Classic Chocolate Cake

Everyone needs one reliable chocolate cake recipe for various chocolate cakes. And this dreamy chocolate cake is just for that; It's so moist, tender, and perfectly chocolatey... It's honestly the best classic chocolate cake I've ever had. 

📌 Why You'll Love This Recipe

1. It is as moist as you can get! I added just enough liquids and oil to the cake batter without making the cake too heavy.
2. Very tender: Although it is not as fluffy as chocolate sponge cake, this cake has an amazing tenderness and richness.  
3. Perfectly chocolatey: I love dark chocolate flavor and my daughter does not, but we both enjoy this cake. The cake is rich yet not overpowering. 
4. So easy to make: You just need to mix, mix, mix... and the cake batter is done! I love that I can make it by hand with a whisk and spatula.
5. Versatile: You can use this recipe for any chocolate cake, such as cupcakes or a sheet cake.

Make this exceptional chocolate cake with simple ingredients and easy steps. 

📌 What's In Chocolate Cake?

Dry Ingredients:

• Granulated sugar: It helps to add a moist and soft texture to the cake and extends its shelf life.
• All-purpose flour: Use regular all-purpose flour.
• Cocoa powder: Use Dutch process cocoa powder or dark, high-quality cocoa powder for the best results.
• Baking soda: Baking soda reacts to acid (cocoa powder and vinegar for this cake) and helps to create a fluffier cake with more volume. That is why it is often used for chocolate cake recipes.
• Baking powder: Baking powder reacts to moisture and heat and helps to create a fluffier texture. It's often added more for white cakes, butter cakes, etc. It makes a slightly more cakey texture than baking soda.
• Salt: It helps to enhance the amazing chocolate flavor.

Wet Ingredients:

• Whole milk: Use regular whole-fat milk.
• White Vinegar: If you don't have white vinegar, you can use any other regular vinegar, such as apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, and even lemon juice! The vinegar acid reacts with baking soda and helps create a fluffier cake with more volume.
• Egg: It helps to create a soft texture.
• Oil: I used olive oil as a healthier option. You can use any regular oil, such as canola oil, and vegetable oil.
• Vanilla extract: You can omit it if you like or add a different flavor.
• Unsalted butter (melted): It gives a richer texture. I decided not to add too much of it to this recipe since I wanted to keep the texture lighter. 
• Hot water: Use hot simmering water. You can also use hot coffee instead to add a slightly richer flavor.

Additional Ingredients:

• Butter (soft) to coat inside pans

📌 How To Make Chocolate Cake

8 Steps

1. Mix whole milk and vinegar in a bowl to make homemade buttermilk. Set it aside for about 5 - 10 minutes until it curdles
2. Coat a layer of soft butter inside the pan and attach a cake liner (or parchment paper) to the bottom.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients with a whisk. 
4. Mix all the wet ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk. The buttermilk should be ready by then!
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until smooth.
6. Heat water and butter in a small saucepan just until it starts simmering. Add ⅓ - ½ of it to the chocolate mixture and mix. Add the rest and mix. Scrape off the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure it's evenly mixed. 
7. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans. (540 g | 19 oz each for 3 layers)
8. Bake at 350ºF (176ºC)for about 30 minutes with 3 8" pans until the center bounces back gently or a toothpick comes off clean. Adjust the baking time and temperature depending on how thick the cake is, the size of the pan, the oven, etc. Cool them on a wire rack before taking them out of the pans or flip the pan VERY gently since the cake is fragile while it's hot. 

📌 Tips For Success

• One batch of this recipe makes 1 8-inch cake (2 - 4 layers) or about 24 regular cupcakes (Pour the batter up to slightly over half of the height).
• I recommend sifting flours when you can, but you can still make the delicious chocolate cake even if you don't. This recipe is pretty forgiving!
• Water and butter: Pay close attention to the pot, especially toward the end, to prevent the liquids from evaporating too much by boiling for some time. Once it looks simmering gently, remove it from the heat. I usually start heating the pot after mixing the wet ingredients.
• I do not recommend pouring the cake batter too deep in one pan, as this will make the finished cake heavier. 
• Try not to open the oven door until the end: The cake can lose some volume when it's opened too early or too many times.

More Images

The prepared pans:

Adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients:

The finished cake batter:

Cakes in the oven:

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store chocolate cake? 

Wrap tightly with 2 layers of plastic wrap so the cake does not get dried. Ideally, do not stack many layers together in the fridge so that the cake does not get squished with the weight.

What is the shelf-life of chocolate cake? 

Store in a fridge for up to 5 days or a few months in the freezer. 

How can I check if the chocolate cake is baked enough or not? 

There are 2 ways you can try:

1. Touch the center of the cake gently: If it bounces back VERY gently, it's ready!
2. Insert a toothpick into the center and see if it comes off clean. (You might see small pieces of crumbs. As long as it is not wet, the cake is ready!)

Can I make the chocolate cake with a stand mixer?

Yes! Use a paddle attachment and follow the same steps. 

📌 Uses For Chocolate Cake

Enjoy this moist chocolate cake to make any chocolate cake with different shapes and sizes! Here are some ideas:

• Classic buttercream chocolate cake: Make a classic layer cake with your favorite buttercream frosting. The list of frostings you can try is in the next section.
• Chocolate cupcakes: Bake at the same temperature for 16 - 18 minutes for regular-size cupcakes. 
• German chocolate cake
• Loaf cake
• Sheet cake
• Mousse cake
• Wedding cake

📌 Frosting To Pair With The Chocolate Cake

Pair this chocolate cake with a variety of frostings to make your custom cake!

• Vanilla Frosting: Add vanilla to the basic American buttercream, Swiss buttercream, Italian buttercream, French buttercream, etc.
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Chocolate Frosting: To learn how to make the chocolate buttercream frosting I used for the whole cake and cupcakes, watch this video tutorial. (I'm hoping to make a blog post about it sometime soon!) In the video, I'm sharing how to make 2 kinds of chocolate buttercream, with cocoa powder and melted chocolate, using any plain buttercream. I'm sharing the difference between the two in the video. Pick whichever you like! I used chocolate buttercream with melted chocolate this time.
• Peanut Butter Frosting
• Lemon Buttercream
• Chocolate ganache
• Mint Buttercream

How to frost a cake

Check out this post to learn how to frost a cake with any frosting step by step.

📌 VIDEO: Watch How To Make It!

Learn how to make the easy chocolate cake visually to better understand the process!

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📌 More Chocolate Dessert Recipes

For all chocolate lovers, I have a selection of other exceptional chocolate cake and dessert recipes from easy to advanced. Find your other favorite chocolate cake recipes!

• Chocolate sponge cake
• Chocolate banana cake
• Opera cake
• Chocolate mirror glaze
• Chocolate truffles

📌 Printable Recipe

💬 If you loved this classic chocolate cake recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love to hear how you enjoyed it with your friends and family. 

📌 Pin It!

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