Chocolate Cake: My Go-To Easy, Moist & Delicious Recipe
Chocolate Cake
Oh how you’ve tested my patience and rewarded my perseverance over the years! I still vividly remember the first time I dared to bake a chocolate cake from scratch. It was for my dad’s birthday, and I, in my earnest but wildly ambitious teenage phase, was convinced only a super complicated, multi-step recipe would suffice to impress him. Spoiler alert: it was a dense, crumbly mess that tasted more of regret than deliciousness, earning the polite but damning descriptor of “rustic” from my sweet mom.
That culinary misadventure, however, sparked a passionate quest! I spent countless weekends in my kitchen, experimenting, failing (oh, the spectacular fails!), and finally, triumphing. I discovered that simple doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor or texture, a lesson I also applied when perfecting our popular one-bowl banana bread recipe. While there are countless delicious chocolate cake recipes available, this particular rendition isn’t just easy; it’s genuinely foolproof, consistently delivering a moist, deeply chocolatey cake without any fuss.
It’s the one I pull out for every single family celebration, a true testament to simple joys and big flavors that everyone adores. This isn’t just a chocolate cake recipe; it’s the “I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-This-Easy‘ Chocolate Cake” that will undoubtedly become a beloved staple in your home too.
Chocolate Cake: My Go-To Easy, Moist & Delicious Recipe
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy12
slices15
minutes30
minutes2
hours 15 minutes (includes cooling)450
kcalThis ‘I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-This-Easy’ Chocolate Cake is the ultimate homemade delight! Super moist, rich, and incredibly simple to whip up, it’s perfect for any occasion and guarantees rave reviews. It’s the chocolate cake you’ve been dreaming of.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (or milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice/vinegar)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee (or hot water)
For the Chocolate Ganache Frosting (Optional but highly recommended):
1 cup heavy cream
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans or one 9×13 inch pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make sure there are no lumps of cocoa.
- Add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Carefully stir in the hot coffee (or hot water). The batter will be thin, but this is normal!
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes for round pans, or 35-40 minutes for a 9×13 pan, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes before inverting them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the Chocolate Ganache Frosting: In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream over medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Remove from heat.
- Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Stir in the butter until melted and fully incorporated.
- Let the ganache cool at room temperature for about 1-2 hours, or until it reaches a spreadable consistency. It should be thick but still pourable.
- Frost your cooled chocolate cake layers, stacking them and spreading ganache between layers and all over the top and sides. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired.
Notes
- Buttermilk Bliss: Don’t have buttermilk? No problem! You can easily make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup, then filling the rest with regular milk up to the 1-cup mark. Let it sit for 5 minutes before using. It adds a wonderful tang and moisture!
- Coffee for Depth: While you can use hot water, hot coffee truly enhances the chocolate flavor without making the cake taste like coffee. It deepens the cocoa notes, making the cake taste even richer. Trust me on this little family secret!
- Perfectly Cooled Frosting: The ganache frosting needs to cool properly to achieve the right spreadable consistency. If it’s too warm, it’ll just run off the cake. If it gets too thick, gently re-warm it over a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave until it’s just right. Patience is a virtue here!
