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The Best Chocolate Cake recipe combines cocoa and coffee to create a chocolate lover’s dream. Add your favorite buttercream frosting to make it perfect! Keep reading to find out why coffee, buttermilk, and oil play important roles in this chocolate cake recipe.
We’re a family that loves to double down on chocolate. Peanut butter is a favorite, too, and my No Bake Cookies combine both with oatmeal.
And when birthdays roll around, I always feel like I really need cake. Deep, dark, chocolate cake. The best chocolate cake.
For birthdays, we have to do it up right by making my version of cake bliss.
But, as you may have caught on at some point by reading MBA, I like to do things in excess – you know a little mound of frosting will never do in this household.
I need to swirl a pile of it on top, and then top it off with ganache just for the fun of it. So when I organize birthday parties – I of course go a little overboard.
Is there any other way to be? Not if you’re Jamie.
THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE WITH COFFEE
This cake is dark, moist, rich and incredibly decadent. Seriously, it’s the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted.
A little bit of coffee blends amazingly well with the cocoa to create the most intense and delicious chocolate cake that you’ll ever taste.
Don’t freak out if you don’t like the taste of coffee. You actually can’t taste it in this cake!
Coffee simply enhances the flavor of chocolate. In this cake, it deepens that rich, chocolatey flavor.
If you are really opposed to using coffee, you can swap it out for water.
You can also use espresso powder – use a teaspoon of espresso powder along with 1 cup of water in place of the 1 cup of coffee.
USE OIL AND BUTTERMILK FOR A MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE
Buttermilk plays two important roles in making the best chocolate cake.
In addition to adding an ever-so-subtle tang, the acid in the buttermilk helps keep this cake incredibly tender and makes for a moist chocolate cake recipe.
If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, simply use this buttermilk substitute and you’re golden!
This cake also uses oil instead of butter. While butter provides a lot of flavor in recipes such as 7UP Pound Cake and Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes, oil gives cakes a lovely, light texture.
Since the combo of unsweetened cocoa powder and Dutch-process cocoa give this cake so much chocolatey flavor, we don’t necessarily need the flavor of the butter to compete or overpower the chocolate.
Cocoa can also easily dry out cakes, so using a neutral-flavored oil in combination with the buttermilk makes sure both the chocolate flavor and moist texture of this cake really sing.
HOW MUCH CAKE DOES THIS RECIPE MAKE?
I most often make this recipe into a double-layered cake using two 9-inch cake pans. Occasionally I will bake it into a sheet cake in a 13×9-inch pan.
You can also bake it into chocolate cupcakes, though! You can get anywhere from 24-36 cupcakes, depending on how full you fill the tins. You’ll want to bake the cupcakes for 20-30 minutes.
I have even used this recipe to make a bundt cake. When using a bundt cake pan, I bake it between 35-40 minutes.
You might be wondering if you can bake this in 8-inch cake pans instead of 9-inch cake pans. Yes, you can, but you may have a little bit of batter leftover. Just be sure to start checking for doneness a tiny bit earlier than noted in the recipe card.
HOW TO TOP MY FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE
What’s a cake without some frosting?
My homemade buttercream frosting is a delicious way to top the best chocolate cake.
Rich chocolate cake paired with sweet vanilla buttercream? Sign me up.
If you are a true chocolate fanatic and want double the chocolate, I would go for chocolate buttercream frosting instead.
If you really want to play up the coffee angle, why not try using a coffee buttercream?
And who doesn’t love chocolate and strawberries together? Top your chocolate cake with sweet strawberry frosting for a play on chocolate covered strawberries!
I have even paired this cake recipe with chocolate ganache and salted caramel to make a Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake.
DOES HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CAKE NEED TO BE REFRIGERATED?
Can you store your chocolate cake at room temperature or does it need to be refrigerated?
The answer depends on how long you want to keep it and what kind of frosting you used.
Unfrosted cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. To make it last longer, you can tightly wrap and refrigerate the cake for up to a week or even freeze it for a few months.
Chilled cake is actually a bit easier to decorate, so a lot of cake decorators prefer to work with cold cake instead of cake that is fresh from the oven.
If you frosted your cake with buttercream, it can be stored safely at room temperature for up to 2 days. Store in the refrigerator if you want it to last longer, up to 5 days.
If you used cream cheese frosting, the cake must be stored in the refrigerator and will keep for up to 3 days.
I don’t recommend freezing frosted cakes.
And remember, frosted cakes are their best the first day or two. After that, the texture won’t be quite the same.
Here’s a little storage cheat sheet for you:
Unfrosted cake:
- Room temperature: Up to 3 days
- Refrigerator: Up to 1 week
- Freezer: Up to 3 months
Cake frosted with buttercream:
- Room temperature: Up to 2 days
- Refrigerator: Up to 5 days
Cake frosted with cream cheese frosting:
- Refrigerator: Up to 3 days
No matter how you frost and decorate it, the best chocolate cake is the perfect sort of cake for a birthday or just a Tuesday. Make sure to enjoy it with a very large glass of ice-cold milk – or coffee!
The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa optional
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup strong black coffee
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Frosting of choice, such as:
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about two minutes; the batter will be thin.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
- Frost as desired.
Video
Notes
- The Dutch process cocoa is optional – it simply provides a great depth of flavor and color to the chocolate cake.
- This cake also pairs beautifully with a simple chocolate ganache.
- The coffee really brings out the depth of the chocolate (you won’t even taste the coffee at all!), but if you really don’t want to use it, feel free to substitute water.
- For an egg substitute, simply add one mashed banana or 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce for each egg.
- This recipe will make about 24 to 36 cupcakes. Bake at 350 degrees between 20 and 30 minutes.
- You can also make a bundt cake with this recipe. The cake should bake for about 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Get tips on high altitude baking.
- Very slightly adapted from Ina Garten
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have tried others, but this is the chocolate cake that my son always asks for.
I made this and the cake was SO moist!!! :) I made it in two round pans, put my family’s recipe for buttercream frosting in the middle (chocolate), then topped it with ganache. I served it to a group of friends and they literally licked their plates clean. :)
Leah-
I am so glad you enjoyed the cake, your frosting idea sounds amazing! Thanks for reporting back!
-Jamie
I’ve made this cake twice now, and each time I’ve thought there was something going terribly wrong as it was baking. Truth is, this is such a fantastic cake! OMG. Both times I made it in a bundt pan and used a shiny fudge frosting (think chocolate frosted donut frosting) and it’s wonderful! Thank you for posting this. Now all I need is a vanilla one that’s as moist …
Hey there,
I just tried this recipe and I am not sure what I did wrong but the cake came out tasting burnt and with hardly any chocolate flavor. It may have been the cocoa powder I used or something but I am sad that it didn’t turn out. It does have an overly coffee taste though and I only used 1 cup of coffee. I should know better than to bake late at night lol.
Im not a baker, but I do know a few things. That being said, the first thing is that when you bake, exact measurements are vital. Also, baking is a sort of art. When you can smell the food, check it, as its either almost done baking or is done….whether the timer has buzzed or not. Were your measurements exact with the cocoa powder? If so, it should have been very chocolatey and there should not have been a coffee flavor. I hope you didn’t use espresso…unless of course you intended for your cake to taste like coffee. Well, I hope these tidbits helped. Happy baking, again.
I just made this cake today, and it was absolutely wonderful! SO moist and chocolatey. But I have a question – when I took the cakes out of the pans, they fell to pieces!! I ended up with a chocolate-frosted-cake-crumb-lump. Even so, it was hands-down the best cake I’ve ever had. What do you think I did wrong to end up with such a crumbly cake? And thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
This recipe is the best chocolate cake ever. I love how easy & quick it is and that it doesn’t need any ‘flashy’ ingredience (I admitedly use natural greek yoghurt mixed with milk instead of butter milk and don’t use any of the branded ingredience as we don’t have those brands in New Zealand – but it still tastes damn nice).
I made a double batch cake for my little sisters 21st & covered it with Cadbury caramello ganache. I have also just turned it intp cupcakes and covered them with vanilla American butter cream for my God Daugthers 1st birthday party. I know they will be a hit.
Thanks for the great recipe. :)
Hi jamie
this maybe a silly question…but when you say 1 cup of strong coffee do you mean a cup of coffee granules? or ready made coffee (mixing granules with water)?
thanks!
Daphne-
Just a cup of brewed, strong, black coffee. I hope this helps. Have a great weekend.
-Jamie
Jamie,
If these were cupcakes…how long would they bake for?
Thanks so much! :)
Hi Jamie Just to let you know I made your cake for the Ultimate Chocolate Cake recipe. Its wonderful and is surely a keeper. Come visit and check it out.. Thanks andi
I made this cake for the Super Bowl. I made it in two 8-inch pans and three cupcakes (go figure). I gave my son a cupcake and asked if he tasted the coffee in it. He said he ate it too fast to tell and needed another. Yeah, I’m a sucker. This time he took three bites and it was gone. This cake is perfect and you must add the dark cocoa. I didn’t have the time (okay, patience) to find the KA’s Black Cocoa, but Hershey’s Special Dark seemed to do the trick. Amazingly moist and dark. The absolute best part was the buttercream frosting suggested. I was fancy enough to use Plugra unsalted butter. I used two tablespoons of regular milk (1% which is regular to me) and two tablespoons of buttermilk (just to give it a tang). AWESOMENESS. So easy to work with and it was plenty for the cake. I took pictures of it and put it on Facebook. I shared half of it. The only hard part is to stop eating it. My new go to chocolate-layer cake. You can stop looking. Seriously.