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
Hi Maryam, I made the fudge frosting and after straining the mixture the butter got separated and how can I fix it?
Hi… This is a very delicious recipe. Can this be made eggless?
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Cherlyn! 🙂 Unfortunately I haven’t tried an egg substitute just yet but will keep an eggless chocolate cake in mind for future recipes 🙂
Thank you for your quick reply. Yes would love an eggless version. Hope it’s soon. Eagerly waiting.
Greetings Mk
Can I make this cake eggless.
Thanks
Hello Kamala! I haven’t tried an egg substitute for this recipe yet so can’t make any recommendations at this stage sorry! Hope to share an eggless chocolate cake recipe soon 🙂
Looks delicious. Can the batter be put in a spring form tin or will it leak out? I don’t want to buy more tins.
Hi Duane! The batter should be okay in a springform pan, but just to be safe maybe line the bottom with some baking paper so that it’s slightly coming up the sides 🙂 hope you enjoy the recipe!
If i use half recipe then what should be the size of the cake pan?
Hi Ayesha! If you half the recipe then you would just need one 8 inch cake tin as opposed to 2 🙂
I love the way you explain the whole process .it helped me baked my own chocolate cake immediately after watching for my nephew who has been on my neck for me to backe him chocolate cake.
So happy to hear you’re finding the content easy to follow Chantal! 😀 Hope your nephew enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Hi mam… can we reduce the quantity into
half that you mentioned…. because I did it ..Do I did correct…
My cake sunk but tasted great
Oh no! Sorry to hear your cake sunk, but glad to hear it still tasted great 🙂 to prevent sinking in the future two things that might help are 1) not opening the oven door too early to check the cake, the rush of cold air into the oven can cause the cake to sink, and 2) try mixing the batter just a little more to help develop more of the structure of the cake. Hope these tips help for next time 🙂
I loved your vanilla cake and now I absolutely love also your chocolate one. It’s so rich in flavor and has amazing texture. It was really easy to follow your recipe. I made it for my sister’s birthday and my family loved this cake. I decorated it with chocolate drip and Ferrero Rocher chocolate balls which I covered in gold luster dust.
I can’t wait with what you come up next!
So so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe Arita! 😀 The addition of a chocolate drip and Ferrero Rocher’s sounds INCREDIBLE! 😀 Happy birthday to your sister 🙂
I made it yesterday, my family enjoyed it and it’s finished😋
Yay! So happy to hear your family enjoyed the recipe Zii 😀
Hi mam..I tried your recipe..it turned out owesome….I’ve a doubt that can we reduce or double the quantity of the ingredients that you have mentioned …..I prepared the cake by taking half of the ingredients..Do I did correct??