What Kind Of Cocoa Powder Did You Use
I used Hersheys Unsweetened Cocoa Powder in order to use a brand that is most widely available to my readers. Im also fond of using higher quality cocoa powders like Ghiradellis or cocoa powders from specialty chocolatier shops, but those are pretty pricey. I dont recommend using cheap store brands.
Can I Use A Can Of Soda Instead Of Water/eggs/oil
Substituting a can of soda for the other wet ingredients can amplify the flavors of your cake. Substitute the usual oil and eggs in cake mix for a 12 oz. can of soda. Opt for Coke, root beer or Dr. Pepper to intensify chocolate cake. Lighter sodas like Sprite go well with lighter cakes like vanilla, lemon, or yellow cake.
The cake rises magically and has a subtle but pleasant taste of the cola you choose.
Cake mix. Soda. Thats all you need.
How To Make Chocolate Box Cake Better With Pudding Mix
How to make chocolate box cake better with pudding:
Simply add one box of Jell-O instant pudding to a box of cake mix.
The gelatinous nature helps with super moist, fluffy texture of the cake.
Tip: Add sour cream or cream cheese for a little bit of tang. Its similar to using buttermilk!
Think outside the box.
- 1 box of cake mix
- 1 package Jell-O instant pudding mix
- 3/4 cup sour cream or cream cheese
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
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How To Make Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Bake the cake in an 8-inch round cake pan. Make sure you grease the pan with nonstick cooking AND line it with parchment paper. I also grease the parchment paper after it goes in the pan. You dont want the cake to stick.
- Make sure you use the best chocolate for the recipe so you get the best chocolate flavor. You can use chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate.
- I use semi-sweet chocolate but if you like darker chocolate, bittersweet would work well too.
- I use Dutch process cocoa because it gives the cake a deep, chocolate flavor.
- I melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, but you can melt it on low in a pan using the stove top.
- Dont over bake the cake. You want it to be nice and fudgy. It is done when the center reads 200°F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Let the cake cool completely before adding the chocolate ganache glaze.
- After the cake is glazed, let the glaze set up before cutting. I like to put it in the refrigerator for a few hours so the glaze can set up.
- Serve the cake with a dusting of powdered sugar and fresh raspberries. We also like to serve whipped cream or ice cream on the side balance out the rich chocolate cake.
Is this flourless chocolate cake gluten-free? YES, there is no flour in the recipe. And dont let the gluten-free part scare you if you normally dont do gluten-free, this seriously is the BEST chocolate cake. I cant say it enough.
How To Make A Perfect Chocolate Drip With Any Kind Of Chocolate
A lot of people ask me how to make a chocolate drip for their drip cakes. I normally use water ganache for my drips with white chocolate and food coloring. This makes some colorful drips but sometimes you want a nice decadent chocolate drip.
Drip cakes seem to be the new naked cake and are very on trend right now. Getting the perfect drip can be frustrating if youre a drip cake novice. But dont worry, Im going to break it down for you and teach you how to make the perfect chocolate drip.
If youve never made a drip cake, dont worry. Its not very complicated at all. I often notice in my cake newbs cake decorating group that people have the most problems with the consistency of their drip. Either too thick or too thin.
A chocolate drip that is too thin either contains too much liquid or is too hot
So lets dive into those two problems and how to avoid them when creating the perfect chocolate drip
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Grease Cake Pans Properly
Never worry about broken cakes again.
Keep cakes from sticking to pans with this magical cake pan release :
Cake Pan Release Ingredients
- 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
Cake Pan Release Instructions
Tip: If you have an oven that heats unevenly, choose a 2 inch deep cake pan. 3 inch deep cakes can be finicky. Fill cake pans up to 2/3 full. 3 inch deep cake pans should only be filled up to 1/2 full.
Important! A high-quality cake pan can make or break your cake. Avoid cheap cake pans as they can overcook around the edges, under cook in the center, and cause rough cake texture. Choose metal cake pans for even heating.
How To Decorate Chocolate Cake
Homemade frosting is easy and honestly the best .
If youre in a hurry, one can of frosting will cover a sheet cake or be enough for cupcakes, but two cans are needed for three layers .
We love changing the flavor of this recipe just by changing the delicious frosting we top it with!
- For a cool flavor option, try Peppermint Buttercream Frosting.
- Or any regular buttercream frosting recipe will do. To make it suit any occasion, try tinting with food coloring, like pink or yellow!
Sprinkle on multi-colored sprinkles or chocolate jimmies. This is the best chocolate cake recipe for birthdays, so get some fun candles and celebrate someone special! They will love this yummy birthday treat!
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Mixing Dry & Wet Ingredients
6. Pour 1 cup water .
7. Pour 1/3 cup oil . I have used organic virgin coconut oil. Do use some light oil otherwise the cake may smell oily.
8. Next add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Yes this cake needs more vanilla than the other recipes. However if you prefer less you may use only half of it.
9. Add 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or vinegar. Make sure you use good quality vinegar. I have used organic apple cider vinegar.
10. Mix all these well gently with a whisk or a spatula just until well combined.
11. You will notice that the cake batter begins to bubble up. The acidic ingredient vinegar or lemon juice begins to react with the baking soda. Do not over mix at this stage, it may make the cake dense.
Chocolate Cake Recipe Variations
This chocolate cake recipe has been the most popular post on Foodess.com for years it has been pinned hundreds of thousands of times, and for good reason! Everyone who makes it falls in love, and everyone who tastes it asks for the recipe. You wont be disappointed. Its still my go-to, no-fail, delicious chocolate cake recipe for every birthday, celebration, or Valentines Day.
Ive made many variations on it since it was originally posted, and due to popular request have shared the Fluffy Chocolate Frosting recipe to go with it. Ive also made it as Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Oreo Cream Cheese Frosting and as Caramallow Cupcakes chocolate cupcakes filled with creamy caramel and topped with deliciously sticky marshmallow frosting. That frosting, also known as seven-minute frosting, was the way we enjoyed chocolate cake most often when I was a kid and is still probably my top choice. Another favourite way to enjoy this beloved cake is very simply with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries.
This chocolate cake recipe freezes beautifully and Ill typically make it a few days in advance when preparing for a party. Just wrap the cooled cakes well in plastic wrap before popping them into freezer bags. Freeze them until ready to use, and you can frost them while still cold . I do make sure that its at room temperature by the time its served for best texture . If you love this one, Ive got lots more cake recipes be sure to check them out!
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Why Do You Add Coffee To Your Chocolate Cake
I like to add hot coffee to my chocolate cake for two reasons. The first reason is that hot liquid blooms the cocoa powder, which gives it more depth of flavor.
The second reason I add coffee to my chocolate cake is that it intensifies the chocolate flavor. Your cake will not taste like coffee, rather it will have more richly chocolate. However, you can substitute the hot coffee with very hot water if you prefer.
Make A Variety Of Chocolate Decorations
The Spruce / Elizabeth LaBau
You can experiment with making a variety of curls, fans, swaths, and other shapes out of your molding chocolate. You will find that small differences in the movement and pressure of the slicer will produce big differences in your chocolate decorations. Play around and have fun!
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Best Chocolate Cake Recipe
Dessert 40 mins
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This is the easiest 9×13 chocolate cake recipe Ive ever made. Adjusted from my Best Chocolate Cake that everyone absolutely loves, Ive now made the cake even easier and sized for a 9×13 sheet cake!
One of the recipes that I receive the most emails about is my Best Chocolate Cake Recipe. Generally, the emails are asking me if they can omit the espresso powder, if they can substitute this or that, or if it can be made into either a major multi-tiered confection for an upcoming wedding or something similar. But last week, I received an email asking if the cake could be made into a 9×13 recipe.
Rather than simply responding with a quick, Yes to the email, I headed to the kitchen to make it so that I could show you.
Pour Into Cake Pans & Bake
Next, divide the batter evenly into the two prepared cake pans. You can either eyeball it or actually measure. I like to put 1 cup of batter at a time into each cake pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean or with a few crumbs.
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How To Tell If A Cake Is Done
- A great way to check if a cake is done is to insert a wooden toothpick into the cake and if the wooden pick comes out clean, it is ready.
- If you dont have a toothpick, gently press on the cake and it should spring back. If the cake leaves an indent of a fingerprint, it needs a few more minutes.
Remove them from the oven and allow to cool either on a rack or on a kitchen towel on the counter. You will want to make sure they are fully cooled before moving onto decorating your cake or cupcakes. This keeps the icing from melting and sliding off! Wed hate to waste any delicious frosting!
Soften And Skim A Layer Of Chocolate
The Spruce / Elizabeth LaBau
To create a chocolate piece that fans out in waves, first warm the chocolate slightly by placing it in a warm oven for 5 seconds. Remove the chocolate from the oven and attempt to make a curl or wave with the cheese slicer. If it chips off in small pieces, return it to the oven to warm for another few seconds. Do not let it melt! You simply want the chocolate to be pliable.
Once it’s ready, use light pressure and run the cheese slicer down the block of chocolate. You want to skim off a thin layer, not cut into the chocolate.
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Chocolate Cake Recipe: Ingredients And Substitutions
Many people ask how to make a cake super moist. It’s all in the ingredients. I made sure to choose ingredients that would create a moist chocolate cake with a rich chocolate flavor that everyone raves about. So let’s chat about the ingredients and some possible substitutions – although it took me years to perfect this chocolate cake recipe so I really don’t suggest tampering with it.
Faqs About How To Make Chocolate Cake From Scratch
Here are my answers to some commonly asked questions about making this homemade chocolate cake recipe.
Can you double this recipe?
Yes! This recipe is easily doubled and baked in two, 9″ round cake pans. This is a great option if you will be making the cake for a large crowd. When I make this recipe as written for my family of 7, everyone usually eats three servings before the cake is gone.
How do you make a moist chocolate cake?
This recipe yields the best, moist chocolate cake ever. To ensure it turns out that way be careful not to over-bake, and measure all the ingredients properly and precisely.
How do you decorate a chocolate birthday cake?
I use either this chocolate buttercream frosting or homemade vanilla frosting to decorate this easy chocolate cake recipe. I use the following tools to decorate : Piping tips and couplers – I recommend a great starter tip and coupler set. However I always make this rosette style cake with a Wilton 1M tip and large coupler. Pastry Scraper. I use this pastry scraper to make a smooth crumb coat. I love it so much!
If you make something from JoyFoodSunshine I would love to see your creations. Follow along with me on , , , and . Tag me in your photos #joyfoodsunshine @joyfoodsunshine Don’t forget to rate this recipe and leave a comment below.
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Easy Chocolate Cake Ingredients
No fancy ingredients here but some people ask me about substitutions.
This recipe calls for hot coffee which intensifies the flavor of the chocolate. It doesnt make the cake taste like coffee at all. If you dont want to use coffee, you can substitute a dark beer like Guinness or just hot water.
Im using Hersheys cocoa powder for this recipe because its a natural cocoa powder that is a little acidic. That acid reacts with the baking soda and actually tenderizes the gluten and makes the cake extra moist.
If you dont have Hersheys cocoa powder or want to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder like Cocoa Barry extra brut , then replace the baking soda with baking powder.
The oil in this recipe all makes the cake extra moist, if you want your cake to be even more moist, you can add an extra ounce of oil. Oil-based cakes always stay softer than butter-based cakes but they are a bit more delicate.