and rating below. I’d love to hear your feedback.
With love,
Your baking friend Sherene ❤️
Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 145 grams vegetable oil
- 90 grams sour cream
- 1 tbsp espresso powder
- 175 grams water
- 40 grams natural cocoa powder
- 70 grams finely chopped unsweetened chocolate
- 230 grams brown sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 2 large eggs cold
- 130 grams all-purpose flour
- 30 g cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease and line 3 6" pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, microwave chocolate and water with sugar, cocoa and espresso in 20 second intervals, stirring after each one, until chocolate is melted.
- Add eggs and whisk until smooth and emulsified. Then add vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Add oil and sour cream. Whisk until smooth.
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Chocolate frosting
- In a large bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 10 seconds.
- Add water and cocoa. Whisk until smooth.
- Using an electric hand-mixer, beat in butter in small chunks, piece by piece, until fully smooth.
Assembly
- Level the cakes with a serrated knife if they have domed.
- Place the first layer of cake on your serving plate.
- Smooth a thin layer of frosting on the cake and place another layer on top.
- Repeat.
- Frost the entire cake with remaining frosting.
- Refrigerate to firm up the frosting and cake before slicing for a cleaner cut.
Scrumptious! Sweet but not too sweet😁
Yes, it’s the perfect sweetness. So glad you like this cake!