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 Whitney,
I’ve made this recipe a few times now both big cakes and cupcakes. Both are very well liked. I am wanting to make a 3 later 8″ and a 3 layer 6″. Can you advise on quantities please?
Thank you 🙂
Yay, Emma! I’m so happy this recipe has been a hit. To make both of those cake sizes, you’ll need 1x the recipe for the 3-layer 6-inch cake and then 1.5x the recipe for the 3-layer 8-inch cake. So that’s a total of 2.5x the recipe to have enough batter. If you have a mixer that’s big enough for about 15 Cups of batter, then you could make it all at the same time. You could also just make the 6-inch cake first and mix up 1.5x the recipe for the 8-inch cake while the 6-inch layers are baking. Up to you!
Hi Whitney! This cake is my all time favourite go-to chocolate sponge and I have made it so many time BUT, I want to try and tweak the recipe to make it a vanilla sponge (I’m thinking 3 tier victoria sponge type thing). Looking at the recipe, do you think that swapping out the cocoa and replacing with more of the flour to equal the dry weight ingredients and using hot water instead of coffee would work for this? Thankssss 😀
Hi Katy! I’m so happy you love this recipe! It’s a bit more complicated to transpose this recipe into a vanilla version. Instead, I would use this vanilla cake recipe: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-cake-recipe/
Hi Whitney! I am planning on making a 9×13 two-layer sheet cake and this is my go-to recipe! I was wondering if I should double the recipe and stack the two layers or cut the one sheet cake layer in half, to make two. Which one would you recommend? I also only have one 9×13 pan, so would the batter taste weird if the other half of the batter was sitting out while the first layer was baking for so long? Sorry, this is so confusing.
Hi Addie! Baking this in a 9×13 pan yields a little over 2-inch tall cake layer. You could definitely torte one cake layer and add filling between, but if you want taller cake layers I would double the recipe and bake two separate cakes. If you go that route, you can definitely double the recipe and leave the batter out while the first layer cooks. It won’t affect the bake!
Great!!! That is so helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and reply!❤️
I made the recipe as is but put it into two 7.5inch x 2.5inch cake pans. They domed a lot unfortunate. My oven can be a bit temperamental.
But overall the layers are really thin … I was planning to stack them but even still it’s definitely not giving me the height I was imagining. Should I double the recipe to fill the pans more so that the overall layers are thicker and higher.
Thankyou
Hi Jo! I wonder what happened. How tall did the layers end up? Mine are usually about 1.75 inches tall once leveled.
Oh. My. Goodness. This is the most amazing cake I have ever had! Everyone agrees. I love the lightness and fluffiness, but also it still had such a deep chocolate flavor. I have gotten your book and love it!!! So random, but I was wondering if you could explain to me why you use buttermilk rather than normal milk. I have notice a lot of cake bakers use it in their cakes and cupcakes. Thank you, Whitney!!!
Yay, Addie! I’m so happy you’ve been loving this recipe and my book! Buttermilk has extra fat in it which makes the cake extra moist and rich. If I don’t have actual buttermilk on hand, so I make the DIY version (in the notes of this recipe) with whole milk + white vinegar. It works just as well!
Thank you so much! I have made the DIY buttermilk, for it is hard to come by buttermilk where I live.
Thanks Whitney!
Thanks Sugar and Sparrow!
For all you do.
I’m a big fan
Love from Nigeria!
Hello, I’ve made a few of your cakes and they have all been amazing. I’m super excited to try out your chocolate cake but I need to use a 9×13 pan, will the measurements stay the same or how should I tweak them?
Hi Jessica! So happy you’ve been loving my recipes 🙂 the measurements in this recipe can stay the same if your 9×13 pan has taller sides (like a casserole dish) or you can half the recipe for a sheet pan with shorter sides. Hope that helps!
Hi Whitney,
If I make this as a 9×13 wouid I still bake it for 36 minutes?
Hi Paulina! I have baking instructions for this cake recipe as a 9×13 here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/chocolate-sheet-cake/
Ok I haven’t actually tasted it yet – but oh my the little cake rounds look amazing! I am so excited to make my grandson’s birthday cake now! I will be following your tips and hope it turns out.
Yay, Julie! I’m cheering you on!
My five year old and I trialled this cake and the buttercream for her birthday cake. We absolutely loved it! Will definitely be using this recipe for the day! Thanks
Yay, Melissa! That makes me so happy!
How long do you bake it for and how much do you bake it for? For a 4 inch cake
Hi Chelsea! For a 4 inch cake bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
How many servings do you think a 3 , 6 inch cake serves? And how many people does a 2, 8 inch cake serves?
Hi Chelsea! A 3-layer 6-inch cake serves 12-15 people, and a 2-layer 8-inch cake serves 20-24 people. Here’s a handy chart that shows the serving sizes per cake + how to get the most slices: https://sugarandsparrow.com/cake-serving-guide/
I doubled this recipe and used instant espresso in place of water, added a tablespoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon and a half of chili powder and a half teaspoon of nutmeg and ramped up the vanilla by half a teaspoon. This is seriously the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made!!
Yay, Candy! I’m so happy to hear that you loved this recipe and YUM. Sounds so delicious with those spices added!
Do you think there is enough batter to do a 10 inch cake two layers or would you double the recipe?
Hi Jessica! I would make 1.5x the recipe to have enough batter for two 10 inch layers. You might even have a little more than enough, so just be sure to fill the tins no more than 2/3 full before baking. They’ll probably need an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven as well, so check them for doneness around then. Hope that helps!
Hi , sorry Does any of its characteristics change if I change the oil to melted butter?
Hi Maria! I’ve never tried that before, so it would be an experiment, but I think it could work! Let me know if you try it 🙂
Hi Whitney! Have you ever used gluten free flour in this recipe? Or any of your other cake recipes? I know you’ve got vegan options but was just looking for straight up gluten free!
Thanks!!
Hi Kate! I have used GF flour in my vegan chocolate cake recipe and it worked! I have also heard of other people using All Purpose GF flour in lots of my other recipes (a straight 1:1 ratio) but I only have experience with my vegan chocolate cake: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vegan-chocolate-cake-recipe/
My first cake I’ve made and frosted and haven’t cried because it failed. Thank you!
Yay, Janet! That makes me so so happy!