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.
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
One reader, Greta, commented: “This is, hands down, the best chocolate cake I have ever baked. And I’m not the only one who thinks so… because I have baked and shared this cake with many people… it’s simply the best! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Melanie, commented: “This has become my go-to chocolate cake! My family loves it. The directions are very clear and easy to follow. Before now, I did not consider myself a baker. I had only baked box cakes. Now, this recipe has catapulted me into a from-scratch cake baker. So glad I found this recipe and many others from this site. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Todd, commented: “Outstanding! One of the best cakes I have ever made. Moist, chocolatey, beyond delicious! ★★★★★“
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. Save it for another recipe, like these homemade brownies. 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! You can find it in the coffee or baking aisle at the grocery store or online.
- Oil: Don’t use butter in this cake batter. Cocoa powder is a particularly drying ingredient, so this cake needs oil for suitable moisture. Same goes for my chocolate cake roll recipe, too.
- Eggs: Use 2 room-temperature eggs. If your eggs are cold, place them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
- 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!) You use it in this black velvet cupcakes recipe, too.
What an Easy Cake!
While you can use a mixer, you could also simply use a whisk. Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine them, add the hot coffee, then whisk everything together. The cake batter is thin.
Divide between two 9-inch cake pans. You can easily stretch it to three or four 8-inch cake layers if needed. Or make a quarter sheet cake using a 9×13-inch cake pan. See recipe Notes for details.
Need a one-layer cake? Use this mint chocolate cake recipe for one 9-inch round cake.
Need cupcakes? Try my super moist chocolate cupcakes, classic chocolate cupcakes, or cream-filled chocolate cupcakes recipes.
For a Slightly Sturdier Version of This Cake
As mentioned above, 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 or sturdier cake. 🙂
Silky Chocolate Buttercream
Like my yellow cake, I use my favorite chocolate buttercream. I slightly increased the amount of each ingredient to produce extra frosting for this chocolate layer cake. 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 whole milk can be substituted if needed.
While I love chocolate frosting here the most, this cake is also wonderful with vanilla buttercream or peanut butter 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!
Print
Deliciously 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 (64g) 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 (113g/120ml) vegetable oil (or canola oil or melted coconut oil)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240g/ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240g/ml) freshly brewed strong hot coffee or hot water
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 (64g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
- 3–5 Tablespoons (45–75g/ml) heavy cream (or half-and-half or milk), at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- optional for decoration: semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the 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 dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, add the hot coffee/water, and whisk or beat on low speed until the batter is completely combined. Batter is thin.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 23–26 minutes or until 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!)
- Cool the cakes in the pans set on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Run a knife around the edges to help loosen the sides, remove the cakes from the pans, peel off the parchment, and place on the cooling rack to finish cooling.
- 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, vanilla extract, and salt. 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. 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 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 up to 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 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, 1.5x the buttercream ingredient amounts or 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.) Because there is no leavening in the 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 buttermilk substitute 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 (120g/ml) each. Add 3/4 cup (180g) of room-temperature full-fat sour cream with the wet ingredients. You can see this described above 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.
- Can I top this cake with fondant? The sour cream version (note above) makes a sturdier cake that should hold up under fondant.
- Amount of Cake Batter: This recipe 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 this cake taste like coffee. Instead, they deepen and enhance the chocolate flavor. I highly recommend them both. Decaf coffee is fine. You can find espresso powder in the coffee or baking aisle at the grocery store or online. You can use the same amount of instant coffee (the powder, not coffee grounds) instead of espresso powder if desired. If coffee isn’t your thing, you can leave out the espresso powder and use hot water instead of the hot coffee.
- 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: I have 2 favorite chocolate cupcake recipes: my super moist chocolate cupcakes and this classic chocolate cupcakes recipe. The second one is based off of this chocolate cake recipe and has the same texture and flavor as this cake!
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten and originally from Hershey’s
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi! Love this, can I substitute sour cream for Greek yogurt? Thank you!
Greek yogurt should be fine, full fat is best.
Can I use the above recipe to make a 10inch round single layer cake? If no, the. Please suggest me. I need to make a 3 layers cake, 10 inches round. Chocolate would be middle layer and top and bottom is vanilla layer with strawberry filling. Please suggest
Hi Ranjana! Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes. You could also make the batter as instructed, fill your pan halfway and use the extra batter for some cupcakes (if you don’t want to do all the conversion math!).
I made this into cupcakes. OMG So moist! I used the sour cream and buttermilk as stated in notes. This will be my go to for chocolate cake and cupcakes. I used the expresso also. Love your recipes Sally and your cookbooks!
May I know how long you baked them for?
Hi! The bench scraper you reference is only 6″. Is this long enough if I do a triple layer 9″ cake with this recipe? I’m wondering if I need a longer one?
Hi Barbara, that should be plenty tall!
I meant buttermilk
Hi Pam, you need the acidity of buttermilk here. See Notes after the recipe for details – you could use coconut milk with vinegar, as detailed there.
can i use full fat coconut milk instead of buttercream.
Question: when you say to butter the baking pans, does that include the sides? I have read other cake recipes and it appears some say do grease the sides and others do not. I can understand the reasoning for wanting a cake to climb on a dry side without butter. Mild culinary confusion!
Many thanks,
John
Hi John! When we say to grease the cake pans, we do mean the sides, otherwise they’ll stick! We always use a baking spray, like Pam.
OMG!!! FABULOUS CAKE!!! Made for my dad’s 88th birthday. Everyone loved it!!! Thank you Sally!!!
my butter cream got quite thick and dry… very hard to spread, would not stick and made the cake crumble. i added suggested heavy cream, but i guess i didn’t know the consistency i needed. should it be in between thin and thick? i’m assuming it gets drier as it sits for a while
Hi Claire, it sounds like your frosting had too much confectioners’ sugar and/or not enough liquid. If you find that your frosting is too thick to spread, keep adding a small amount of heavy cream/milk until the frosting thins out a bit and comes to a spreadable consistency.
Can you substitute whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour?
Hi Irene, using whole wheat flour would result in a dense, dry cake. Here are all our recipes that are formulated for whole wheat flour!
I’d like to make this in a 12 inch square pan, to do a swimming pool cake. Would the bake time be different, or is it the same?
Hi Baker, we haven’t baked this batter in a 12-inch square pan, so are unsure of the bake time. Keep an eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Hope it turns out great!
Hi
I am hoping to make a large version of this for a 70th birthday party. My pan is 18X12X2inches deep. Would 1 full recipe be enough for the pan size. I thought if I made 2 recipes, I could have a 2 layer cake.
Would 1 recipe be enough for a pan that size. I would not double the recipe as I saw you suggested not to do that. I would just make 2 individual recipes so I could have 2 layers.
What do you think?
Gail
Hi Gail, 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 our chocolate sheet cake recipe, which is for that size pan.
This is excessive, but could the recipe be doubled and made into a 4 layer cake? Or would it collapse and squish all the frosting layers out?
Hi Suzy, We recommend making this batter twice (do not double) for a total of 4 layers. This will prevent over or under mixing a large quantity of batter. Using the sour cream version of the recipe (detailed in the recipe notes) will yield a slightly sturdier crumb that will be better for a 4 layer cake. You may also want to use cake dowels for a bit of extra support. We hope it’s a hit!
I’m not clear if I use sour cream, buttermilk and 1 cup of water/coffee or if I skip the water/coffee in the sour cream version?
Hi Therese! The Note says: 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. So, yes, you still add the buttermilk and coffee, but 1/2 cup each. Then add the additional 3/4 cup of sour cream.
Hi Sally! I was just wondering about the coffee in the recipe. Can I brew coffee and add that instead of instant or espresso power? If so, how much? Thank you 🙂
Hi Alyssa, the recipe calls for 1 cup (240ml) freshly brewed strong hot coffee in addition to the espresso powder. So you can use your brewed coffee for that and simply omit the espresso powder. Enjoy!
This cake was quite expensive to make. And the finished result was very disappointing.
The recipe states 23 mins or so to cook. Mine was in the oven for 40 mins before the cocktail stick came out clean.
The cake did not rise, but not much, and was very dense. The flavour was very sickly.
The frosting produced far to much for the size of cake. Although on the plus side was the best bit of the cake.
Obviously I must of gone very wrong somewhere. . Despite having been baking for over 50 yrs
I would be interested to know if I am the only one to have this recipe fail
I usually don’t leave ratings but this was a huge hit! My whole family loved it. Super moist and flavorful, soft and fluffy compared to other chocolate birthday cakes in the past. Will definitely be using this as my go to birthday cake recipe from now on. I made it with almond milk and oat milk (mixed in some lemon juice to resemble buttermilk) to keep it dairy free, worked perfectly. I brewed an 8 oz cup of Keurig coffee which gave it a great flavor. Thank for this amazing recipe!
Absolutely amazing cake, deliciously moist and chocolatey! I always put coffee in and depends the flavour
I recently made this Deliciously Moist Chocolate Cake and it definitely lives up to its name! It was so chocolatey & so moist. The frosting was very creamy & smooth. I was looking for a dark chocolate/devil’s food cake, and this hit all the marks! I had a bit leftover that was still moist & yummy after a few days! My new go-to chocolate cake!
I’ve been baking chocolate cakes for 40 years and this one is the best! I’m throwing out all my other recipes. I recently made this for houseguests and it was a hit, even with those who are not big fans of cake. Deliciously moist and the frosting is perfect. Thank you!
Hi Sally,
Thank you for the amazing recipe, I’ve used it many times with success
I need to make a 3 tier (10″, 8″, 6″) wedding cake, and was wondering if this recipe would be stable enough? Each tier will likely have 3 layers.
Your advice would be very much appreciated!
Hi Suné, We do not recommend this recipe as the bottom tier for a cake—-even the sour cream version is a bit too light to support a top tier. You could use it for a top tier, though, with a different flavored bottom tier.
Thank you so much for the reply Michelle! Do you have a recommendation for a moist bottom tier recipe? Would this recipe the hold up for the middle 8″ and top 6″ tiers?
Absolutely the BEST chocolate cake ever. Very moist and tasty with lots of frosting.
This is the best chocolate cake recipe that you will find! I love cake, I could eat the whole thing in one setting!
Hi Sally,
Would one be able to substitute some of the oil for butter? Further, I LOVE the reverse creaming method from a texture standpoint. Could one use the reverse creaming method with this cake? I’ve made your single layer strawberry shortcake cake several times, and I love the texture of it. I would think a chocolate version would be very good, too. –Lauren
Hi Lauren, great question! We highly recommend sticking with all oil here. Oil guarantees a moist crumb, and butter could leave it a bit dry. And, the chocolate flavors overpower the butter flavors, so you really wouldn’t get much of that buttery flavor through. We hope this helps!
Love this cake recipe! A winner every time I bake it!
I’d like to combine this with your strawberry cake to create a chocolate covered strawberry cake experience. What do you think?
Chocolate icing on the strawberry cake?
A chocolate filling between layers?
Waiting in anticipation…
Hi Steven! I think our strawberry buttercream with this chocolate cake would be a fabulous combination – here’s our chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes that use that combination + a chocolate ganache – yum!
I’ve made the triple chocolate cake best cake I ever made. I’ve made cake several times family requests.
This cake won me a 3rd place in my church bake off last Summer! I was thrilled to have placed at all against some great bakers
Made the cupcakes for an Event and the frosting. They were delicious. I will make the cake next. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Delicious!! My family loved it so I made it two weeks in a row. So moist and rich.
I made this over the weekend. It’s delicious. The moistest, most chocolatey cake I’ve ever had! Even my husband, who doesn’t usually go for chocolate cake, had two large slices. Thank you Sally for a great website and a great recipe.
I made this cake and everybody loved it! People said it was the best chocolate cake they have ever had. Thanks for the recipe