Moist Chocolate Cake Step By Step
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
MAKE THE CAKE Preheat the oven to 325F . Mist three 8-inch cake pans with cake release spray and line with parchment paper. You can also use two 9-inch cake tins.
Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine. Make sure there are no lumps lurking in there!
Combine the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract and mix well.
Add the egg mixture and the hot coffee into the bowl and stir well to combine until you have a smooth, rather thin, batter.
Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake for 25 minutes for 8 inch layers or up to 35 minutes for 9 inch layers. The cake is ready when coming away from the edges of the tin and feels springy to the touch.
Cool in the tins for 10 minutes then gently turn out to a wire rack to cool completely. This chocolate cake is moist and rather delicate so treat with care when turning out of the tins.
MAKE THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Place in a bowl, microwave for 40 seconds, stir and repeat until they melt. Set aside to cool slightly.
FROST THE CAKE Sandwich the cake layers with a generous amount of frosting, spreading it with an offset spatula.
Drizzle the chocolate ganache around the edge of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Slice, serve and enjoy!
How To Make It
To make the cake, you just need a large mixing bowl and a whisk!
It comes together so quickly and easily and bakes into a beautiful 9 x 13 cake that everyone just loves!
I put together a quick little video to show you just how easy the cake is to mix together. Seriously the easiest and most delicious cake ever, I think!
Heres the 9×13 Chocolate Cake Recipe. I think you are going to just love how simple it is!
What Is The Best Way To Freeze This Chocolate Cake
Homemade chocolate cake can be frozen as well. The best way is to take your frosted cake and place it on a freezer-safe pant, unwrapped and uncovered in the freezer for 4 to 5 hours. Once frozen place it in a freezer bag or wrap it with plastic wrap really well. It will last up to 12 months in the freezer.
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Recipes That Use This Chocolate Cake As A Starting Point
This chocolate cake recipe is so simple and easy to make, in addition to being delicious, that it has actually become the base for many other flavor combinations Ive made and its always a hit! Nutella Chocolate Cake anyone? Baileys Chocolate Poke Cake? Mint Chocolate Chip Layer Cake, Turtle Chocolate Layer Cake, Red Wine Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Oreo Cake and more chocolate cake recipes. All made with this one easy chocolate cake as a starting point.
How To Make Chocolate Cake From Scratch
When making a chocolate cake, please dont make substitutions the first time, this really is best chocolate cake recipe, and you need to know how the cake is going to turn out before meddling. If you must, please see our suggestions below.
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The Most Amazing White Cake
The Most Amazing White Cake recipe is light and airy, and absolutely gorgeous. This is the white cake youve been dreaming of!
The Most Amazing White Cake recipe is light and airy, and absolutely gorgeous. This is the white cake youve been dreaming of!
Ever since the Most Amazing Chocolate Cake became a viral sensation, people have been begging for a Most Amazing White Cake. It took ten rounds of experimentation and testing to perfect the white cake, but weve finally reached the one. Well continue on with a bunch of tips and trips to give you your best chance at success with this cake. White cakes are more finicky and tricky than chocolate cakes, but when made well, they are absolutely perfect and blow those boxed cake mixes out of the water.
What Does Adding Coffee To Chocolate Cake Do
The most intense and delicious chocolate cake you will ever taste is created by blending a little coffee with cocoa. Chocolate simply tastes better when it is enhanced with coffee. The rich, chocolatey flavor of this cake is deepened by the addition of chocolate. Coffee can be replaced with water if you dont like it.
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Why Isnt There Coffee In This Recipe
Some recipes call for coffee to bring out the rich deep flavors of chocolate. I use a different method, blooming. Blooming cocoa powder is mixing the cocoa powder with a hot liquid, like hot water or melted butter.
For this cake, simply mix hot water into the cake batter before its baked. The hot water reacts with the cocoa powder in the batter, enhancing its rich chocolate flavor. I dont even boil the water. Just use hot tap water.
For the frosting, the cocoa powder is bloomed by mixing it with melted butter, creating intense deep chocolate flavor.
How To Make Chocolate Cake
This chocolate cake is also made with oil, instead of butter. Its makes SUCH a moist cake! Additionally, I often make this cake with dark chocolate cocoa. It gives the cake an even more rich chocolate flavor. That said, regular cocoa works too and is also wonderful.
One thing to note is that this chocolate cake has a very thin batter. And no, its not a typo its a slow-bake cake and bakes at 300 degrees.
So, heres how you make it:
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Soak And Stack The Cake Layers
Stack and frost cake layers on a greaseproof cake board, using a dab of chocolate buttercream to help stick the first cake layer to the board.
Before you add each cake layer, use a silicone brush to soak the top of the cake layer with chocolate simple syrup.
Spread an even layer of chocolate buttercream on top of each cake layer with a large offset spatula.
Top with some mini chocolate chips to add a little texture to each bite of this cake.
Repeat with the remaining cake layers, then freeze the cake for about 10 minutes in the freezer.
This will help the buttercream between the cake layers firm up and make the cake way easier to frost.
This Chocolate Cake Recipe Is Amazing When You Want To Bake A Cake From Scratch
This is seriously the chocolate cake recipe ever! And what better way to say i love you, self than with a small chocolate cake recipe from scratch? Check out how to make a simple super moist chocolate cake from scratch. Making a delicious chocolate cake from scratch may sound intimidating but rest assured, the recipe we are talking about is really easy to make and the results are almost guaranteed.
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The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever
It was great to hear that they thought the cake was just as good after their last bite as they thought it was with their first.
Heres another great thing about this recipe. The cake batter really can be made in a bowl without the use of a heavy duty mixer. Of course, that just makes things easier, but this is easily a recipe my Grandmother would have enjoyed making in her tiny kitchen with a whisk and a bowl. And Im sure it would have turned out perfectly, too.
Im not going to kid you, this makes a very rich, moist chocolate cake recipe. So if you are a faint of heart chocolate cake person, this is not the cake for you.
Based on the Old Fashioned Hersheys recipe, I sort of went a bit heavy-handed with some changes testing cake after cake until I got it just the way I wanted it, but the end result was oh so worth it. The crumbs left on the plate gave that away.
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.
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Tips For Making The Best Death By Chocolate Cake
- Ingredients at room temp mix together better! Be sure you set out any cold ingredients ahead of time.
- Be sure to properly measure your flour . Or better yet, use a kitchen scale to measure your dry ingredients.
- Mix your cake batter just until the ingredients are incorporated. This will ensure your cake layers are tender and fluffy.
- Use a scale to weigh your cake pans as you fill them. Make sure each pan has the same amount of batter will make your cake layers bake to the same height and bake more evenly.
- Bang your cake pans on the counter before putting it in the oven. This brings any air bubbles that are trapped in the batter to the surface.
- Level your room temperature or thawed cake layers with a serrated knife to make them easier to stack.
- Chill your cake layers in the freezer for about 20 minutes before assembling the cake and before adding the simple syrup. It makes it so much easier to stack and frost them!
Gather The Ingredients And Tools
Lets gather together all of the ingredients and tools first. For this homemade chocolate cake you will need the following:
Chocolate Cake Batter
Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting
For the homemade chocolate buttercream frosting you will need the following:
- Unsalted butter. You may use salted butter too if you like. The butter will add flavor, texture, and body to your frosting.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder. The cocoa powder is what gives it the chocolate taste, mmm chocolate.
- Powdered Sugar/Confectioners Sugar. The powdered sugar, also known as confectioners or icing sugar, is the main sweetness element for the frosting.
- Milk. Again we will add milk to give our frosting the consistency that we want. Use your favorite kind of milk.
- Vanilla Extract. Again as with the cake, the vanilla will add flavor to the frosting.
Tools
For the tools you will need:
- 2 9-inch cake pans. Although you can also use a 9×13 inch pan too if you like.
- Cake spatula. Spatulas that are designed for cakes are very handy for frosting cakes.
- Hand mixer or wooden spoon
- Parchment paper
- Pedestal. Pedestals that rotate make frosting cakes so much easier and they are a great way to showcase that awesome cake.
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How To Make Ahead And Store The Homemade Chocolate Cake:
Both the cake and the chocolate frosting can be made ahead. Allow the cakes to cool completely, wrap them well in plastic wrap and place each layer into a gallon zip-top freezer bag. Freeze the cake layers for up to one month.
To frost the cake, simply remove from the freezer and allow to thaw in the refrigerator with wrapping intact. Then, frost the cake once it has completely thawed.
Store the cake at room temperature on the counter. I like to store under a cake dome to keep the cake fresh.
Do I Have To Use Coffee In My Chocolate Cake
No, actually you can use hot water instead. However, it is important that you use a hot liquid, whether coffee or water. The reason for this is that the hot water will bloom your cocoa powder, fully developing the chocolate flavor in this cake.
Now heres why I recommend using coffee: It wont make your cake taste like coffee but it will enhance the chocolate flavor. Since Im not actually a coffee drinker I keep a jar of instant coffee in my house specifically for this chocolate cake recipe I just dissolve a teaspoon of instant coffee into hot water before adding it to my batter.
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How To Make Super Moist Chocolate Cupcakes From Scratch
Start by combining flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until everything is combined.
There is one more ingredient, which is very hot water. It’s super important to achieving super moist chocolate cupcakes with an intense chocolate flavor.
The hot water doesn’t have to be boiling, but it needs to be really hot because the heat is going to react with the cocoa powder, causing it to “bloom”, which brings out as much chocolate flavor as possible from the cocoa powder. I find that my tap water gets hot enough if I let it run for 10-15 seconds or so, but you could also microwave some water for a minute or boiling some water on the stove.
The hot water is also going to create a pretty thin batter, too. Don’t be alarmed! It really is supposed to be like that.
The thin batter is going to allow the baking powder and baking soda in the batter to really do their magic and the cupcakes will rise and dome beautifully, with a wonderful texture thanks to all the scientific magic going on behind the scenes.
Readers have said you can use hot coffee in place of the water, but I haven’t tried that myself.