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The Best Chocolate Cake recipe combines cocoa and coffee to create a chocolate lover’s dream. Add your favorite buttercream frosting to make it perfect! Keep reading to find out why coffee, buttermilk, and oil play important roles in this chocolate cake recipe.
We’re a family that loves to double down on chocolate. Peanut butter is a favorite, too, and my No Bake Cookies combine both with oatmeal.
And when birthdays roll around, I always feel like I really need cake. Deep, dark, chocolate cake. The best chocolate cake.
For birthdays, we have to do it up right by making my version of cake bliss.
But, as you may have caught on at some point by reading MBA, I like to do things in excess – you know a little mound of frosting will never do in this household.
I need to swirl a pile of it on top, and then top it off with ganache just for the fun of it. So when I organize birthday parties – I of course go a little overboard.
Is there any other way to be? Not if you’re Jamie.
THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE WITH COFFEE
This cake is dark, moist, rich and incredibly decadent. Seriously, it’s the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted.
A little bit of coffee blends amazingly well with the cocoa to create the most intense and delicious chocolate cake that you’ll ever taste.
Don’t freak out if you don’t like the taste of coffee. You actually can’t taste it in this cake!
Coffee simply enhances the flavor of chocolate. In this cake, it deepens that rich, chocolatey flavor.
If you are really opposed to using coffee, you can swap it out for water.
You can also use espresso powder – use a teaspoon of espresso powder along with 1 cup of water in place of the 1 cup of coffee.
USE OIL AND BUTTERMILK FOR A MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE
Buttermilk plays two important roles in making the best chocolate cake.
In addition to adding an ever-so-subtle tang, the acid in the buttermilk helps keep this cake incredibly tender and makes for a moist chocolate cake recipe.
If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, simply use this buttermilk substitute and you’re golden!
This cake also uses oil instead of butter. While butter provides a lot of flavor in recipes such as 7UP Pound Cake and Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes, oil gives cakes a lovely, light texture.
Since the combo of unsweetened cocoa powder and Dutch-process cocoa give this cake so much chocolatey flavor, we don’t necessarily need the flavor of the butter to compete or overpower the chocolate.
Cocoa can also easily dry out cakes, so using a neutral-flavored oil in combination with the buttermilk makes sure both the chocolate flavor and moist texture of this cake really sing.
HOW MUCH CAKE DOES THIS RECIPE MAKE?
I most often make this recipe into a double-layered cake using two 9-inch cake pans. Occasionally I will bake it into a sheet cake in a 13×9-inch pan.
You can also bake it into chocolate cupcakes, though! You can get anywhere from 24-36 cupcakes, depending on how full you fill the tins. You’ll want to bake the cupcakes for 20-30 minutes.
I have even used this recipe to make a bundt cake. When using a bundt cake pan, I bake it between 35-40 minutes.
You might be wondering if you can bake this in 8-inch cake pans instead of 9-inch cake pans. Yes, you can, but you may have a little bit of batter leftover. Just be sure to start checking for doneness a tiny bit earlier than noted in the recipe card.
HOW TO TOP MY FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE
What’s a cake without some frosting?
My homemade buttercream frosting is a delicious way to top the best chocolate cake.
Rich chocolate cake paired with sweet vanilla buttercream? Sign me up.
If you are a true chocolate fanatic and want double the chocolate, I would go for chocolate buttercream frosting instead.
If you really want to play up the coffee angle, why not try using a coffee buttercream?
And who doesn’t love chocolate and strawberries together? Top your chocolate cake with sweet strawberry frosting for a play on chocolate covered strawberries!
I have even paired this cake recipe with chocolate ganache and salted caramel to make a Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake.
DOES HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CAKE NEED TO BE REFRIGERATED?
Can you store your chocolate cake at room temperature or does it need to be refrigerated?
The answer depends on how long you want to keep it and what kind of frosting you used.
Unfrosted cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. To make it last longer, you can tightly wrap and refrigerate the cake for up to a week or even freeze it for a few months.
Chilled cake is actually a bit easier to decorate, so a lot of cake decorators prefer to work with cold cake instead of cake that is fresh from the oven.
If you frosted your cake with buttercream, it can be stored safely at room temperature for up to 2 days. Store in the refrigerator if you want it to last longer, up to 5 days.
If you used cream cheese frosting, the cake must be stored in the refrigerator and will keep for up to 3 days.
I don’t recommend freezing frosted cakes.
And remember, frosted cakes are their best the first day or two. After that, the texture won’t be quite the same.
Here’s a little storage cheat sheet for you:
Unfrosted cake:
- Room temperature: Up to 3 days
- Refrigerator: Up to 1 week
- Freezer: Up to 3 months
Cake frosted with buttercream:
- Room temperature: Up to 2 days
- Refrigerator: Up to 5 days
Cake frosted with cream cheese frosting:
- Refrigerator: Up to 3 days
No matter how you frost and decorate it, the best chocolate cake is the perfect sort of cake for a birthday or just a Tuesday. Make sure to enjoy it with a very large glass of ice-cold milk – or coffee!
The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa optional
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup strong black coffee
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Frosting of choice, such as:
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Set aside. 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 and salt. 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.
- 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.
- Frost as desired.
Video
Notes
- The Dutch process cocoa 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.
- The coffee really brings out the depth of the chocolate (you won’t even taste the coffee at all!), but if you really don’t want to use it, feel free to substitute water.
- For an egg substitute, simply add one mashed banana or 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce for each egg.
- This recipe will make about 24 to 36 cupcakes. Bake at 350 degrees between 20 and 30 minutes.
- You can also make a bundt cake with this recipe. The cake should bake for about 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Get tips on high altitude baking.
- Very slightly adapted from Ina Garten
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I just made this with a cup of strong coffee, as in just coffee and no water.
I only read the comments after I had frosted the cake to realise that it was a cup of coffee.
0_o soo much caffeine!
I bet it was still delicious! And, it could be great for breakfast…haha! Have a wonderful day!
-Jamie
heh, it was!! I’m calling it chocolate double espresso cake to cover up my mistake ;)
OMG!!! I’m so glad I read the comments because I did the same thing just added a cup of coffee. I was already like wow this is gonna suck and was gonna throw out the batter and do it again. Sister wanted a chocolate cake for the new year and this one in particular caught my interest. Thank you for the recipe!! And for the great tasting mistake
The cake looks so rich and creamy! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
You’re very welcome! Have a wonderful day!
-Jamie
I made this cake back in February for my husbands birthday and several birthday’s since. I finally ordered the black cocoa and I am so glad I did. The black cocoa adds more depth and flavor to the cake and is well worth the $9.95 it costs. The frosting that seems to be a hit with this cake in my family is a coffee buttercream!!!
Annie-
It’s wonderful to hear that you and your family are enjoying the recipe! Coffee buttercream with the cake sounds absolutely amazing! Have a fantastic day!
-Jamie
This was my mother’s “go to” chocolate cake, and is mine as well. Using Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa really amps up the depth of color and flavor. While I’m not generally a fan of buttercream, your photo, and Alice’s recipe, have encouraged me to give this one a whirl. Just stunning!
Can you use pero/postum instead of coffee or can you leave it out all together without ruining the cake? Looks delicious!
Hi Tammy,
You could definitely use instant coffee instead, just make sure you mix it with water first. If you want to leave it out of the cake, that’s fine. Just replace it with the same amount of water. Coffee simply deepens the chocolate. You don’t actually taste the coffee.
-Jamie
Hi Jamie,
I’ve been thinking of making this cake for a few weeks now, I had planned to make it for my brothers birthday last Saturday, but he didn’t want to have a cake this year. And normally I wouldn’t need any occasion to bake…but especially after a cullinairy vacation in Asia, well…. I need to watch my diet…soon! I decided to make this cake for my own birthday, tomorrow. Today I will bake the cake frost it and have it tomorrow now… Sounds like a plan to me..!
Thank you so much for this recipe, and I hope my bake will come out as good as yours is. Keeping my fingers crossed and I will update this post soon (probably after cutting it tomorrow evening).
– Arti
Dear Jamie,
The cake with the frosting were delicious!! For those who are trying this out for the first time; please do cut SMALL pieces of the cake, and not the normal size you would normally cut from a cake. It’s a very “mighty” cake. I myself will half the amount of salt. Thumbs up for this cake :-D
If you aren’t a coffee drinker or don’t want the flavor you can use crio bru, it is an unsweetened cocoa drink made from brewed cocoa beans, google it. Tried it today, worked perfect, gave it a super rich flavor. Served twice as many as it says because it is too rich for a normal size piece.
that cake was too gud
Jenny,
Thanks so much! Have a fantastic day!
Jamie
I have to say, a lot of people say they have the BEST chocolate cake when really it’s not, so I was doubtful about this one. I read a bazillion reviews and even went so far as to pre-reassure myself that, if it was not as good as expected, it was OK.
I made it today, fingers crossed………….
No one should have doubts about this recipe. I’m telling everyone who’s unsure about wether or not they should take a chance on this cake, YOU SHOULD!!
It’s 100% worth it-and then some!!
Thanks so much for sharing, Jamie!! xo
Too many people either never tried this recipe saying “oh this looks good” which does not help…
This is my honest review:
-The link to the buttercream frosting recipe was overly sweet. If you still want to use the linked frosting recipe, I suggest to use less frosting and less almond/vanilla extract (the almost extract overpowered the taste of the cake). Also I perfer whipped cream frosting so I may try a chocolate whipped cream frosting recipe for a future iteration
-The cake itself was great (just the right of sweetness), very moist, and almost tasted like a brownie mix but cake consistency
-I suggest cutting off the “crust” of the cake in the case it is slightly harder than the rest of the otherwise soft cake (and I made sure not to overbake the cake too); there is a texture difference for sure
-As the author mentioned, definitely get a covered container for the cake if not eaten the day of baking (or air tight is even better).