With a super moist crumb and fudgy, yet light texture, this chocolate cake recipe will soon be your favorite too. Top with chocolate buttercream and chocolate chips for 3x the chocolate flavor. You can also prepare this chocolate layer cake as a sheet cake, too. See recipe note.
Originally published in 2013 and now with more in-depth descriptions, a helpful video tutorial, clearer instructions, and different ways to use this classic chocolate cake recipe. I hope you enjoy all the new features in this recipe post!
Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake… But Better
This pictured cake is a combination of chocolate buttercream and mock-devil’s food cake. You know the Devil’s Food chocolate cake you get at a restaurant or even from a box mix? This is that exact cake, only completely homemade. Notice the reddish tint? That’s where the name Devil’s Food comes from. The baking soda in this recipe reacts with the natural cocoa powder, which results in the reddish color. More on the science behind using dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder here, if you’re interested.
This is, without a doubt, the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. And judging by your feedback in the reviews, I’m confident you’d say the same thing!
This Chocolate Cake Is:
- Extra moist
- 2 layers, but can be made as 3 layers or as a sheet cake
- Soft with a velvety crumb
- Deeply flavorful
- Unapologetically rich, just like my flourless chocolate cake
- Covered with creamy chocolate buttercream
Key Chocolate Cake Ingredients & Why
Each ingredient serves an important role. For best results, do not make substitutions.
- All-Purpose Flour: The structure of the cake. Unlike confetti cake where you can use either, do not use cake flour here—when combined with ultra-light cocoa powder, cake flour is too fine for this cake.
- Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: Do not use dutch-process cocoa powder. If you’re interested, see dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for an in-depth explanation.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Remember the differences in baking soda vs baking powder? We use both here for lift.
- Salt: Salt balances the flavor.
- Espresso Powder: Espresso powder is optional, but I recommend its addition because it enhances the chocolate flavor. The chocolate cake will not taste like coffee, I promise. I use espresso powder in my chocolate zucchini cake, Guinness cake, chocolate raspberry cake, and marble loaf cake too!
- Oil: Don’t use butter in this cake batter. Cocoa powder is a particularly drying ingredient, so this cake needs oil for suitable moisture.
- Eggs: Use 2 room temperature eggs. To speed up the gently warming, place refrigerated eggs in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes. Did you know what the temperature of your ingredients has a direct correlation to the success of your recipes? Unless otherwise noted, use room temperature ingredients.
- Buttermilk: This chocolate cake requires the moisture and acidity from buttermilk. Lately I’ve been using a mix of sour cream and buttermilk, as well as reducing the hot liquid. You can read more about this next and see my dark chocolate mousse cake, tuxedo cake, black forest cake, German chocolate cake, and chocolate peanut butter cake recipes.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract adds flavor.
- Hot Coffee or Hot Water: Hot liquid enhances the cocoa powder’s flavor. It also encourages it to bloom and dissolve appropriately. You’ll notice I don’t use hot liquid in my chocolate cupcakes recipe. That’s because there isn’t the same volume of dry ingredients. With this amount of cake batter, we need a hot liquid to break up the cocoa powder lumps resting in all that flour. If you don’t drink coffee, you can use hot water. For deeper and darker flavor, though, use coffee. (Decaf coffee works!)
What an Easy Cake!
No mixer required for the batter, simply whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (or vice versa, it doesn’t make any difference), add the hot coffee, then whisk everything together. The cake batter is thin. Divide between 2 9-inch cake pans. You can easily stretch it to 3 or 4 8-inch or 9-inch cakes if needed. Or make a quarter sheet cake using a 9×13-inch cake pan. See my recipe notes for details.
Need a 1 layer cake? Use this mint chocolate cake recipe for 1 9-inch round cake.
Need cupcakes? Use either my super moist chocolate cupcakes or cream-filled chocolate cupcakes recipe.
Lately I’ve Been Using Sour Cream
As mentioned above and in the video tutorial, there are two ways to prepare this cake batter and the slight difference involves the wet ingredients. You can follow the recipe as written using buttermilk and hot coffee/water. Or you can add sour cream. Whichever way you make it, the process is the same. (Just reduce the liquids and add sour cream!)
- Original Version (pictured and written below): The original recipe produces a very thin batter. The cake is extra soft with a deliciously spongey texture.
- Sour Cream Version (written in recipe notes and shown in video tutorial): By replacing some of the buttermilk and hot coffee with sour cream, the cake batter is slightly thicker and produces a slightly denser cake with more structure. I love using sour cream in my vanilla cake, too!
Both cakes are equally moist and chocolatey with the same flavor and ease of preparation. It just depends if you want a spongier cake or not. 🙂
Silky Chocolate Buttercream
Like my yellow cake, I use my favorite chocolate buttercream. I slightly increase the amount of each ingredient to produce extra frosting. If you prefer a thinner layer of frosting, use the chocolate buttercream recipe. But if you crave extra buttercream, follow the frosting measurements below. You need 6 ingredients total:
- Unsalted Butter
- Confectioners’ Sugar
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Heavy Cream or Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
Because there is no leavening occurring, you can use either dutch-process or natural cocoa powder in the buttercream. Heavy cream provides an extra creamy frosting, but milk can be substituted if needed.
While I love chocolate frosting here the most, this cake is also wonderful with vanilla buttercream or strawberry buttercream frosting instead!
So, why do I call it triple chocolate layer cake when it only has 2 layers? Well, chocolate is used three times: chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate chips. Press a handful on top like we do with warm chocolate chip cookies, or go with “the more the better” motto like we did. Let’s eat!
PrintDeliciously Moist Chocolate Layer Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: serves 12-16
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is my favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe. With a super moist crumb and fudgy, yet light texture, this chocolate cake recipe will be your favorite too. Top with chocolate buttercream and chocolate chips for 3x the chocolate flavor. You can also prepare this chocolate layer cake as a sheet cake. See recipe Note.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 3/4 cup (62g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder (optional)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil (or canola oil or melted coconut oil)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) freshly brewed strong hot coffee (regular or decaf)
Chocolate Buttercream
- 1 and 1/4 cups (282g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3/4 cup (65g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or dutch process)
- 3–5 Tablespoons (45-75ml) heavy cream (or half-and-half or milk), at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional for decoration: semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease two 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder (if using) together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or you can use a whisk) mix the oil, eggs, and vanilla together on medium-high speed until combined. Add the buttermilk and mix until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot water/coffee, and whisk or beat on low speed until the batter is completely combined. Batter is thin.
- Divide batter evenly between pans. Bake for 23-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Note: Even if they’re completely done, the cooled cakes may *slightly* sink in the center. Cocoa powder is simply not as structurally strong as all-purpose flour and can’t hold up to all the moisture necessary to make a moist tasting chocolate cake. It’s normal!)
- Remove the cakes from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely in the pan.
- Make the buttercream: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy—about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, 3 Tablespoons heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Do not over-whip. Add 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder if frosting is too thin or 1-2 more Tablespoons of cream if frosting is too thick. (I usually add 1 more.) Taste. Add another pinch of salt if desired.
- Assemble and frost: If cooled cakes are domed on top, use a large serrated knife to slice a thin layer off the tops to create a flat surface. This is called “leveling” the cakes. Discard or crumble over finished cake. Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with frosting. Top with 2nd layer and spread remaining frosting all over the top and sides. I always use an icing spatula and bench scraper for the frosting. Garnish with chocolate chips, if desired.
- Refrigerate uncovered cake for at least 30-60 minutes before slicing to help set the shape. After that, you can serve the cake or continue refrigerating for up to 4–6 hours before serving. Cake can be served at room temperature or chilled.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days. I like using a cake carrier for storing and transporting.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cake through step 4. Wrap the individual baked and cooled cake layers tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature then continue with step 5. You can prepare the chocolate buttercream 2-3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate, then bring to room temperature before spreading onto/assembling the cake. Frosted cake freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or serve cold.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack | Cake Stand, Serving Plate, or Cake Turntable | Icing Spatula | Bench Scraper | Cake Carrier (for storing)
- 3 Layer Cake: You can also prepare this cake as a 3 layer cake. Divide batter between three 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans in step 1 and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This frosting will be enough for 3 layers. If desired, use the frosting recipe from my Piñata Cake if you want extra frosting.
- Cocoa Powder: Use natural cocoa powder in the cake, not dutch-process. (See dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for more information.) Since there is no leavening occurring in frosting, you can use either natural or dutch-process in the chocolate buttercream.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. You can make your own DIY version of buttermilk if needed. Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough room temperature whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 cup. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Sour Cream Version: Lately I’ve been using a mix of sour cream and buttermilk, as well as reducing the hot coffee. Reduce the buttermilk and hot coffee to 1/2 cup (120ml) each. Add 3/4 cup (180g) of room temperature full-fat sour cream with the wet ingredients. You can see this described above, in the video tutorial, and in my dark chocolate mousse cake. That cake and this cake are both fantastically moist, but the sour cream version has a slightly sturdier crumb.
- FAQ: The sour cream version (note above) makes a sturdy enough cake that will hold under fondant.
- Amount of Cake Batter: This recipe (and the sour cream version) yields about 6 cups of batter, which is helpful if you need it for different Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read more about why room temperature ingredients are important.
- Espresso Powder/Coffee: Espresso powder and coffee will not make the cake taste like coffee. Instead, they deepen the chocolate flavor. I highly recommend them both. You can use the same amount of instant coffee (the powder) instead of espresso powder if desired. If coffee isn’t your thing, you can leave out the espresso powder and use extra hot water or hot chai tea.
- Bundt Pan: I recommend my chocolate cream cheese bundt cake but without the cream cheese filling. Reduce buttermilk in that recipe to 1/4 cup and increase sour cream to 1 cup.
- 9×13 Inch Pan: You can bake this cake in a 9×13-inch baking pan. Same oven temperature, about 35-40 minutes bake time.
- Chocolate Cupcakes: Here is my favorite chocolate cupcakes recipe. Same unbelievable texture as this cake! (You’ll notice I don’t use hot liquid in that recipe. That’s because there isn’t the same volume of dry ingredients to break up. If you need more than 1 dozen chocolate cupcakes, use this chocolate cake recipe for 2-3 dozen. Same baking instructions as my chocolate cupcakes.
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten and originally from Hershey’s
This is a great recipe. The cake came out perfect. Everybody loved it. Best part is that no recipe adjustments are required! Can be used as is.
Amazing! My favorite chocolate cake recipe!
Hi…I’d like to try this recipe in a Bundt pan. Will the cooking time differ? Thank you!
Hi Snow, I recommend following my Chocolate Cream Cheese Bundt Cake recipe, but you can leave out the cream cheese swirl. It has the same great taste as this cake but is a little sturdier to hold up to a bundt pan.
Thank you! I was considering that recipe but was wanting a cake that was super moist and not too dense.
Loved the flavor, moistness and firmness (made the sour cream variation). Didn’t love that it sank in the middle. The recipe warned to expect this but I have never had a cake sink so much and I followed the directions exactly (room temp ingredients, oven temp, spoon & level, etc.). Chose not to level it as I would have lost too much cake so I filled the “crater” with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. Tasted great but not the best visual once you cut into it. Oh well.
I want to start off by saying I LOVE this recipe and I go to your blog first when trying something new! I was hoping to make thicker layers so I made 1.5x the recipe and used 3 8 inch pans. However, my layers weren’t much taller than when I just made 1x the recipe. Any idea why this would be? I usually bake my cakes at 325 to get them to bake flat but maybe this isn’t a good idea for chocolate cakes? I always read your notes and I’m hoping you can help me! Google isn’t cutting it and my cake book isn’t either! Also, the cakes look darker in the middle, even though they are baked through. Is this part of the “normal” slightly sinking thing you talk about?
Hi Caitlin! I’m happy to help. It sounds like the cakes may not have been baked all the way through. 1.5x the recipe in smaller cake pans (even divided between 3 pans) at 325F would require a considerably long bake time. I expect this is why they didn’t rise tall enough, either. I recommend making this cake batter as written in 3 8-inch cake pans. The bake time will be around or slightly shorter than the 2 9-inch cakes. Feel free to use my favorite sour cream variation, which creates a stronger crumb– detailed in the recipe notes.
Hi Sally I used this recipe to make a cake for my sisters birthday (tomorrow) I tasted abit of the cake (had a little extra so put it in a cupcake tray) and it’s a tad bit too salty? – has a slight salted aftertaste- I followed the recipe to a T. Is this normal? I’m going to put the icing on tomorrow hopefully this makes the taste ok overall but was wondering if it’s supposed to taste abit salty at this point? The texture is great
Sally
I made this cake again for my own Birthday
Today! This is definitely going to be my keeper recipe! It is so moist, yummy, rich and spectacularly delicious. You get a bit of the coffee flavour even if you leave the espresso powder out….Very subtle in the after taste but such a great addition! And I only used buttermilk both times.
I think my buttercream frosting is a little thicker than yours. I will thin it out more next time! Any tips? My husband loves this cake! Our neighbours love this cake, my family and friends love this cake! Thank you for introducing it to us! I will continue to make this over and over again.
My husbands birthday was yesterday and I made this for him. He is all about chocolate and this definitely delivered! I followed your sour cream version and it’s the best cake I know I’ve ever made. I decorated it with Reese’s pieces and peanut butter cups. It’s more then half gone already. I did not have espresso so I left that out but did use hot coffee. The only problem I encountered is I didn’t have enough buttercream so I made a second batch. Delicious!
I made this today. I made it with your chocolate cream cheese frosting but, I kept some of creamed butter and cream cheese apart and instead of cocoa, I added about a cup of strawberries that I’d chopped up and reduced with just a bit of sugar. I used the strawberry cream cheese frosting between the cake layers, I covered the whole cake in the chocolate cream cheese frosting and decorated the cake with sliced strawberries. It was good. Like, very good. Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve basically stuck with a tried and true chocolate cake recipe passed down from my mom. I decided to try this recipe for my daughter’s birthday cake and I am so happy I did! No espresso powder on hand, but I used hot brewed coffee and the results did not disappoint! The coffee certainly created some magic with the cocoa, I won’t ever shy away from it again! I made mint chocolate chip buttercream to finish it off–the cake remained moist but not crumbly.
This cake was/is AMAZING!! My daughter wanted a s’mores cake for her birthday. I asked Sally for her suggestion on how to make her s’mores cupcakes into a cake. We made this cake with the marshmallow filling and chocolate icing from Th w cupcakes. DELICIOUS!! Thank you for your help Sally! ❤️
Hi Sally, This is my second bake and it turned out to be delicious. So happy with your detailed recipe, the caked was baked perfectly. Got huge compliments from my family, everyone loved it. Thank you so much.
Hi Sally! I’m trying to recreate a cake from our local cake store with a texture similar to carrot cake. I used your Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe because that’s kind of how it looked like, but I needed something more moist, more like a cake not a cookie. I was wondering if I can use this recipe and just omit the cocoa powder to achieve that. Maybe also omit the buttermilk and coffee? Would love to hear your thoughts. P.S. this is the cake I’m trying to imitate:
Hi Max, I don’t recommend adjusting this recipe to achieve what you’re looking for. It may be better to start with my vanilla cake recipe or vanilla sheet cake recipe instead. Unfortunately I don’t have any cakes quite as lovely and dense as carrot cake except for this spice cake or banana cake.
This recipe is the real deal – so easy to make and just the perfect chocolate cake. I made it for my daughter’s first birthday today and I’m so glad her first taste of chocolate cake was this one!
I am not a good Baker, but this cake turned out delicious!! I made it for my brother’s birthday and we ate the whole thing within a day. Definitely better than any store bought chocolate cake I’ve had. If planning to serve to guests, I recommend making the cake a night before. The frosting lends even more moisture to the cake and it becomes truly bakery-like!!
Truly the best chocolate cake (and buttercream!) I’ve ever made. Soft, moist, but sturdy enough that it didn’t sink. I’m keeping it in the fridge but highly recommend cutting a slice then letting it come to room temperature before eating.
So delicious this chocolate cake recipe! Highly recommend making this for the chocolate lovers in your life! They will thank you❤
My 13 year old daughter made this cake today. It took her all afternoon but it turned out very well and she was very proud!
Hi Sally, i’d like to make this cake but it’s impossible to find natural cocoa where i live. Is it possible to subsitute natural cocoa with dutched cocoa+cream of tartar?
thanks!
Hi Anne! The switch would require additional testing. If you test anything out, please let me know. Or if you find a chocolate cake recipe you love that calls for dutched cocoa, let me know too! Natural cocoa really is best here.
This looks lovely. I have a 18×12 inch pan I was planning to use and then cut in the middle and fold (instead of using 2 pans). Could I use same amount of batter or do I need to use more batter? Also, should I bake per your 9×13 instructions for 35-40 mins?
Should I use regular bake or convection?
Hi Eli, you can stretch this batter to that size sheet pan. The bake time will be much shorter than 35-40 minutes since the cake will be thin. Unsure of the exact bake time. Or you can try my chocolate sheet cake recipe, which is for that size pan.
I made it! I used 18×12 inch sheet and multiplied everything by 1.5. This cake is perfect! you are so right! The coffee breaks the sweetness. Absoloutly amazing.
Instead of buttermilk I used heavy whipping cream and 2 tsp lemon juice.
Absoloutly perfect. Thank you!
This cake is absolutely delicious. It’s my go to cake for almost everything !!!! My kids literally had this for their breakfast today
I do add nuts so that we get that crunch as well
This cake is delicious, it didn’t sink in the middle which for me is a success in itself. Without a doubt the best recipe I have ever followed. Husband adored it.
However, I think I made a few mistakes along the way, any help you can give Sally would be greatly appreciated. I’m making it for my sons birthday next week so this one was a trial run.
I used a UK imperial cup measure for the coffee (285ml) rather than US cup (240ml) everything else I followed to a T. However, it took 45 minutes (at 177 C) to bake and it was quite gudgey in the middle not under baked but not as fluffy as the outer part of the cake, which was divine. I baked it between 2 different sized pans a 9inch and 7inch round tin. I’m wondering would it have been the extra liquid that caused this? Should I have left it for longer? Or possibly put it on a higher heat or different shelf in the oven (I had it on the middle shelf).
Thank you again for a wonderful recipe.
This chocolate cake was amazing! I made it yesterday it was so moist and delicious. I added a ganache frosting and dark chocolate pudding.
Perfect chocolate cake, frosting included. We used black coffee in the cake and the sour cream version you mention but skipped the espresso powder (couldn’t find any). This was so good and would recommend to everyone!
Holy moly. This cake is AMAZING. I’ve never made cake from scratch before, and the instructions were easy to follow and it turned out beautifully! I frosted it with cream cheese icing, and my housemate, who “doesn’t even like chocolate cake,” absolutely loved it.
I don’t have any cake pans in my house, so used a 9×13 pan. IMO if you do that, you might consider cutting back on the recipe by 1/3 or 1/2 as it turned out huge and very dense (in a good way). I do a hack where I cut the pan in half and stack into a “square 2 layer cake,” and this baby weighs a ton! (I really need to get cake pans. 🙂
My husband baked tonight for the first time in 30 years- using your recipe! He made me your chocolate cake. Haha:) I helped him decide on using your recipe because I’ve used so many of yours over the last few years. And they are foolproof and DELICIOUS. He did a great job with it, and I think he got a big kick out of baking by volume instead of measuring everything. So thank you for including those in your recipe:) You do great work!
Hey sally this cake is delicious, however everytime i bake it, even tho its well baked , it always seems to sink a little in the middle how can i combat that? Maybe adding 1/2 tsp. More Baking powder? Also for a less strong chocolate flavor would using the hot water instead of coffee work? Thank you.
Hi Angie, There could be several reasons why a cake would sink in the middle. Over mixing the batter, oven temperature, and fresh leaveners all play a role. Check out my top 10 Tips for Perfect Cakes for more details!
the best chocolate cake ever❤❤❤ thanks Sally
This was a winner! I made this as my “” bday cake. Had to use 1TBSP of Vinegar in 1CUP of milk to substitute for buttermilk and it came out perfectly. If I have to “stay safe at home” I’m happy to do it with this cake!
The cake turned out amazing. It’s delicious and moist. We didn’t use expresso powder and put less sugar in the icing. Will definitely be making again! Thanks
Great cake to bake while we’re stuck at home. Kids loved the flavor and adults too. We used hot water instead of coffee. Will definitely be making again. Thanks Sally!