After testing so many chocolate cake recipes over the years, I’ve come really close to perfection only to miss the mark on the essentials of a good chocolate cake: moistness, fluffiness, and great chocolate flavor. You know, the kind with the slightly sticky crumb that just melts in your mouth and almost makes your eyes roll back in your head because it’s just that good. While my chocolate cakes of the past have been acceptable, this one I’m about to share is the absolute best I’ve ever had. No joke. It’s fudgy, moist, decadent, and makes me so giddy I want to shout it from the rooftops!
One reader, Edith, says: “This recipe is aptly named. It is perfect! It came together breathtakingly easily and tasted as though I’d spent all day on it. It was a positively dreamy cake, not too sweet, strong chocolate flavor, ideal texture.” ★★★★★
The best part of this chocolate cake recipe is that it’s about as easy as a cake mix. It’s a one-bowl cake, meaning you basically put all the ingredients into one bowl (in the right order, of course) and whip it up into the smoothest chocolate cake batter ever. There are absolutely no complicated steps to this cake, which makes it super failproof and the perfect go-to chocolate cake recipe for your repertoire.
This cake is ultra-moist due to the vegetable oil base and the addition of buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can easily make it from scratch using whole milk. Just mix it with white vinegar (exact recipe is in the notes below), let it sit for about 15 minutes, and voila! Perfect buttermilk every time.
You can pair this chocolate cake with almost any buttercream, but I’ve chosen to pair it with my favorite chocolate buttercream recipe to really enhance the chocolate flavor. In the past I’ve paired it with cherry, raspberry, almond, salted caramel, and vanilla buttercreams and those pairings have been super tasty.
The rope border on top of this cake was created using Wilton Tip 1M to pipe rosettes on top of one another around the edge of the cake. Then I topped it all off with one of my favorite sprinkle mixes ever – Rainbow Road by SprinklePop. I think sprinkles are the perfect finishing touch, but you can decorate however you’d like.
Here’s a video I made to show you all the tips and tricks for making this chocolate cake recipe (below). For more recipe videos like this one + tons of cake decorating videos, head to my YouTube Channel and be sure to click the Subscribe button so you never miss a new one!
Update 2022 – Two things: 1) I realized that you can absolutely make this recipe by hand instead of using a mixer! That makes it an even easier one bowl cake. Exact instructions are in the notes of the recipe below. 2) I prefer using hot coffee in this recipe (enhances the chocolate flavor big time!), but you can absolutely use hot water as an alternative.
Perfect One-Bowl Chocolate Cake Recipe
Ingredients
One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
- 2 Cups (265g) all purpose flour
- 1 2/3 Cups (340g) granulated sugar
- 2/3 Cup (60g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Cup (240ml) full-fat buttermilk*, room temperature DIY recipe in the notes
- 1 Cup (240ml) hot coffee or hot water
Chocolate Buttercream
- 2 batches of my favorite chocolate buttercream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting the bottoms with a wax paper or parchment cake circle.
- Place all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir on low for 30 seconds to fully combine them. Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk and mix on low until just combined. With the mixer still on low, add the hot coffee (or hot water) in a slow stream, then turn the mixer to medium and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. The batter will be very thin.
- Pour into prepared cake pans no more than 2/3 full and bake for 32-36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting with chocolate buttercream or frosting of your choice.
Notes
Did you make this recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments below, or by tagging me on Instagram! I love to see your creations and hear your feedback.
Hi! Can I double the recipe and make it 8 inch 4 layers in total? Will the cake hold up?
Hi Gina! Yes, you can absolutely double the recipe for 4 8-inch layers. Enjoy!
Hi there, if using 7 inch tins would I bake 2 or 3 cakes? How much would I need to adjust the cooking time? Thank you!
Hi Bianca! I would bake 3 layers with 7-inch cake pans. Start checking for doneness around the 28 minute mark since the layers will be slightly shorter than the 6-inch layers. Enjoy!
I am making this recipe using 2, 8 x 3 inch heart shaped pans. Do I need to make any adjustments to the recipe? I will lower temperature to 325 degrees using the heart shaped pans. Any recommendations?thank you!
Hi Elisa! Since the volume of your pans holds more than an 8-inch round pan, I would make 1.5x the recipe to have enough batter. Lowering the temp to 325ºF should be just fine and help them bake up flatter, I would still start checking for doneness around the 32 minute mark and add time from there if needed. Hope that helps!
Hi Whitney, can this recipe be divided into 2 of 10 inch baking pan?
Thank you.
Hi Mady! I would make 1.5x the recipe to have enough for two 10-inch cake pans (multiply each ingredient by 1.5). Enjoy!
Absolutely excellent. I decided to try it because of the rave reviews, and they were spot on! I plan to bake it again for another birthday but in a 9x 13 pan this time. How long do you think I should bake it?
Yay, Jan! I’m so happy you love this recipe as much as I do! Here’s the 9×13 version (same recipe, written for that pan size): https://sugarandsparrow.com/chocolate-sheet-cake/
My favorite chocolate cake recipe! Super easy and I always get compliments!
Yay, Maria! I’m so happy this has become your go-to!
Can I use dark cocao powder?
Hi Patricia! Yes, you can use dark cacao powder. Enjoy!
Hi, this looks amazing! How.would you recommenda adjusting the recipe for 3 layers of 8 inch tins please?
Hi Victoria! For three 8-inch layers I would make 1.5x the recipe. Enjoy!
How many cupcakes would this yield?
Hi Karla! This recipe yields about 30 standard sized cupcakes. I have a cupcake version here that yields 15: https://sugarandsparrow.com/chocolate-cupcakes-chocolate-buttercream/
This is my ride or die cake recipe! I’ve made it for birthdays and someone’s wedding cake!!! It is EPIC! I really want to make that recipe but as cupcakes. Any idea how I’d adjust the baking time as 35 mins seems quite long… or would it still be the same? I always look forward to baking it because it is genuinely the very best cake I’ve ever eaten in my whole life. And I’ve eaten a LOT (and also baked a lot) of cake!!! Thank you ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Yay, Katy! I’m so happy you love this recipe as much as I do!! I have the cupcake version here (same recipe, adjusted baking time): https://sugarandsparrow.com/chocolate-cupcakes-chocolate-buttercream/
You absolute BABE. thank you so much!!!
Hi, I was going to make this cake for my cousins birthday and was wondering if I should use hot water or hot coffee? I don’t want it to taste too much like coffee.
Hi Maggie! I’m excited for you to make this cake. I always use coffee because it amplifies the chocolate flavor and you can’t taste it at all in the final baked cake. Hot water works fine too, but the coffee will make it taste more rich/chocolatey. Hope that helps!
I am a UK baker. Would you recommend plain flour, baking soda and baking powder or just use self-raising flour? Thank you!
Hi Laura! I would recommend plain flour (same as all-purpose flour) plus the baking soda and baking powder listed here. I haven’t tried this recipe with self-raising flour so that would be an experiment.
Thank you