This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy.
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.
Hi, can I use melted butter instead of oil?
I have not tried that substitution, so I am unsure as to how it will perform. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi! I have made this cake twice to RAVE reviews. It is amazing and I highly recommend anyone made it even if you haven’t made a cake from scratch before! It wasn’t incredibly difficult. I made this for one of my friends baby showers and it was the first time I have been to a shower where the ENTIRE cake was eaten! I had to send the recipe out to everyone who attended and I was glad to!
I am going to an event this weekend where there will be no silverware or plates so I am going to try and do cupcakes. Wish me luck haha!!
Thanks so much, Merideth! Happy to hear you enjoyed the cake.
-Jamie
Hi Jamie,
This cake looks lovely however i am strict vegetarian with no eggs, can just leave out the eggs in this recipe? and not replace it with anything?
Hello-
You would probably need to use an egg substitute as I don’t think the recipe will bake up correctly if you simply omit the eggs. Happy baking!
-Jamie
Hi, is the coffee supposed to be hot or room temperature?
The coffee can be added warm or room temperature. Thanks for stopping by.
-Jamie
Looking for a dark chocolate cake for a friends 50th. I think I just found it!
I hope everyone enjoys it, Christy!
Hi!
I have made this recipe on a couple occasions and no matter what it never fails it always falls in the middle… I feel the recipe is too wet and has too much moisture so it isn’t working for me properly.. What am I doing wrong? I just don’t get it!
Thank you!
Hi, Ma’Isha! I’m sorry the cake is falling for you. Check your oven temperature to make sure it’s calibrated correctly, and you might try lowering the temperature 25 degrees to see if that works. I hope this helps!
I made cupcakes with the recipe last week and they turned out fantastic. I baked the cupcakes for 15 minutes, but everyone’s oven is different, so check your timing.
Also, for those who are concerned about the Coffee in this recipe. I can tell you this….I hate the taste of coffee. Seriously can’t stand the stuff. HOWEVER….yes, I emphasized that on purpose, I do use coffee in all my chocolate cake, and cookie recipes when I can, as you cannot taste the coffee. Seriously. You cannot taste it. It only enhances and deepens the taste of the chocolate. For those of you who don’t like coffee, you know that slice of cake you ate, the one that tasted so rich and chocolaty? The one where it was so moist you could easily eat 2 slices. Well, there’s a 99.9% chance, it had coffee in it to enhance the taste of the chocolate. And since I don’t drink coffee, I buy the little boxes of instant coffee, that has 6 individual coffee packs in it. It cost one dollar at Walmart.
As for the King Arther Black Cocoa, I used 2 Tablespoons of Hershey’s Dark Unsweetened Cocoa Powder.
As for the Buttermilk, it is essential in this recipe. It’s a cheap item to buy at the store and if you don’t use it often, you can buy it in the baking aisle at your store, in a powdered form. You just add water to it. 4 tablespoons added to 1 cup of water, is = to 1 cup of buttermilk. I know, because I keep it on hand too. Mainly for when I run out of buttermilk. (I hate buttermilk, but I use it in this recipe, my donuts and my bread recipes. Kind of like coffee. You can’t taste it. So don’t be afraid to use it.)
Thank you so much, Cheryl! I agree with everything you said!
What could be used instead of eggs?as I am a vegetarian
Hi, Pooja! You can use a mashed banana for each egg or 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce. I hope you like the cake!
What is buttermilk???
Hi, Aiesh! Buttermilk is milk with a bit of acid. You can make your own by taking one cup of milk and adding a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes, and you’ve got buttermilk. Enjoy!
Why do you put coffee in chocolate cake I can’t stand coffee what could I use instead
Hi, Jill! You can use water instead, but I promise you won’t even taste the coffee at all. I hope you enjoy the cake!