Brian is a man that loves to double down on his chocolate. His favorite cake in the world, one that his grandmother makes for him specifically every time we visit her in West Virginia, is chocolate cake with fudgey chocolate frosting.
His birthday was two weeks ago, and of course you know I had to do it up right by making his version of cake bliss. But, as you may have caught on at some point by reading MBA, I have a little bit of a multi-tasking problem.
Brian and Husband #2, Corey, will sit and watch me flit from one thing to another like I’m their own personal reality show for entertainment. They love to point out when my missing spatula can be found at the computer desk, or my phone in the pantry, and helpfully letting me know that the oven timer has dinged at least 15 times.
I also like to do things in excess – you know a little mound of frosting will never do in this household. I need to swirl on a pile of it on top, and then top it off with ganache just for the fun of it. So when I organized a birthday party for Brian – I of course went a little overboard.
I started my chocolate cake adventure by baking this cake – twice. Twice because I was mixing it while on the phone. Only to realize after it had baked that I left out a full cup of sugar and all of the vegetable oil. I think you can imagine how well that turned out: i.e., not at all.
I quickly whipped it up again, this time focusing my full attention on the process. The cake turned out beautifully and I quickly frosted it while preparing the other gazillion components of the meal.
After all the feasting, no one had room for cake – in fact, we left for the night without busting into song over 37 lit candles. So – a cake that was never meant to be blogged is here today simply because I made too much food (aaaand we’re right back to doing things in excess).
This cake is dark, moist, rich and incredibly decadent. Green Mountain Coffee’s Vermont Country Blend blended amazingly well with the cocoa to create the most intense and delicious chocolate cake that I have ever tasted. It’s the perfect sort of cake for a birthday or a Tuesday. Make sure to enjoy it with a very large glass of ice cold milk!
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The Best Chocolate Cake
Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons King Arthur Flour Black Cocoa, optional
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strong black coffee (I used Green Mountain Coffee’s Vermont Country Blend)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extractDirections:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder. Mix on low until dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for about two minutes; the batter will be thin. Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
4. Frost as desired. I used a simple and delicious Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from Savory Sweet Life. One batch was perfect for this layered chocolate cake.Notes:
- The Black Cocoa from King Arthur Flour is optional - it simply provides a great depth of flavor and color to the chocolate cake.
- This cake also pairs beautifully with a simple chocolate ganache.Recipe adapted from Hershey's Black Magic Cake
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{ 176 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks absolutely glorious. It’s chocolate heaven.
OHHHHH YUMMY!!!!!!!
Wow, that looks amazing! My brother loves a rich chocolate cake, I bet he’d love to have this on his birthday!
LOVE chocolate cake and this one looks perfect!!
WOW!!! That looks soooo moist and delicious, I am going to have to try this SOON!
Wow…this looks absolutely decadent. I may have to make this for one of the many fall birthdays I have coming up!
Oh my! I would love to have a piece of this cake right now. Will have to get the King Arthur cocoa. extra yum.
Mmm this sounds lovely! Yum.
Seriously, this scratch cake is one of the moistest looking I’ve ever seen and your frosting is perfect.
Ohhh ahhh. this reminds me of the Black Magic cake from hersheys! YUMMO
Leslie-
Yep, same cake which is also very similar to Ina Garten’s “Beatty’s Cake. Both delish!
-Jamie
This cake does look insanely good! No wonder it is such a hit.
oh MY WORD! that looks like heaven!! so moist and dense. wow
Most beautiful chocolate cake I’ve ever seen. Really.
Now that’s an amazing birthday gift, chocolate and more chocolate. Lucky man!
Gorgeous cake! This looks SO tasty…yum!
This reminds me of Ina Garten’s chocolate cake – that addition of coffee is GENIUS. It’s one of my favorite things to do with a chocolate cake! YUM. I’ve never heard of black cocoa – I need to look for that.
And Vermont Country Blend is one of my favorite coffees! Good choice
This looks aaaaaamaaaaaazing. I want some. With an extra dollop of frosting, please.
and if I can have it on one of those cute square plates, all the better.
Oh my God!!! This cake looks divine!!! I love how dark and rich it looks, but moist at the same time. Man, what I wouldn’t give for a slice of this right now!
This cake sounds amazing! I will test it out for a birthday next week.
Thanks for another great post!
That cake looks gorgeous and devilishly chocolaty!
Cheers,
Rosa
What a heavenly sight that is! I wish so much I could munch on a slice of that right now
This looks wonderful! I’m going to try and make it tomorrow in cupcakes. I just happen to need some for work.
This looks like the perfect thing. I’m mean how good can a chocolate cake be than this? Love it!
I just made a very similar chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting and pistachio cream filling…Delicious. It’s my fiancé favorite! Just used hot water instead of coffee, next time I’ll surely try this one!
love the dark color
The colour and texture of this cake look perfect, it looks so good. I’d love a giant slice right now!
I’m not even a chocolate cake fan and I want a slice of this right now… actually, you take a slice and i’ll keep the rest of the cake.
Gorgeous, gorgeous cake. Drooling off the screen. Bookmarked.
That recipe sounds just like the one I used to make a wedding cake recently…it’s absolutely delicious – moist, rich, and tasty. I recommend trying it with a coffee/mocha buttercream…to die for!
Jamie, may I recommend Brian (and you) to have a look at a chocolate cake that is not made of cocoa but made of a chocolate couverture from Barry (hit my link).
I like the quick, easy and affordable way of making chocolate cake with cocoa but nothing compares to a cake using melted chocolate couverture and other noble ingredients. It’s amazingly rich, dense, moist like a brownie with no sugar overpower and the texture is way superior to that of a spongy cake. You have to try to believe it.
I’ve got buttermilk in the fridge and now I want to abandon my to do list for today and make this cake instead!
I feel the same way as I run around the kitchen! Reading the story was like reliving any night in my kitchen! Love the chocolate cake-yum!!
I can’t believe you didn’t cut into that cake! I think I would have skipped dinner and gone straight to dessert…
This looks sooo incredibly decadent! Love it! My husband will love it! What is there not to love? I don’t understand how the family missed out on this cake!
I love chocolate cake and am always looking for that perfect recipe. Tell me, why oil in a cake instead of butter. I’ve always wondered about the differences.
I once made a chocolate cake and forgot to put any sugar in at all. Yuck!
LOL, your story sounds similar to mine at home. I’ve always got dozens of things going on at the same time. By the way, the cake looks delish!
I make a very similar cake like this from Ina Garten… I can attest to the coffee making all the difference in the richness. It is like chocolate cake heaven!!
THAT is stunning. I want. I want, now.
What brand of unsweetened cocoa powder do you use? Can you use dutch processed?
Thanks
Well, it seems a wonderful yummy yummy treat. Congrats
Mary Jo Zilveti
Ok i am goin got try this one.. i made ina gartens chocoate cake 3 times and it sunk in the center all 3 times.. i even change the baking soda and powder for new ones just to see if that wa the problem… i was so crazy Sergio was watching and shaking his head.. i just could not get it right.. so ill try this again.. cross your fingers for me….
It looks great !!!
Have you checked your oven temperature? Often the cause of a sunken middle is under-baking. I wouldn’t advise this with yellow or white cake mixes, but I’ve never come across a dry chocolate cake recipe. Make sure you don’t open the door of the oven at all until the lower baking limit has passed (a lot of sites say 20 minutes, but I find that’s not enough) and don’t be afraid to go past the upper baking limit if the cake doesn’t seem done. Additionally, if you live in a more humid location than where the recipe was created there could be more moisture in the batter not accounted for in the recipe that has to bake out before the cake can set properly.
thanks ill try this.. and yes i am in florida and it can be humid here ( like all the time ) lol
Is there any coffee taste? I really don’t care for coffee but this cake looks amazing!
Kelly-
Depending on the coffee that you use, there may be a slight coffee undertone. The coffee seems to intensify the chocolate more than anything. Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by.
Jamie
I made this cake just the other day for my husband. He HATES coffee and never knew it was in there. I didn’t use the black cocoa since I didn’t have any and it was still fabulous. I thought it tasted even better the second day.
absolutely gorgeous. i could take a slice of that right about now…
JAMIE, I THOUGHT THE OPRAH WINFREY CHOCOLATE CAKE WAS YOUR FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CAKE. I WONDER WHERE I GOT THAT IDEA. OH WELL THANKS FOR ANOTHER DELISH RECIPE. COFFEE IN A CHOCOLATE CAKE? NO PROBLEM! HERE IN N.O. WE START OUR BABIES ON WHAT WE CALL “COFFEE MILK ” WHEN THEY TURN 2 YEARS OLD.(IT’S ABOUT 1/4 COFFEE AND 3/4 MILK.). THEY THINK THEY ARE HAVING COFFEE LIKE THE GROWN-UPS.
NEW ORLEANS HONEY
Except for the buttermilk and an extra tsp of baking soda, this is identical to a one-bowl cake I already make, but the batter for my recipe is already super thin – I’d be terrified that the extra cup of liquid would make the cake too thin to do anything! At the same time, I’m very, very curious to try it out!
Ginger-
The batter is definitely thin, but it transforms into an amazing cake – I promise!
-Jamie
HEY JAMIE,
HOW ABOUT MAKING IT SO WHEN WE PRINT RECIPE THE PICTURE ALSO PRINTS ON RECIPE?
JUST A THOUGHT.
Thanks for you input. We are actually working on that feature, so stay tuned.
-Jamie
Where can I find the recipe for the ganache? Cake looks amazingly delicious!
nm found ot on the blog link you posted THANK YOU!
This absolutely IS the BEST Chocolate Cake EVER!!!! Soooo excited that you posted a blog on it!!!! Now I want to go make it. Ugh…. and it’s not even my birthday! lol I was just wondering if you could tell us which frosting you used on the cake in the picture? It looks perfect, and I’m always looking for a good fudge frosting
) Please share!!!
Hi-
Thanks for stopping by. There is a link to the frosting in the notes section of the recipe.
-Jamie
I think you just made up my mind-I’m making chocolate cake this weekend.Looks delicious
I have been wanting to find a great plain old chocolate cake recipe. This looks perfect!
Wow, this looks like a glorious cake that I would love to consume. It reminds me of Death by Chocolate, and because of the amount of chocolate in this recipe, I really think it could be a death by chocolate. However, is it possible to omit the coffee in the cake? If so, do you just replace the amount of coffee with water or milk?
The cake looks absolutely heaven. I’m glad you blogged it so that now I can make it, too!
My sugar levels have dropped to all times low just looking at those photos! The cake looks amazing to say the least
This does look like the best chocolate cake!!! I will have to give it a try soon- one of my friends birthdays is next week..perfect!
Must eat now! I wish, I wish.
I came by way of foodgawker (couldn’t resist the picture) and was amazed when I saw the recipe. I make the same cake (made it last weekend in fact) from an old newspaper clipping. The only difference in the clipping is it specifies using half brown sugar and half white and it lists sour cream or yogurt as possible substitutes for the buttermilk.
It is a fab cake, super dark and moist and delish. And very, very easy to make.
To make it eggless just sub 2 tbsp vinegar for the eggs. No one will ever know.
Would it be terribly wrong of me to make this for MY hubs’ bday? He claims his favorite is white wedding cake, but I be he’d eat this!! (and chocolate is my favorite!!)
I’m not a fan of coffee, is there anything I can substitute in? I’d normally just leave it out, but since you use a whole cup, I feel like simply leaving it out would ruin the dry to wet ingredient ratio.
Alyssa-
You can substitute a cup of hot water for the coffee. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
This does look like a fantastic chocolate cake. I know my husband would just love it! There’s just something about baking chocolate cake made with coffee… I love the richness it adds to the chocolate flavor!
Thank you for being so ADD & accidentally making this cake!! This DOES look like the perfect Chocolate Cake – BEAUTIFUL & Thank You!
It sure looks great!
I’m pretty sure you don’t need one more person telling you how amazing that cake looks –but, DANG, that looks amazing!
Did my browser screw up?…the formatting of the ingredients cut out how much cocoa…looked through comments, but didn’t find the answer…
It looks great, but don’t want to try until I know how much cocoa to use…
The recipe calls for 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Everything looks good on my end, so I have no idea why it isn’t showing up for you. Hope this helps – thanks for stopping by.
Jamie
This looks incredible. I’ve been trying to find a good chocolate cake recipe. This is the one for me.
Wow .. I keep on returning just to have a look at this cake … It looks sooo yummmy …. Cant wait to try … I think I will make it for my wedding anniversary
Thanks for sharing
That looks beyond amazing! I want to dive into the whole cake.
Oh no – I’ve left out crucial ingredients like that before when baking distracted (even more dangerous than talking on the phone while driving??). Leaden cakes that are missing their liquid fat are sad cakes indeed.
Wish I tried this one instead of “Gale Gand’s – Chocolate Layer Cake” I did eany meany miney moe and chose her chocolate cake. Taste was there but very wet.
Have you ever tried her recipe? I would love to know what you think.
Brian must have really enjoyed his birthday with such a cake, looks so heavenly delicious. Now that you made in excess, you mind sharing
It is looks amazing , but can i skiped buttermilk or not ?
This looks so deliciously rich and perfectly moist!
When I pulled the cakes out of the oven they fell totally flat in the middle. Blah! I followed the recipe to the T. Any ideas on what could have possibly gone wrong?
Maggie-
Typically when a cake falls in the center, it is not cooked all the way through. I have made this recipe many times and have never experienced the center falling. I have had the centers fall on me in cupcake form though – simply because I took them out too early. Hope this helps.
-Jamie
I am making these for the second time because mine fell spectacularly (cupcakes). They were already had deep craters in them when I put a toothpick in and it came out completely coated…. I read up and then tried to add a little flour from tips on other websites to the last bit of batter. It helped a little by adding more structure so I’m going to bump it up to 2 cups of flour. Also, I’m going to reduce the baking powder a little because there is just too much lift without enough structure and that’s why it’s falling…
I’m so glad I found this! Your recipe came up automatically on my Zite app on the ipad. I immediately went to the kitchen and made the cake, then the next day got too busy to go back and mark the article so I lost it. After some fancy footwork on Google, I managed to find you, because it would have been tragedy if I never made this recipe again!
This cake has what I would consider a “packet-cake” style crumb – very smooth and uniform in texture, rather than the softer crumb that comes with using butter. I’ve never been able to replicate that texture with a homemade cake (because sometimes that is just what you are after!) and now I can.
Your blog is now bookmarked so I can come back and make this one again soon.
Zena, I found a great trick to making buttermilk – just add a tablespoon of white vinegar to warm milk and it will thicken and curdle perfectly and give you just the right amount of acid to replace buttermilk.
I made this cake the other day, it’s a really lovely deep, dark chocolatey flavor! It’s nice and moist too, and turned out perfectly! I didn’t have any buttermilk on hand, so just substituted with yogurt and it worked out just fine! I made the recipe into one 8in cake and 12 cupcakes.
No coffee taste in mine, it just added more depth to the chocolate flavor. Just wanted to come by and say thanks for a wonderful recipe =)
this looks lovely! do you think it would work for a wedding cake, density wise? also where in west virginia is your husbands grandmother?
Wow what a beautiful cake. I would like to try making this. I doubt mine will turn out nearly as good as yours looks though. You are incredibly talented. Thank you for the recipe.
This looks extremely moist. wow
Could this be adapted into cupcakes? This looks utterly divine! I want to live in it. Just forward my mail to the rich dark chocolate center.
Thank you for my new go-to cake recipe! Made this for a bake sale before and I’m now making it for a birthday of a set of triplets I know (paired with pb frosting).
omg…this cake was fabulous…i made it twice this weekend because my family devoured it and wanted more!!
Lynn-
Thanks so much for reporting back! I am so happy you enjoyed this cake. Happy Holidays to you and your family!
-Jamie
This cake is delicious. Although without the filling and raspberries (or in my case strawberries), it is the same recipe that won the King Arthur Flour’s cake contest back in 2010. http://whisktogether.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/chocolate-covered-strawberry-cake/
It is at King Arthur Flour as the Chocolate Mousse Raspberry Cake – simply divine!! Just another idea how to make this cake fancy.
I am totally making this during my winter break! <3 thank you sooo much for posting this!
Dear Jamie,
i intend to do it again this week! 
Just wanted to leave u a note to let u know: i tried the recipe and it is FABulous! I love it. the cake turned out awesome, indeed one of the best chocolate cakes!
Thanks so much for posting! will post in my blog soon!
Happy holidays!
Kajal
Kajal-
I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed these! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Happy Holidays!
-Jamie
ooh looks sooo yummy
The cake looks delicious! I plan on making this for my boyfriends birthday tomorrow, but I have a question for you. I can’t find King Arthur Flour Black Cocoa, should I use anything else to substitute for it, or just add more cocoa powder?
Brittany-
Just use regular cocoa in place of the Black Cocoa Powder. Have a great day!
-Jamie
I baked this cake earlier, and made the frosting you recommended, and the cake is now in the fridge with the crumb coat of icing on, waiting for the final coat…looks SO great! Can’t wait to try some!!!! The frosting is delicious!
I recently made this for my best friend’s Sweet 16 and she and all my other friends loved it! It was soooo good and really easy to make. My mom loved it too and told me to definitely keep the recipe. Officially my new favorite chocolate cake recipe! Thanks for posting it!
I can’t WAIT to make this cake!
I made this cake for the Super Bowl. I made it in two 8-inch pans and three cupcakes (go figure). I gave my son a cupcake and asked if he tasted the coffee in it. He said he ate it too fast to tell and needed another. Yeah, I’m a sucker. This time he took three bites and it was gone. This cake is perfect and you must add the dark cocoa. I didn’t have the time (okay, patience) to find the KA’s Black Cocoa, but Hershey’s Special Dark seemed to do the trick. Amazingly moist and dark. The absolute best part was the buttercream frosting suggested. I was fancy enough to use Plugra unsalted butter. I used two tablespoons of regular milk (1% which is regular to me) and two tablespoons of buttermilk (just to give it a tang). AWESOMENESS. So easy to work with and it was plenty for the cake. I took pictures of it and put it on Facebook. I shared half of it. The only hard part is to stop eating it. My new go to chocolate-layer cake. You can stop looking. Seriously.
Hi Jamie Just to let you know I made your cake for the Ultimate Chocolate Cake recipe. Its wonderful and is surely a keeper. Come visit and check it out.. Thanks andi
Jamie,
If these were cupcakes…how long would they bake for?
Thanks so much!
Hi jamie
this maybe a silly question…but when you say 1 cup of strong coffee do you mean a cup of coffee granules? or ready made coffee (mixing granules with water)?
thanks!
Daphne-
Just a cup of brewed, strong, black coffee. I hope this helps. Have a great weekend.
-Jamie
This recipe is the best chocolate cake ever. I love how easy & quick it is and that it doesn’t need any ‘flashy’ ingredience (I admitedly use natural greek yoghurt mixed with milk instead of butter milk and don’t use any of the branded ingredience as we don’t have those brands in New Zealand – but it still tastes damn nice).
I made a double batch cake for my little sisters 21st & covered it with Cadbury caramello ganache. I have also just turned it intp cupcakes and covered them with vanilla American butter cream for my God Daugthers 1st birthday party. I know they will be a hit.
Thanks for the great recipe.
I just made this cake today, and it was absolutely wonderful! SO moist and chocolatey. But I have a question – when I took the cakes out of the pans, they fell to pieces!! I ended up with a chocolate-frosted-cake-crumb-lump. Even so, it was hands-down the best cake I’ve ever had. What do you think I did wrong to end up with such a crumbly cake? And thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Hey there,
I just tried this recipe and I am not sure what I did wrong but the cake came out tasting burnt and with hardly any chocolate flavor. It may have been the cocoa powder I used or something but I am sad that it didn’t turn out. It does have an overly coffee taste though and I only used 1 cup of coffee. I should know better than to bake late at night lol.
Im not a baker, but I do know a few things. That being said, the first thing is that when you bake, exact measurements are vital. Also, baking is a sort of art. When you can smell the food, check it, as its either almost done baking or is done….whether the timer has buzzed or not. Were your measurements exact with the cocoa powder? If so, it should have been very chocolatey and there should not have been a coffee flavor. I hope you didn’t use espresso…unless of course you intended for your cake to taste like coffee. Well, I hope these tidbits helped. Happy baking, again.
I’ve made this cake twice now, and each time I’ve thought there was something going terribly wrong as it was baking. Truth is, this is such a fantastic cake! OMG. Both times I made it in a bundt pan and used a shiny fudge frosting (think chocolate frosted donut frosting) and it’s wonderful! Thank you for posting this. Now all I need is a vanilla one that’s as moist …
I made this and the cake was SO moist!!!
I made it in two round pans, put my family’s recipe for buttercream frosting in the middle (chocolate), then topped it with ganache. I served it to a group of friends and they literally licked their plates clean. 
Leah-
I am so glad you enjoyed the cake, your frosting idea sounds amazing! Thanks for reporting back!
-Jamie
I have tried others, but this is the chocolate cake that my son always asks for.
I tried the frosting that you suggested from Savory Sweetlife. The texture and taste were great, but the color seemed a strange color brown, unlike yours. It was a taupe brown color. The cocoa I used was the Double Dutch Dark Cocoa from King Arthur, so I thought it would be a dark brown. Any ideas what made it so off-color?
Hi!
Thanks for stopping by. My best guess is that cocoa you used caused the color to be a bit off. I have used KAF cocoa in the past, but not this particular variety. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. Have a great day.
-Jamie
hi i was wondering what temp and how long for 16′ round and a 12′ round? my sons 1st birthday is next month and i’m doing a 3 tier cake. so maybe i need temp and time for a 10′ as well! please and thank you:) looks soooo yummmmmy
Jenn-
I have not tested this recipe using a 16, 12 or 10 inch round cake pan, so I am not able give you times. I would suggest experimenting and really taking care to test the centers of the cakes. Sorry I am not more of a help.
Jamie
thanks for replying:) i’ll figure it out
Good Luck. I have tried doubling…tripling the Hershey’s Black Magic Cake recipe…the results were just ok. In my experience, making the original recipe yielded a better cake.
Jamie – your cake is gorgeous….you are so right the coffee makes a huge difference… I use a Columbian Dark Roast. Thanks for a wonderful post. Love the recipes…on the blog!
I made this for a party today and it was so so nice. Everyone commented how lovely it was. Thank you.
Hi there! I was just wondering in regards to the “strong black coffee”; how much coffee and how much water do you suggest using? I will be making this tomorrow, and as a non-coffee drinker, I don’t quite know the answer to that! Thank you!
Liz-
No specific ratios, just make sure it’s quality, strong coffee – you can even use instant if you want. The coffee really deepens the chocolate flavor and helps create a rich, moist cake. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
Hi! I tried this chocolate cake over the weekend and overall it was very good! It had a tiny bit of a bitter taste. I used Hershey’s cocoa. Do you think it was the cocoa (I hear the unsweetened cocoa can leave a bitter taste) or the coffee? When I make it again should I substitute the cocoa for dutch processed or substitute the coffee for hot water? Thank you so much! I love your site!!!
Ally-
The bitterness could have been due to your choice of coffee or cocoa powder. I have used Hershey’s Cocoa in this recipe and have never had a bitter taste, so you may want to try a different coffee before a different cocoa. Hope this helps.
-Jamie
Jamie,
Thanks so much for getting back to me! I tried it with hot water instead of coffee and the bitterness went away! I will try a different coffee next time! Thanks so much! Also, what is the best cocoa powder that you have tried, escpecially for the frosting? Thank you so much for all your help! Love your blog!!!
Hands down the best chocolate cake I’ve had in awhile. I made this yesterday looking for a new recipe to make a sheet cake and fill it with raspberry filling. Baked quickly, evenly and was perfect iced with whipped cream. Not too sweet but lots of chocolatey goodness.
Nicole-
Glad to hear you enjoyed the cake, you addition of raspberry filling sounds amazing! Thanks for reporting back.
-Jamie
Hi there nice cake but how much flour????
Jade-
There is 1 3/4 cups of flour used in this cake recipe.
-Jamie
Was looking for a new chocolate cake recipe and chanced upon yours.Tried it and though
some ingredients like black cocoa are not available here in India,it turned out superb.Thanks for the sharing.
Looks great! So excited to try this out soon. Could you tell me about the coffee part though? It says One Cup Coffee. Does this mean coffee beans, or actual brewed coffee? And how necessary is it for this coffee to be strong? I think the strongest coffee I can find is Nescafe where I live.
Made this today. Smash hit! Made it with ghiradelli cocoa. The frosting was the biggest hit!!!!!
HI, there:
I have many tried and true chocolate cake recipes, but saw this photograph and decided to try this one.
Amazing taste, texture and appearance.
Thanks!
Hi,
It is by far the BEST ! This has been my ‘go to’ recipe for anything chocolate cake related and it has never failed me. We used it for ice cream cakes, muffins and bundt cake sprinkled with powdered sugar. No matter how we bake it – it’s always a hit. Thank you so much !
ELizabeth-
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the cake. Thanks so much for stopping back and letting me know how the recipes worked for you. Have a great night.
-Jamie
What if you are allergic to coffee? What do you substitute the coffee with?
Thank you!
hi>thanks for super great recipe>i live in holland and here we dont have buttermilk what can i use else and can you excplain for me please what is koshar salt and what i can use if i couldnt find it>thank alot>i hope that i hear from you soon because i whant to try it.later my friends are visiting me and i whant to surprise them with it>thanks
Rania-
You can use table salt instead of kosher salt. I hope you enjoyed the cake.
-Jamie
Can this cake recipe also be used for cupcakes?
Ivy-
Hello. Yes, you can use these recipe for cupcakes, you may end up with a little divot in the center of each cupcake, but it doesn’t bother me because I just cover it with frosting!
-Jamie
My mother made this cake all the time with a creamy mocha frosting. It was the best I lost the recipe and have looked for years
Thank you so much
I would like to know the recipe for the icing thats on the cake in the picture…..I want to make this, this weekend! Looks like chocolate heaven
Cindy-
The icing is linked in the notes section of the post. It’s from Savory Sweet Life, here is the link: http://savorysweetlife.com/2011/04/chocolate-buttercream-frosting/ Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
Made this cake for our County Fair and won 1st place! Thanks for the recipe!
Dee-
I am so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe AND won 1st place – how awesome is that! Thanks for stopping by and leaving your feedback. Have a great day and congrats on your big win!
-Jamie
I made this cake tonight! I cannot wait to eat it!!! Looks delicious!
Just have a look at the chocolate cake and it seems to be so yummy… all i can say that the recipe you have showed in your post is perfect to make the cake quickly at home… it also looks quite delicious… looking forward for more post from your side…
im curious what temp and how long to cook this in a convection oven on a low fan
BigKenMc-
Hi! I do not use the convection setting on my oven, so I do not know what the correct settings would be for this cake. Sorry I am unable to help. Have a great day.
-Jamie
Hi,
I apologize for commenting on an old post, but I’m new to your blog. I’ve been searching for a great chocolate cake/cupcake recipe and this looks decadent!! My question is… does this recipe work well as cupcakes?
Melissa-
I love this recipe for cupcakes. It is rather liquid-y, and can tend to bake up with a small divot in the center of each cupcake, but I just cover that with frosting! I hope this helps.
-Jamie
A good cup of coffee and choclate cake, what party.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made it for my sister-in-law’s baby shower with a whipped cream frosting and everyone loved it!
Jami-
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for stopping by and providing your feedback – have a great day!
-Jamie
whats the name of this chocolate cake
Hi Jamie,
Your cake looks fabulous! I am planning to bake a chocolate cake for my son’s birthday this weekend. I made Nigella Lawson’s Sour Cream Chocolate Cake for my husband last month and he loved it, but I had to piece the cake together with frosting and would like to avoid that if possibl.! A few people commented that their cake fell apart, but am hoping those were just flukes!
I would like to decorate my son’s cake so am hoping to find a white frosting that I can color to pair with this cake. Any suggestions?
Candace-
Thank you for your kind words. For decorating, I would use a basic buttercream frosting. This will allow you to color the frosting accordingly. I have provided a link to the buttercream frosting that I use most often for this type of decorating.
http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/buttercream-frosting-recipe/
Good luck and have a great day!
-Jamie
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I just finished making it and it is sooooo good.
how about using dark chocolate instead of coffee? will it work?? cause i love dark chocolate
Maddy-
No, unfortunately, I do not believe this will work because these two items differ in texture and consistency.
-Jamie
Hi!
I love this recipe, it looks soooooo scrumptious and i cant wait to try it. I have a similar recipe on my website:
http://www.magicwhisk.com
I hope that you check my website out!
Thanx
Greta
These are amazing. I made them into cupcakes and cannot tell you how moist and chocately they are. They will now be my go-to chocolate cake and cupcake recipe.
Thanks so much
Michelle-
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for stopping by and providing your feedback – have a great day!
-Jamie
I used this recipe for a wedding cake. It was wonderful. I did double the recipe for the lager cakes. I used one of the larger frosting tip in the center of the cake to help even the heating while baking it. I also used instant coffee, French Vanilla Cappuccino. OMG you would not believe the raving over the flavor.
I have also made this using Chi Latte It also was raved about….
This now my go to chocolate cake recipe.
Should I use pastry flour instead, or does that not matter?
Stacy-
There is no need to use pastry flour in this recipe; all-purpose flour is just fine. Thanks and have a great day!
-Jamie
Do you think it would be okay to make the cake and freeze it for a few, then frost it when it comes out of the freezer?
I baked this cake with buttercream frosting last night. It is very good, the texture is a little dense, but very deep in flavor…due in part to the coffee. My frosting was lighter in color than the post, but I didn’t use the optional dark cocoa powder, but very smooth and delicious. I would rate this combination a 9 out of 10 for sure!
Just made this and the second layer is sitting in the oven as we speak. It tastes really good, great moist and deep flavour. I was afraid it would be tasting to much like coffee, since I used a cup of instant espresso instead of coffee, but it surely isn’t. Thanks for the recipe.
Great cake i have some my own pretty good recipes on my blog.
I made this cake in September and it turned out amazing. I hate coffee, but I think it made a great addition! I missed the part about letting the butter for the frosting soften, and NOT to melt it, so my frosting turned out super runny, but it tasted great. Here’s the link to my blog: http://beyond-bakery.blogspot.com/2012/09/chocolate-cake-with-buttercream-frosting.html