This classic recipe pairs delicious moist chocolatey cake layers with a rich and silky chocolate buttercream. It’s the only chocolate cake recipe you will ever need!
There are few things more comforting in this world than good old chocolate cake. It is, in fact, one of my most favorite things to eat. The classic combo of chocolate + chocolate is truly the best.
I’m so excited to share my favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe with you. It is delicate yet sturdy, with a perfect crumb, and full of flavor. I’ve been using this one for years and I love it. The best part? It’s super easy to whip together and bakes up perfectly every time.
Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or satisfying a chocolate craving, this recipe is all you need.
How to Make the Best Chocolate Cake
This recipe uses a simple mixing method and simple ingredients. You don’t have to worry about creaming butter and sugar or alternating flour and milk. You just:
- Combine the dry ingredients
- Combine the wet ingredients
- Mix both together and bake
You can make this cake either using a stand mixer or just by hand using a large bowl or two.
If you prefer, you can use hot coffee instead of hot water. It is commonly used in this type of recipe and helps enhance the chocolate flavor a bit. I’m usually too lazy to make coffee and I find the hot water version perfectly delicious. Alternatively, you can dissolve 1 Tbsp of instant espresso powder in the hot water.
Buttermilk is needed for this recipe and can’t be replaced with regular milk. If you don’t have buttermilk at home read through the FAQ section below on how to make your own.
Cake Tip!
The cake batter will be very thin and liquid. This is normal! The batter also rises a lot so be sure not to fill your pans more than half full or so.
This recipe is a crowd-pleaser and a fan favorite. It will go perfectly with almost any flavor of frosting. Today, I’ve paired it with a classic chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
This chocolate buttercream recipe is pure heaven. It is seriously SO good that you’ll be eating it with a spoon. I’ve made chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream in the past, but have always struggled a bit getting it to look and taste very chocolatey. With American chocolate buttercream, it’s easier to achieve that fudgy flavor and color.
If you’d like to enhance the chocolate flavor even more you can add a bit of cocoa powder to the buttercream like I did here in my German Chocolate Cake. You can just add it 1 Tbsp at a time until you get the desired flavor or color.
If you want a darker chocolate frosting you can also add some chocolate brown color gel to it. I don’t find it necessary, but it’s an option.
If you prefer an easier frosting, I have a great recipe for an American-style easy chocolate buttercream that you can use instead. Or, if you want something even richer, you can pair it with a chocolate ganache frosting.
Whatever frosting you choose, I do recommend using high quality chocolate for the buttercream as it will really improve the flavor and texture.
Be sure to use the best quality chocolate you can get your hands on. This typically excludes anything you’d find in your local grocery store, but Lindt will do if you don’t have access to anything else. When I’m using chocolate in ganache or frosting, I like to use a high-quality semi sweet chocolate from Callebaut which is readily available to me.
A high-quality chocolate will really enhance the flavor and texture of your cakes, cookies, and frostings. Other brands I like to use are Valhrona, Cacao Barry, and Ghirardelli.
This deliciously moist chocolate cake recipe is a reader favorite and in my top 5 favorite cakes of all time. Perfect for the chocolate cake lover in your life. I am sure you will love it as much as I do!
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I convert this recipe?
- You can use this recipe to make a three-layer 6″ cake instead, but make sure your cake pans are 3″ tall. Or use this recipe here.
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so. The recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes depending on size.
- For other conversions go here. Bake time may vary depending on pan size.
Can I make it in advance?
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temperature and rewhip before using.
- The finished cake (whole or sliced, stored airtight) can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Can I get the measurements by weight/grams?
- There is a Metric option in the recipe card. If you click it it will convert everything to grams.
- This conversion is done automatically and I cannot guarantee the accuracy but many readers have had success using the metric option for this recipe.
What if I don’t have Dutch-process cocoa powder?
- I like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder in all of my chocolate recipes, but most any kind of cocoa powder will work just fine.
- Dutch-process has had some of the acid stripped from it and yields a richer flavor overall. Again, it won’t make or break the recipe to use regular cocoa powder here.
What if I don’t have buttermilk?
- Buttermilk is not optional and cannot be swapped for milk as it will affect the overall result.
- For best results, use actual buttermilk, but if you don’t have any you can make your own at home by combining 1 cup of milk (whole milk ideally, but I often just use 1%) with 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar and letting it sit for 10mins.
Can I use hot coffee instead of hot water?
- You’ll often see this kind of chocolate cake recipe using hot coffee instead of hot water in the batter, and you can use either.
Does the sugar get mixed with the wet or dry ingredients?
- I combine the granulated sugar with the dry ingredients.
Tips for making this Homemade Chocolate Cake Recipe
- The cake batter will be very thin and liquid. This is normal! It also rises a lot so be sure not to fill your pans more than half full or so.
- If you’d prefer to use an American-style buttercream with this chocolate cake you can double my Easy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe.
- I used a 1M tip to create the frosting effect on the side of the cake.
- Be sure to use room temperature ingredients unless specified.
- I like to prepare my cake pans using Homemade Cake Release and line with parchment paper.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my How to Bake Flat Cake Layers post!
Homemade Chocolate Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 cup hot water or hot coffee
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 10 oz good quality dark chocolate chopped, melted, cooled
Assembly:
- chocolate curls or sprinkles
Instructions
Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F, grease two 8-inch cake pans and dust with cocoa powder. Line bottoms with parchment paper.
- Place all dry ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Stir to combine.
- In a medium bowl whisk all wet ingredients (pour hot water/coffee in slowly as not to cook the eggs).
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix on medium for 2-3 mins. Batter will be very thin.
- Divide batter evenly in your prepared pans. I used a kitchen scale to ensure the batter is evenly distributed.
- Bake for 40-45 mins or until a cake tester comes out mostly clean.
- Cool 10 minutes in the pans then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a double boiler on the stove and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch (approx. 3mins). Or registers 160F on a candy thermometer.
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.**
- Add cooled melted chocolate and whip until smooth.
Assembly:
- Place a layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with approx. 1 cup of buttercream and spread evenly. Place the second layer on top and do a thin crumb coat on the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Place 1 cup of frosting on top and spread evenly. Smooth the sides and flatten the top, then use a large offset spatula to do a swirl pattern on top.
- Using a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip, pipe rows of frosting around the cake, starting at the bottom. Apply even pressure as you rotate your turntable. Continue working your way up the cake to the top, making sure the seams all align at the back.
- Decorate the top with chocolate curls, pearls, and flakes if desired.
Susan Kirkland says
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday over the weekend. I used your ermine frosting recipe with cocoa also. He requested that after I made it for my mom’s cake earlier this month. (Your lemon cake was a hit too!) I have tried many chocolate cakes for him, but this one is just the best! So moist and the flavor is outstanding. I used coffee and couldn’t taste it at all – just more chocolate. I was thinking I would purchase your book. Can you tell me how it’s viewed? I read most books on the Kindle app on my phone and just wondered. You are my go-to for cake recipes! There are so many i want to try!
Olivia says
Hi Susan! I am thrilled that you both loved this one 🙂 For the ebooks, you can download them directly onto your phone. It looks like you can send them to your kindle to view there “…you can send it to your Kindle directly from your Gumroad Library” – https://customers.gumroad.com/article/208-how-do-i-send-my-gumroad-purchase-to-my-kindle. Let me know if you have any trouble with it 🙂
Kim says
Curious on the brown sugar. You mention brown sugar in some q and a questions about mixing it with dry ingredients but there isn’t brown sugar in the recipe
Olivia says
Hi Kim! Sorry for the confusion. That was a mistake! I meant regular granulated sugar.
Efrat says
Hey
The cake looks gorgeous!!
Can I sub the buttermilk W sour cream instead?
Just don’t have buttermilk 🙂
Thank you!!
Olivia says
Hi Efrat! I can’t be certain that sour cream would give the same texture. You can make your own buttermilk at home by adding 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk and letting it sit for 10mins 🙂
Sara Pourhashemi says
I want to make a 3 layer, 8” birthday cake . Your recipe is for 2 layer. Can I simply add 1/2 of the recipe to the original recipe in order to get a 3 layer cake?
If I use your original recipe , how tall will be my cake after adding the frosting in between and on top of the cake?
Also is the cake texture stable enough to cover my cake with fondant since the fondant is heavy in weight ?
Olivia says
Hi Sara! Yes, you can 1.5x the recipe for three 8″ layers. Change the Servings to 18 to get the amounts. Each of the cake layers should be about 1.5-2″ tall. The cake layers are heavy but also delicate. The should work fine with fondant provided it isn’t too heavy.
Alli says
I made this recipe once before, and it is SO GOOD! I got compliments from everybody, and people even asking for the recipe!! It’s fluffy, soo moist, and a rich chocolatey flavour. It is without doubt the best chocolate cake i’ve ever had. I’m going to make it again today, but I just realized I’m out of AP flour, so will this recipe work with cake flour? Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Alli! I’m so thrilled you love this one. Cake flour should work too, but it will make the cake more delicate so just keep that in mind 🙂
Melanie says
This recipe looks delicious!! If I were to bake these in 3 6″ pans, how tall would the cake be? (after stacking/height of each layer) Thanks!!
Olivia says
Hi Melanie! I would make sure your pans are 3″ tall. Each cake layer will bake up to be slightly over 2″ tall. Or you could use this recipe (https://livforcake.com/chocolate-dulce-de-leche-cake/) and they’ll bake right to the top of three 6×2″ pans.
kate says
i have tried this twice and in the merengue stage i can’t get it to whip to stiff peaks. i rube down my bowls with vinegar/lemon juice and usually make merengue but this egg white syrup just won’t work… i really need help.
Olivia says
Hi Kate! Are you using a stand mixer or a hand mixer to make it? See this post for tips and troubleshooting: https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/
Maria says
Hi Olivia,
The recipe looks fab. Do you know if it would hold well for a tiered cake, of course using dowels.
Many thanks
Olivia says
Hi Maria! Properly supported with dowels it should work just fine!
Hayley says
Hey liv!
If I want to make these layers in 2x 6” tins, the websites you’ve shared below suggest multiplying the recipe by 0.56. Would I need to double this as there are two tins or does that number just apply to the whole recipe ?
Olivia says
Hi Hayley! For best results and proper height of cake layers I would recommend making 2/3 of this recipe (https://livforcake.com/chocolate-dulce-de-leche-cake/). You can change the Servings to 8 to get the amounts you’ll need for two 6″ pans.
Chris says
Can I make this an egg less cake? Would I just leave the eggs out and add a bit more oil?
Olivia says
Hi Chris! No, both the cake and frosting require eggs.
Kim says
Chris – I do this all the time with cupcakes using this recipe and it’s amazing! I use 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce (1/4 c for each egg) and it’s crazy moist, the only issue is that is doesn’t bake up quite as high so expect that. I did a taste test with this recipe + eggs vs applesauce and the applesauce won! Tho both are delish.
Olivia says
Thanks so much for the tip, Kim!
Ruth says
Hey,
My cakes didn’t rise much at all even though I followed the recipe exactly. Any idea on what may have caused it? 😞
Thanks,
Ruth
Ruth says
The only thing I changed was the size of the cake tins – I used 9 inch rather than 8 inch. Would this have made a huge difference?
Thanks,
Ruth
Olivia says
Hi Ruth! Yes, changing the pan size without increasing the recipe would make a big difference. See here for conversions: https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts The cakes should rise a lot though, almost double in size, so be sure to check that your baking powder/soda are fresh and active too.
Lyssa says
Hi Olivia! You continue to be my go-to gal for the best cakes in the world! I want to make a tiger colored cake for my son’s birthday (some refer to as zebra cake?) and I was wondering if I can layer this recipe with your vanilla cake recipe to create the effect. Only hiccup might be the baking time? Could these two batters marry well, and for how long would you bake 8″ cakes?
Olivia says
Hi Lyssa! I don’t think mixing the batters will work as they are very different consistencies. The best thing to do would probably be to add some cocoa powder to a portion of the vanilla cake batter to color it 🙂
Lyssa says
Okay, thanks! I’m so glad I asked!
Lyssa` says
Okay, thanks Olivia! I’m so glad I asked before attempting!
Allyson says
Your chocolate cake recipe is indeed the best! I doubled the recipe and ended up with two beautiful cakes for Father’s Day. Just dropped off one to my Dad in 30 degree C + weather and the frosting held up spectacularly well in the heat.
Olivia says
Hi Allyson! Amazing! So happy to hear that. Glad you love it and I hope your dad did too 🙂
Ran says
Hi Can I half the recipe?
Olivia says
Hi Ran! Yes, that won’t be a problem.
Brandy says
This is definitely the BEST Chocolate Cake recipe! It was so incredibly easy to make and it tastes AH-Mazing!! The cake is super moist, perfectly rich, and oh so chocolatey. And the Chocolate SMBC is SOOO GOOD!! It reminds me of a light and fluffy mousse!! To other reviewers and commenters: I wouldn’t recommend deviating from the recipe because it turned out perfect!! It was even BETTER the next day!! Thank you Liv for another GREAT recipe and for all the great tips!
Olivia says
Hi Brandy! I am so glad you love the cake and the frosting! Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback 🙂
Julia says
Hi Olivia 🙂
The chocolate cake is really delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Mine was not as good-looking as yours though, the batter didn’t rise much and had a lot of deep cracks. I used (makeshift) cake strips and cut half of the sugar. Do you maybe know what I have done wrong?
Thank you in advance!!
Greetings from Germany
Olivia says
Hi Julia! So glad you loved it but sorry you had some trouble! Cutting out that much sugar would have affected the structure of the cake. I would try the recipe as-is and see if you have the same problems.
Jazmin says
I didn’t see any where how long to cool the melted chocolate before adding it to the SMBC??
Olivia says
Hi Jazmin! You just want to make sure it’s completely cool to the touch or else it will melt the buttercream. You don’t want it so cool that it starts to set back up though. I would stir it often while it’s cooling and test it with your finger. I find that if I melt the chocolate first, before I start making the buttercream, it will be cool enough by the time I’m ready to use it.
Mimi Madisha says
Tis by far the best chocolate cake i have ever made . Always use it fr my clients . Thank you
Olivia says
Hi Mimi! Thank you! I’m so happy you love it 🙂
Erin says
Any advise on how to make this as a half sheet cake?
Olivia says
Hi Erin! What size pan is that exactly? Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here are some sites I use as a guideline:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Cake_tin_conversion_charts
Jayne says
Hi, can I use this recipe for a rolled cake? I really like the taste of this chocolate cake and was wondering if there was any changes I could make so that I could make this into a swiss roll.
Olivia says
Hi Jayne! Hmm, I am not certain it would work well. Normally for a swiss roll you use a sponge cake recipe like I have here: https://livforcake.com/watercolor-cake-roll/