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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.
Hi! I’ve tried this recipe arnd 5 times now and love the texture and flavor. However, every time the cake dips in the middle slightly. Even though it doesn’t dip tooo much but its still noticeable. I follow the recipe exactly. I dont overmix and have checked the oven temperature as well. Any idea what i might be doing wrong?
Anu-
I am not sure what causes this, it has happened to me once or twice as well. My theory is uneven baking. I actually just purchased some cake strips which are supposed to help cakes bake more evenly. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
Hello, so, I want to make this. I was wondering if it would be a good consistency density and strength of cake to make in a sheet pan and use for a roll cake?? I think I want to make a cooked flour filling and then do it like a “jelly” roll. I have seen a lot of good and bad comments(sinking, crispy edges, etc.) that have me curious. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Thanks in advance!
I have never attempted to make this into a jelly roll cake, so I honestly have no idea how it would perform as one. Maybe someone that has tried it will chime in with feedback Thanks!
-Jamie
Okay, so I made this the way you do on the recipe but with a cooked flour frosting filling and cloaked it with pourable fondant topping. No jelly roll.
I took into consideration a lot of the comments I read. So I used a digital scale for EVERYTHING. I sifted and mixed the dry together, then measured and mixed the wet. I then combined wet and dry and mixed on high for 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar as much as possible and develop the gluten. I prepared the pans with parchment rounds and canola spray, then dusted with cocoa powder. I put a sheet pan on the bottom rack; just in case. I made sure the oven was plenty pre-heated. Poured into the 8″ rounds and crossed my fingers. I told everyone in the house, no running or jumping in the kitchen and if anyone opened the oven they would lose a hand ;-). I opened the door at 35min but did not move the pans when I tested it. It was still wet, so had to bake it about 50min. total.
It turned out perfect and amazing!! I have never had a better cake. It was not too sweet and yet it was so very light and moist. I believe if I had moved the pans when I put the toothpick in, they would have fallen. I am making it again as a black forest cake with black cherries today and I will try the jelly roll in the future and let you k ow how it works.
Thank You!!
So glad this turned out so well for you Nikki! Thanks for stopping by to leave your feedback!
-Jamie
Just wondering if you can use regular milk, or does it have to be buttermilk? Thanks :)
Jayde-
I definitely recommend buttermilk for this recipe. Thanks for stopping by!
-Jamie
Can I use couveture chocolate in place of cocoa powder?
Shirley-
I have no baked with couveture chocolate, so I honestly have no idea how it would perform in this recipe. From what I’ve read, couveture is solid chocolate with a higher percentage of cocoa butter than baking or eating chocolate. I think the recipe would really need tweaking to make this substitution work.
-Jamie
How long should I beat the dry ingredients? Do I need to beat the eggs one at a time? I want to make sure my cake turns out super moist
Fara-
As with most cakes, you just want to combine the ingredients until they are just incorporated. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
I really don’t want to put coffee in it is there another substitute or can I leave it out?
Feel free to leave it out, you can substitute water. Let me know how you like it, DeShaun!
should I use an extra egg? will it make the cake better?
Im afraid if i add the extra egg the cake will taste like egg
For as long as I can remember I have loved chocolate cake but Iv made this now around 4
Times and it’s the best Iv ever had. My go to now. Thanks so much x
So happy you enjoy the recipe as much as we do, Hazel!
There’s no such thing as too much ganache. :) It looks lovely!
Thanks so much, Pam!
Have now made this cake for a couple of events and this will be my ONLY chocolate cake recipe from here on out! It is the most delicious and moist chocolate cake I’ve ever had!!!