If you’re looking for a rich, moist chocolate cake recipe that’s going to satisfy your sweet cravings, then this cake IS IT! The velvety soft chocolate cake layers are packed with chocolate flavor, and paired with an indulgent chocolate fudge frosting. I would go so far as to say that this is the best chocolate cake recipe I’ve ever had!
Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Cake
There is SO MUCH to love about this chocolate cake, but here are a few notable mentions:
Rich in flavor: When it comes to chocolate cake, it should taste like chocolate, but in cake form! When developing this recipe, I really wanted to pack in as much rich chocolate flavor as possible. To do this, I decided to use a ‘mud cake’ style chocolate cake recipe that uses actual chocolate in the cake batter (not just cocoa powder). I find that using good quality semi-sweet chocolate in the cake batter really takes the flavor to another level.
Moist: Not only is this cake packed with chocolate flavor, it’s also soft and has a wonderfully moist crumb. This recipe uses both butter and oil to provide wonderful moisture to the cake. Oil in particularly is a fat that is liquid at room temperature, so it provides unmatched moisture when it comes to cakes. This is the main reason I use it in most of my cake recipes 🙂
Easy: This recipe doesn’t require any hand or stand mixer to make, and comes together really easily! If you have a few bowls and a whisk, you’re good to go!
The best frosting ever: The base chocolate cake layers are paired with an incredibly delicious chocolate fudge frosting, that takes this chocolate cake recipe as a whole to another level! The chocolate frosting is so decadent and has the most wonderful velvety texture. Just be careful though, you may end up eating too much of it with a spoon before you even get to frosting the cake! This frosting is a softer frosting and not ideal if you’re doing a lot of piping, in which case you may want to try my chocolate buttercream frosting with a twist (it’s a cream cheese frosting and tastes incredible!) or a firm chocolate ganache.
Loved by my ‘chocolate cake hating’ husband: Now here is how I REALLY knew this cake was good. My husband is not a huge cake person, and in particular despises chocolate cakes 😂. So when I gave him this cake to try, to my surprise he asked for seconds, and the next day he basically finished most of the cake! My husband is also super honest (sometimes a bit too honest – ha ha!), so when he said this cake was good, I knew it was next level good!
Updated Recipe
I’ve recently updated this recipe (April 2024), as some readers were having issues with the cake layers sinking in. I experimented with different ways to add a little more structure to the cake layers to help prevent this issue, and finally settled on an updated recipe that had additional structure, but still had the same great flavor and texture to the original.
The main changes to the original recipe include an additional egg and additional flour – both of which add more structure to the cake layers.
I know there are many of you who LOVE the original version, so I have kept the original quantities in the notes section of the recipe card (towards the bottom of the blog post). I want to assure you though, that the updated version (in my opinion) is even better than the original, so don’t be afraid to give it a go 😀
How to make chocolate cake
This cake comes together really easily, which is another reason why I love it so much!
Begin by preheating your oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (lower the temperature to 160C/320F if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease two 8-inch round cake pans. You also want to line the bottoms with parchment paper. This chocolate cake is fudgy and delicate, so you need to line the bottom of the cake tins with parchment paper just to make sure they come out in one piece!
In a bowl, sift together all purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder (use dutch process cocoa if you can), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk, mix together until well combined. Set aside.
In a large bowl (make sure it’s microwave safe), add in butter and dark chocolate. I use 50% dark chocolate, but a good quality semi-sweet chocolate will work well. Melt in the microwave for 30 second bursts at a time, mixing in between each burst until fully melted.
Pour in cold milk and using a whisk, mix until well combined. This will help cool down your mixture.
Next add in sugar, coffee powder, vegetable oil, vanilla extract/essence and eggs. Using a whisk, mix until well combined.
Add in your pre-sifted dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Lastly, add in your hot water and mix until just combined. Do not overmix the batter.
Evenly distribute the batter into your prepared pans and bake for 38-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
Allow the cakes to cool in the cake tins for 30 minutes, before turning them out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
How to make chocolate fudge frosting
This chocolate fudge frosting is so easy to put together! It’s basically a double batch of my original fudge frosting recipe.
Place a saucepan or pot over a medium heat and add in whipping/heavy cream. Heat until you start to see little bubbles forming around the edges of the pan. The cream shouldn’t be boiling.
Turn the heat down to low and add in the remaining ingredients and continue to gently stir until all the solid ingredients are melted and you have a very smooth mixture.
Strain the mixture into a heat proof bowl to get rid of any lumps, and then cover the top with plastic wrap so that the cling wrap is directly touching the top of the frosting. This will prevent a skin from forming as it cools down.
Place the frosting into the refrigerator for 2 hours to allow it to set.
Decorating Chocolate Cake
Once your cake layers are cool and your frosting is at a spreadable consistency, you can decorate your cake however you like! I placed layers of frosting in between my cake layers, and then covered the outside in a thick layer of frosting too.
I then finished off by piping some frosting on the top of the cake using a 1M star piping tip.
Commonly Asked Questions:
How to store chocolate cake?
This chocolate cake can be left at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days, after which it should be placed into the fridge.
Can I use this recipe to make chocolate cupcakes?
You can totally use this recipe to make chocolate cupcakes, though I do have another chocolate cupcake recipe that is equally as delicious!
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
- ½ cup (50 g) cocoa powder - unsweetened, dutch process preferred
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter
- 1¼ cups (200 g) dark chocolate - I use 50% dark but any good quality semi-sweet chocolate will work
- ⅓ cup (80 g) milk - cold
- 1½ cups (300 g) white granulated sugar
- 1½ tbsp instant coffee powder
- ⅓ cup (70 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- ½ cup (110 g) hot water
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
- 1 cup (226 g) whipping/heavy cream
- 4 tsp cocoa powder - unsweetened, dutch process preferred
- 2½ cups (400 g) dark chocolate - I use 50% dark but any good quality semi-sweet chocolate will work
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
- 1⅓ cups (170 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing/confectioners sugar
- ½ tsp instant coffee powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F conventional (see note 1 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease the bottom and sides of two 8 inch cake tins (mine are 3 inch deep), and also line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper (see note 2).
- In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk, mix together until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, add in butter and dark chocolate. Melt in the microwave for 30 second bursts at a time, mixing in between each burst until fully melted.
- Add in cold milk and using a whisk, mix until well combined. This will help cool down your mixture.
- Next add in sugar, instant coffee powder, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs. Using a whisk, mix until well combined.
- Add in your pre-sifted dry ingredients and mix with a whisk until combined. Avoid over-mixing.
- Lastly, add in your hot water and mix until well combined. Avoid overmixing the batter.
- Evenly distribute the batter into the prepared cake tins and bake for 38-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. IMPORTANT: Do not open the oven door too early to check the cakes otherwise this can cause the cakes to sink in the middle.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes, before turning them out onto a wire rack to completely cool (see note 3).
Chocolate fudge frosting
- Place a saucepan or pot over a medium heat and add in heavy cream. Heat until you start to see little bubbles forming around the edges of the pan. The cream shouldn't be boiling.
- Turn the heat down to low and add in the remaining ingredients and continue to gently stir until all the solid ingredients are melted and you have a very smooth mixture.
- Strain the mixture into a heat proof bowl to get rid of any lumps, and then cover the top with cling wrap so that the cling wrap is directly touching the top of the frosting. This will prevent a skin from forming as it cools down.
- Place the frosting into the fridge for 2 hours to allow it to set (see note 4).
- Once your cake layers are cool and your frosting is at a spreadable consistency, frost your cake (you can see how I did mine in the recipe video or blog post pictures above). Enjoy!
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.
318 Comments
I tried the recipe but found the baking soda smell was a bit overwhelming. I am not sure if it was the quatity of baking soda I put or the brand that I used? Which one do you use or recommend?
Hi Mahira! So sorry to hear the cake had a strong baking soda smell – this should not be the case. Usually this happens if a bit too much baking soda is used, if the baking soda isn’t mixed thoroughly throughout the batter, or if the baking soda is no longer active. You can check if it’s still active by mixing some baking soda with a bit of vinegar and it should bubble up vigorously. If it bubbles up very gently then you’ll likely need a new batch. The brand I usually use is Pams or Edmonds here in NZ 🙂
Hope that helps for next time!
Hi MK, you are the greatest! Have a question. Is it possible to omit the coffee? I am allergic to it…ugh.
Aww thank you Debbi!
Yes you can omit the coffee for this recipe if you need too 🙂
Hope you enjoy the recipe Debbi!
Hi, I have made a lot of your cakes and they are always really delicious and my whole family loves it. But I have a doubt with the recipe, if I want to use only 1 cake tin, do I have to half the recipe?
So so happy to hear your family is loving the recipes Maheen 😀
Yes, simply half the recipe for one 8 inch cake 🙂
Hi i am a big fan of your recipes. Tried few. My family loved all. Want to make this chocolate cake. Wanted to know can i freeze this cake. Thinking to make mirror glazing. Thank you.
Hi Pamini! So glad to hear you and your family are loving the recipes 😀
I haven’t tried freezing this cake myself unfortunately! Would you be freezing it as an assembled cake with frosting so that the mirror glaze can be poured on after? I think as long as the cake layers (or the whole cake if the cake will be assembled) is covered well in cling wrap so no air can get to it then it should be okay. Would love to hear how it goes if you decide to try it out 🙂
Hi,
I’ve never seen a recipe with granulated sugar… would it work with caster sugar as that’s what I usually have on hand for cakes… or any other alternative?
Thanks from London!
Hi Kirsty! 🙂
Hmmm I haven’t tried castor sugar myself but it’s usually okay to use it as a 1:1 substitute for granulated sugar in baking. What I would recommend is using gram measurements though just to make sure the quantities aren’t too different!
Hope that helps and would love to hear how it goes if you decide to try it out 🙂
Hello! Thank you for a WONDERFUL recipe and very thorough instructions 🙂
I made this cake and frosting and I loved it!
Can I ask if I can add orange zest to the mix next time? Will it be ok or do i need to adjust anything else?
Thanks again
Hi Nikki!
So glad to hear you loved the recipe 😀
Oohh orange zest would be so nice. I think you should be able to add it without any adjustments to the recipe 🙂
Would love to hear how it goes with the orange zest!
Hi MK, can I use this recipe for a tiered cake? I really like the rich chocolate taste and the moist texture. Thanks
Heya! 🙂
Yes you can totally use this recipe for a tiered cake, just be sure to use a good stable frosting and dowels where needed and it should be perfectly fine.
The fudge frosting in this recipe I would recommend only as a filling for a tiered cake, as it is a little soft so a more stable frosting like a ganache for the outer coat will be best 🙂
Can i sub half the sugar for brown sugar? Thanks!
Hi Jill! 🙂
I haven’t tried that myself, but I think it should be fine! Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Ca I substitute espresso powder for the instant coffee powder if so how much would I use
Hi Carol 🙂 Yes that should be totally fine! I would do a 1:1 substitute.
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
HI MK… i am making my grandsons number 2 birthday cake .. he wants chocolate with blue icing with a dump truck on the top… so I have to use 9inch cake tins… round.. and 1 x bar tin … can you advise the cake measurements please ? and what icing recipe for the blue icing with tuffs of green grass
many thanks from Australia
Hi Christina! 🙂 If using two 9 inch cake tins, I would recommend making 1.5x the recipe if you want thicker cake layers like in the original recipe. For the bar tin, it depends on the size. If it’s around a 9 inch bar/loaf tin, then you would need just more than half the recipe. You could make 2x the recipe and then distribute it between all the tins but just watch the cook time to make sure none of them are over baking 🙂
Hope that helps and hope your grandson has a wonderful birthday! Much love from NZ to Australia 🙂