If you’re looking for a rich chocolate cake recipe that comes together using only cocoa powder (no melted chocolate), then this recipe is it! This moist chocolate cake is packed with flavour, and is topped with an incredibly delicious chocolate cream cheese frosting. Based off my 5 star rated vanilla cake recipe, this chocolate cake WILL NOT DISAPPOINT!
How I developed this recipe
So I’m a huge believer in a rich chocolate cake having actual chocolate in it. Most chocolate cakes that I’ve tried that DON’T have chocolate in them, just don’t have that deep rich chocolate flavour that you (well.. I) want in a chocolate cake. Many basic chocolate cake recipes also have this kind of distinct after taste to them because of the baking soda, which I’m not very fond of (I know… I’m very picky haha!). Which is why I developed my original rich chocolate cake recipe with real chocolate.
However, many of you have been asking for a rich chocolate cake recipe that doesn’t have any chocolate in it, only cocoa powder. Honestly, I didn’t think it was possible! I tried many recipes, and either the cocoa was too over powering and left you with a dry after taste in your mouth (because of excess cocoa powder in the recipe to try and achieve that rich flavour), or the cake just wasn’t chocolatey enough. One thing that was common in all of my trials is that I used the traditional ‘hot water method’ of making chocolate cake. So, I decided to change that, and instead used the creaming method to see if that made a difference.
I decided to use my vanilla cake recipe as a base since you guys LOVE that recipe, and OMG it was the best thing I ever did. What did I end up with? A rich, moist, decadent chocolate cake with NO CHOCOLATE IT IN! Only cocoa powder. Safe to say I proved myself wrong.
How to make this chocolate cake
This recipe comes together really easily – just follow the steps as stated and I would recommend using the gram measurements (all ingredient quantities are in the recipe card at the end of the post) 🙂
Begin by preheating your oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 5 on the recipe card below if you don’t have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornflour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, instant coffee powder and cocoa powder. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine – see note 2 on recipe card), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
Add in your vanilla, vinegar and half a cup of the buttermilk, and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining 1 cup of buttermilk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3 on recipe card).
Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the chocolate cream cheese buttercream recipe below, or another frosting of your choice.
How to make chocolate cream cheese frosting
If you haven’t tried a chocolate cream cheese frosting before, you are missing out! It’s honestly one of the most delicious chocolate frostings I’ve ever had – no joke!
Being by creaming your butter for a few minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Either use a hand mixer or stand mixer on a medium high speed. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
Add in the icing sugar in 3 batches while mixing on low. Ensure that each batch of icing sugar is mixed into the butter well before adding in the next batch.
Next add in your cold cream cheese and vanilla. Mix just until the frosting is smooth. Avoid over-mixing (see note 4 on recipe card).
Lastly add in your cocoa powder and mix until well combined and smooth. Avoid over-mixing.
How to decorate this chocolate cake
You can get super creative and decorate this cake however you like, but this is how I did mine 🙂
Begin by placing your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the chocolate frosting.
Next place your next cake layer on top, and then cover the tops and sides with more frosting. I like to use my cake scraper to smooth out the sides.
I then finished off by doing some piping with a 1A piping tip on top. I absolutely love the little rain drop pattern look (not sure what they’re called!).
And that is it! Enjoy 🙂
Easy Rich Chocolate Cake Recipe
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1¾ cups (210 g) flour - regular all purpose (see note 1 if you want to use cake flour)
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornflour - also known as cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- 2 tsp instant coffee powder
- 1 cup (100 g) cocoa powder - unsweetened, Dutch processed preferred
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¾ cup (158 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- 1⅔ cups (332 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1½ cups (337 g) buttermilk - room temperature, see note 6 if using a homemade buttermilk substitute
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 4½ cups (570 g) icing sugar - also known as confectioners/powdered sugar
- 1½ cups (335 g) cream cheese - cold, firm type
- 1½ tsps vanilla
- ¾ cup (75 g) cocoa powder - unsweetened
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 5 if you don't have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornflour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, instant coffee powder and cocoa powder. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 2), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Add in your vanilla, vinegar and half a cup of the buttermilk, and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining 1 cup of buttermilk, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3).
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the chocolate cream cheese buttercream recipe below, or another frosting of your choice.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream your butter for a few minutes until it's light and fluffy. Either use a hand mixer or stand mixer on a medium high speed. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
- Add in the icing sugar in 3 batches while mixing on low. Ensure that each batch of icing sugar is mixed into the butter well before adding in the next batch.
- Next add in your cold cream cheese and vanilla. Mix just until the frosting is smooth. Avoid over-mixing (see note 4).
- Lastly add in your cocoa powder and mix until well combined and smooth. Avoid over-mixing.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
61 Comments
Yummy
Thanks Sophia! 😀
Could you use sour cream instead of cream cheese ?
Hi Michael! 🙂 Hmmm I’m not quite sure sour cream will work for the frosting, as it’s usually thinner than cream cheese but also taste wise is different. I haven’t tried it myself so honestly can’t say if it’ll work or not sorry!
Hi Maryam,
I am looking for a recipe for a 3-tier chocolate wedding cake. Your easy rich chocolate cake looks so mouthwateringly delicious, so I wonder if this recipe suits this purpose. Thank you.
Hi there! Yesss this will totally work for that 🙂 hope you enjoy it!
Delicious! I make all your deserts following your directions, I’m an amateur but tastes so professional!
Aww amazing!! So so happy to hear you’re finding success with my recipes Kylie 😀
Hi 😀 Will this recipe work in 3 6inch pans?
Hi Jules! Yes totally! Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Hi MK, can I bake this chocolate cake in one 20 inch cake pan and spread the ganache over it? Will I need to bake it for a longer time? I can only bake only one cake at a time in my oven.
Hi Nandita! Do you mean a 20cm cake tin? Or perhaps a rectangular 20inch cake tin? 20inch seems very large so just thought I’d confirm 🙂 if you meant a 20cm round cake tin then I would recommend halving the recipe and frosting and just make 1 cake layer 🙂 hope that helps!
Hi MK love the recipe I have a 29cm square cake pan I need to make a large cake for my grandson’s 2nd birthday do I double up the recipe and if so what is the cooking time and what amount of chocolate cream cheese frosting do I need to cover the cake. Hi from Australia I love watching your videos you have such a bubbly personality.
Hi Rosemary! 🙂 For a single layer 29cm cake then 1x the recipe should be enough, but if you want 2 layers to stack then you want to double the recipe 🙂 and so happy to hear you’re enjoying the videos Rosemary, much love from NZ to Australia 🙂
Salam Maryam,
Thanks for the recipe. To make chocolate cake pops. Can I use this cake recipe and this frosting recipe or does it have to be the original frosting you used in the cake pop recipe? Many thanks
Salaam Kulthum! Yes you can use this recipe and frosting too but it’s likely that you’ll need much less frosting than what’s stated in this recipe 🙂 so I would recommend only making 1/2 the frosting recipe and then add 3/4s of that in first when making the cake pops and then add more as needed. Also remember this recipe is for two 8 inch cake layers so all up you’ll have about 80 cake pops 🙂 enjoy!
Making this cake right now. Smells great and looks great! Can’t wait to taste it. My first cake from one of your recipes and can already tell it is better than any others I have made. One suggestion for non-fan, older ovens, here in the USA. I would advise 325°F and bake for 35-40 minutes, starting to check at 30 minutes. I baked this at 347°ish at 32 minutes and the toothpick came out too dry. I can tell the cake is still going to be moist, but if I had waited for 40 minutes, I would have a very dry cake. I think the next time I make this I will do 325°F and start checking at 30 minutes. (Everyone’s ovens are different.)
Awesome! Hope you enjoy the cake Naomi and thanks for sharing your tips re the oven! 🙂
Want to try this,!!!
Hope you enjoy it! 😀
This cake looks absolutely wonderful! Unfortunately I’m not a pro baker myself, but I will ask my wife if she can have a go at it! Thanks for this lovely recipe! I’m sure my kids will love this.
Thanks so much! 😀 Hope your family enjoys the recipe 🙂
Made this cake at 150% for three layers and it is SO good! Instead of buttermilk I used strained (greek) yogurt with milk to thin it, about 2 parts yogurt to 1 part milk, which worked very well. I’m definitely saving this recipe to use again!
Awesome! So so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Anna! 🙂