Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

Three layers of moist and rich Chocolate Cake, frosted with a delicious triple-chocolate buttercream icing. 

Decorate the outside of the cake or keep it simple with chocolate shavings around the base. This cake pairs perfectly with a large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream or a tall glass of milk. Utterly sublime.

 

The Best Chocolate Cake 

It’s no secret we’re obsessed with chocolate at my home, and over the years I’ve shared dozens of chocolate-filled recipes (these Oreo Balls or Icebox Cake are favorites on the site). Today, I’m excited to finally share the absolute-best homemade Chocolate Cake I’ve ever tasted. And this gem of a recipe comes from some of my favorite people — Maria and Josh over at their blog, Two Peas and Their Pod.

They recently released a cookbook, Two Peas & Their Pod, and if you haven’t gotten a copy yet, let me tell you how much you need one! It is filled with simple and delicious recipes, gorgeous photography for each recipe, and has the prettiest cookbook cover I think I’ve ever seen. Maria and Josh are sharing their favorite everyday recipes from their kitchen and I’m certain you’ll find dozens of recipes to love. My favorite part of the book is her “entertaining” chapter where Maria shares dozens of foodie party ideas — classy and kid friendly. Congrats Maria, Josh, and boys; the book is beautiful! ❤

And if you get your hands on the cookbook (or already have it), be sure to leave a comment and tell me your favorite recipe from the book!

How to make Chocolate Cake

The numbered photos above correspond with the numbered descriptions below.

1. Add the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. We’ve got flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make sure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh. 
3. Dry ingredients are mixed together. 
4. Add buttermilk and oil into a separate bowl. Make sure the buttermilk is at room temperature– not cold.
5. Add in the vanilla extract.
6. Mix the wet ingredients.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
8. Dry ingredients get mixed into wet.
9. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, until just combined.
10. Texture of batter after all ingredients except for hot water have been added.
11. Add in hot water. The hot water “blooms” the cocoa powder, making the cake more flavorful. Don’t use cold or room-temperature water.
12. Finished cake batter.

The cocoa powder matters

The most important ingredient for Chocolate Cake is the cocoa powder. You want to use a good, high quality Dutch-process cocoa powder. And the better the cocoa powder you use, the better this cake turns out!  This is my favorite cocoa powder  and what I use in this recipe.

Dutch-process cocoa is made differently than natural (regular) cocoa. Dutch-process is much, much darker than natural. It has a deeper, more intense flavor (kind of like milk chocolate versus dark chocolate), due to a process that amplifies the acidic nature of the roasted cacoa beans. Recipes using Dutch-process cocoa generally use baking powder instead of baking soda, because of that higher acid content. Using the correct cocoa powder in a recipe makes a real difference in the final product! [/quick tip]

The cake pans (and lining them) matter

I tried this chocolate cake recipe in 8- and 9-inch pans and the cake sank a great deal in the larger pans. While I haven’t tested this cake in other sizes (or pans not meant for cake), I assume there would be similar results. Stick to 8-inch cake pans for best results. Here are the exact cake pans I use.

While we’re talking about cake pans, you’ll also want to make sure you line the cake pan with parchment paper. This cake is so fudgy and moist that if the bottom isn’t lined, the cake won’t come out nicely (I speak from experience!).

There’s an easy to way to do this; check out this photo slideshow or read the directions below:

1. Tear off a sheet of parchment paper, slightly larger than the cake pan.
2. Fold the parchment in half.
3. Then fold the parchment in half again.
4. Fold into a triangle.
5. Fold the triangle in half again.
6. Hold the triangle against the bottom of the pan from the center outwards.
7. Cut the parchment right where it meets the edge of the cake pan along the curve of the cake pan.
8. Unfold the parchment and press into the bottom of the cake pan.

Chocolate Cake: troubleshooting

How to get even cake layers

When making a layered cake, it’s important to make sure you are dividing the batter equally between the cake pans. It’s important for the cake to look even and pretty, but even more importantly, the layers need to bake evenly. The easiest way to confirm the layers are even is to weigh them!

Pour even amounts into each pan and then check the accuracy with a kitchen scale. Adjust the batter in each cake pan so that each pan contains perfectly even amounts.

Chocolate Cake tips

• High-quality chocolate: The better the chocolate, the better the flavor! I love Ghirardelli® or Guittard® chips for the buttercream. Lindt® dark chocolate with sea salt is my favorite chocolate bar to chop for the shavings on the outside of the cake.
• Spoon and level the flour: If you pack in too much flour, you’ll get dense and dry cake. Here’s a great video showing how to properly measure flour for this recipe.
• Don’t overbake: To avoid dry cake, you’ll want to make sure you don’t over-bake the layers; they can go from perfectly moist and fudgy to dry and less flavorful in just a few minutes. 
• Let the cakes cool for 30 minutes: Cool in the pan for a half hour before turning them onto cooling racks to continue cooling. Wait for the cakes to be 100% cool before frosting and decorating.

Chocolate Cake storage

Finished cake: Store Chocolate Cake at room temperature, tightly wrapped with plastic wrap, or under a cake dome for up to 3 days. The finished and frosted cake doesn’t freeze and thaw well.

Make ahead/Freezing: Carefully wrap the cooled cake layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. You could also freeze them wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge for 24 hours before frosting and assembling.

More delicious desserts

• Chocolate Pudding Pie no baking required!
• Chocolate Muffins bakery style
• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies with a “secret” ingredient
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies reader favorite!
• Pumpkin Coffee Cake with a streusel and glaze