If you’ve been wanting to learn how to make chocolate cake from scratch, I am here to tell you that it’s so much easier than you think!
Whether this is your first time or you’re a seasoned baker, it takes very little time and effort to make a moist, rich chocolate cake that will wow your friends and family. You’ll never go back to store-bought chocolate cake.
No fancy ingredients or complicated steps. Simply whip up a no-fuss batter, divide it in two for a layered cake, make a fluffy chocolate buttercream, and frost the baked cake! Yes, it’s that easy. Plus, there’s one secret ingredient that will take your chocolate cake to the next level: Coffee. Brewed coffee adds nuance and amplifies the flavor of the chocolate. I highly recommend it if you are serious about chocolate!
If you’re looking for different kinds of chocolate cake, then I’ve got you covered with my chocolate lava cake recipe, German chocolate cake, flourless chocolate cake recipe, and many more!
What You Need to Make this Recipe
All-purpose flour — all-purpose flour gives you a moist crumb while also giving the chocolate cake structure.
Cocoa powder — as there is plenty of sugar in this cake recipe, be sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder. You need cocoa powder for the cake batter and the creamy buttercream frosting.
Leavening agents — yes, you need both to help the cake rise well. Check the expiration date on these items before using them. They become less effective as time goes on.
Milk — I recommend using whole milk for a rich, moist chocolate cake and extra creamy buttercream.
Eggs — bring the eggs to room temperature before using them. Simply set them out 30 minutes to an hour before you intend to start baking.
Vegetable oil — A vegetable oil, like canola oil, adds moisture to the cake.
Boiling water — the water must be hot! Hot water helps to bring out more of that incredible chocolate flavor, as well as adding to the moisture of the cake. Or, use hot brewed coffee instead (more on that below).
How to Make Chocolate Cake
1. Sift the dry ingredients (flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) into a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
2. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (milk, egg, oil, and vanilla). Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk it all until well incorporated.
3. Pour in the boiling water and whisk again. You will end up with a runny cake batter. (It will be runnier than you expect, but don’t be tempted to add more flour.)
4. Grease 2 round 9-inch cake pans and line the bottom of each with parchment paper to make removing the chocolate cake easier. If you have them, use cake strips to help the cakes bake more evenly. Once the cake pans are prepared, divide the cake batter evenly between them. Bake the cakes for 35 minutes at 350°F or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Keep the cakes in the baking pans on a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then carefully invert them onto the wire racks. Let them cool completely.
5. While the cakes are cooling, you can prepare the decadent chocolate buttercream frosting. You’ll need a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for this part. In the bowl of the stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and salt and mix on low to incorporate them. Scrape the bowl.
6. Keep the speed on low and add a little powdered sugar at a time, alternating with small amounts of milk (up to 4 tablespoons total of whole milk). Once you’ve added all the sugar, add the vanilla extract and beat on medium-low speed for approximately 1 minute, until you have a fluffy buttercream.
7. Once the cakes have cooled completely, it’s time to assemble your chocolate cake! Place one layer on a cake stand and top it with 1 cup of frosting. Spread the frosting right to the edges before carefully placing the other cake layer on top.
8. Spread the rest of the frosting on top and around the sides of the cake. If you’re feeling fancy, you can save some of the buttercream frosting to pipe decorations. If decorating a cake is overwhelming for you, get some ideas in my cake decorating tutorial. Or just serve a simple frosted chocolate cake: It will get devoured regardless!
Pro Tips for Making this Recipe
- Ingredient temperature matters. Use room temperature eggs and butter. Room temperature eggs give you a fluffier cake, and room temperature butter creams better for a feather-light buttercream frosting.
- Measure the flour correctly. One of the top complaints when it comes to baking cakes is that the cake turns out “floury”, and this is due to using too much flour. The best way to get the right amount of flour is to measure it using a kitchen scale. Alternatively, you can spoon flour into a cup and then scrape a knife across to level it out. Scooping directly from the flour bag or container will inevitably lead to using too much of it.
- Keep the cake moist for longer. For a cake that has even more moisture, substitute ⅓ cup of the whole milk for sour cream. This will give you a cake that will stay moist for longer, which is helpful if you plan to make it ahead or keep it for a few days after baking. Note that the batter will be a bit thicker than if you only used milk.
- Amplify the chocolate flavor. To take the chocolatey-ness to the next level, use hot brewed coffee instead of water. Or add 1 tablespoon espresso powder to the wet ingredients. The cake will not taste like coffee, I promise! Coffee simply amplifies the flavor of the chocolate for a richer, more decadent cake.
- Get perfectly flat layers every time. Cake strips are a must for flat, evenly baked, professional-looking cakes. If you don’t have any on hand, they’re really easy to make with some aluminum foil and paper towels! Check out my easy DIY cake strip tutorial for more details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cocoa powder is very absorbent and drying, which can lead to dry, crumbly chocolate cake. That’s why you make this chocolate cake recipe with oil, milk, and hot water (or hot coffee) — these ingredients help counteract that dryness, and will give you a moist, velvety crumb.
Yes, this is an ideal make-ahead recipe. Since cooling the chocolate cake layers can take a while, you can bake the cakes a night in advance, and then frost them the next day.
Or you can make everything well in advance and freeze it. Once the cakes are cooled, wrap each layer separately in plastic wrap. Then place them into freezer-safe bags and store in the freezer. Spoon the buttercream frosting into a freezer bag or freezer-safe container and freeze. The cake and frosting can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before frosting the cake and serving.
Chocolate buttercream frosting is an easy, classic choice for a chocolate cake, but you have a bunch of different options! If you’re looking for something a little different, try chocolate ganache, vanilla buttercream, cream cheese frosting, strawberry buttercream, or even mocha frosting!
You can store homemade chocolate cake at room temperature or in the refrigerator. If you plan on eating it within 2 or 3 days, simply keep it on your kitchen counter under a cake dome. To store it for a little longer, refrigerate it instead.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Chocolate Cake
Video
Equipment
- 9" round baking pans
- Mixing Bowls
- Electric mixer
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (50g)
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup milk (240mL)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil (180mL)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water (240ml)
For the Chocolate Buttercream:
- 1½ cups unsalted butter room temperature (338g)
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (25g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 cups powdered sugar (680g)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons milk (45-60mL)
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with butter or baking spray and line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. (I highly recommend using cake strips for a more even bake.)
- Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, oil, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and whisk together until well combined. Pour in the boiling water and whisk until well combined. (The batter will be runny.)
- Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes. Carefully invert the cake layers onto the wire rack, remove the parchment paper, and let cool completely.
For the Chocolate Buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and salt and mix on low speed until combined. Scrape the bowl down.
- While mixing on low speed, gradually add in the powdered sugar alternating with a little bit of milk on occasion up to 4 tablespoons. Once the sugar is added, beat in the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl and beat on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
For the Assembly:
- Place a cooled cake layer on a cake stand. Top with 1 cup of frosting and spread it out the edges in an even layer. Place the remaining cake layer on top and spread the rest of the frosting all over the outside of the cake. You can reserve some of the frosting to pipe decorations if desired.
Notes
- Ingredient temperature matters. Use room temperature eggs and butter. Room temperature eggs give you a fluffier cake, and room temperature butter creams better for a feather-light buttercream frosting.
- Measure the flour correctly. One of the top complaints when it comes to baking cakes is that the cake turns out “floury”, and this is due to using too much flour. The best way to get the right amount of flour is to measure it using a kitchen scale. Alternatively, you can spoon flour into a cup and then scrape a knife across to level it out. Scooping directly from the flour bag or container will inevitably lead to using too much of it.
- Keep the cake moist for longer. For a cake that has even more moisture, substitute ⅓ cup of the whole milk for sour cream. This will give you a cake that will stay moist for longer, which is helpful if you plan to make it ahead or keep it for a few days after baking. Note that the batter will be a bit thicker than if you only used milk.
- Amplify the chocolate flavor. To take the chocolatey-ness to the next level, use hot brewed coffee instead of water. Or add 1 tablespoon espresso powder to the wet ingredients. The cake will not taste like coffee, I promise! Coffee simply amplifies the flavor of the chocolate for a richer, more decadent cake.
- Get perfectly flat layers every time. Cake strips are a must for flat, evenly baked, professional-looking cakes. (If you don’t have any on hand, they’re really easy to make with some aluminum foil and paper towels! Check out my easy DIY cake strip tutorial for more details.)
Elizabeth Clementine says
Hi John! I can’t thank you enough for this recipe!
I made it for mu boyfriend’s birthday and it was amazing! Everyone can’t stop praising how delicious this cake is. This is totally going to be my go to chocolate cake recipe.
I actually cut down the sugar to 490g, added a touch of rum and covered it with rich chocolate ganache and it was perfect!
Thank you so much! Will definitely try another cake recipe of yours 🙂
Have a good day!
John K. says
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you! I’m so glad to hear everyone enjoyed it! It really is THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE!! The way you finished off the cake sounded great! What will you bake next?!
A good day to you too!
Best,
John
Elizabeth Clementine says
I would love to try dulce de leche!
Anyway I am wondering if the chocolate cake recipe can be use for other cake flavor, like replacing the cocoa powder with flour and change the liquid coffee to earl grey tea? Will that work?
Please share another recipe for earl grey cake or lemon poppy seed cake next time!
Beck Daniel says
Made this cake for a birthday party. I frosted it with a vanilla Swiss Buttercream frosting and I really liked the results. The icing was not overly sweet. Because I have family members who are celiac sensitive I also made a second cake using Gluten Free flour from King Arthur Flour (GF flour is available from other vendors, but I used King Arthur). They have a GF flour which is a substitute for all purpose flour. The cake came out with practically no difference in taste than the cake baked with AP flour. The GF cake seemed a little more dense but practically speaking no one saw a difference between the two cakes.
Great recipe.
John K. says
Hey Beck,
That is very good to hear! I’m glad you and your family and friends enjoyed it!!
Happy baking!
John
Ria Harlie says
Hi John,
I’m so lucky found your blog. I tried this recipe and it’s amazing! Awsome recipe! Simple to make and the cake is very good.
But it’s too sweet for me. How much sugar I can reduce? Thanks a lot ^^
John K. says
Hello Ria,
It makes me so glad to hear you enjoy Preppy Kitchen!! One of my moms favorite things is reducing sugar in recipes! You can comfortably take out 1/3 of the sugar. This will work for the American Flag Cake too! 🙂
If you really want to make it less sweet, MAKE AN ITALIAN OR SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM! Just fold in semi melted and cooled, semi sweet chocolate until you are happy with the flavor profile.
Happy Baking, Ria!
John
Pam says
Hi John
This chocolate cake does look amazing bug I have two questions. I’m guessing you use vegetable oil for tenderness. I try not to use vegetable or as little as possible since it’s not the healthiest. Are you using it for the tenderness it provides instead of using butter in your cake recipes? Second question is when using smaller cake pans than is called for in recipes how far up should you fill the smaller pans? Is there a rule of thumb?
You are the best in making videos as everything is very clear and easy to understand.
Many thanks
Phoebii says
Hi John,
I would like to try baking this ultimate chocolate cake. Can I ask if I can omit the sourcream from this recipe? will it affect the texture of the cake totally?
Thank you
Barbara A Thomas says
Hi John..I made your cake yesterday and it was sooo good! I brought some to work and my co-workers loved it also!!! My only comment would be the confectioners sugar measurement. It would have been easier if it said how many cups to use but it’s no big deal. The frosting was just as good as the cake. I use a brand of butter from France called “President” butter so it made a great frosting. (I live in Florida) So Thank You so much John..I agree with another persons comment that “it is almost too good to share”
John K. says
Hi Barbara,
Thank you, I’m so glad you and everyone who tried the cake, enjoyed it! I use pounds for the confectioners sugar because the bags are usually labeled by the pound. I will keep it in mind though!
Happy baking!
John
Melissa says
I made this for my grandsons birthday! Our little chocoholic loved it, as did everyone else. I was a little worried about the buttercream because it seemed softer than what I am use to, but it smoothed beautifully. Thanks so much for this!
John K. says
Hey Melissa,
Im so glad the birthday boy and everyone else loved it! As for the buttercream, I would just add in a little more confectioners sugar if you want it a bit more thick.
Best,
John
Melissa Calhoun says
Actually I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the buttercream went on the cake and how easy it was to work with, it ended up being a perfect consistency. And the taste was so good I don’t even have words!
John K. says
Hey Melissa,
That’s good to hear! I’m so glad you liked it and it was easy to assemble! What will you bake next?
Best,
John
Melissa Calhoun says
This past weekend I made this cake into cupcakes for a bridal shower. I also made your vanilla cupcakes and added a swirl of strawberry puree to them with your strawberry buttercream. More than once we were asked who made the cupcakes because they were the best they had ever had! Of course I gave you the honors for your recipe’s! I am now converted from a doctored cake mix girl to scratch only! You are such a talented man and I am so grateful I found your YouTube channel!
Kylie says
Thank you so much for this recipe!! It’s so super easy to make and oh my gosh the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made!! I made it for my partner for Father’s Day and we all loved it! It’s so so moist and the great thing is it’s not super sweet! I replaced the cocoa with caoco which was also great 🙂
Patricia A Foley says
I so enjoy your site and conveniently my husband wants chocolate cake for his birthday next week. I want to bake the cake in 2 or 3, six inch pans, how much do I fill each one? Thanks!
John K. says
Hey Patricia,
I would just make sure to eye it out so they all look even, probably about an inch of batter each.
I hope this helps!
Best,
John
Chitra says
Hi john
What are the measurements for two 6” pans
jkanell says
I might halve the recipe then
Elly says
I definitely will be making this cake for my son’s birthday but for now I made just this icing to go over vanilla cupcakes for my daughter’s daycare OMG seriously the frosting is delicious. I licked the bowl clean? Thanks John, love watching your videos!