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, I want to make this recipe,but don’t have white vinegar at hand,Can I use lemon to make buttermilk?Thank you.
Hi Andrea! You can definitely sub lemon for the white vinegar and get the same result.
Your cakes are amazing! I’ve made both the cake and buttercream. Would you recommend getting it ready now or leave separate and build tomorrow (birthday party is tomorrow). Thank you!
Hi Stephanie! I always fill and frost my cakes a day ahead just to save on the stress of making a cake the day of, but it totally depends how much time you have the day of the party. Once you frost a cake it stores beautifully in the refrigerator overnight and preserves all the moisture inside the cake, so it ends up tasting perfect next day.
Why don’t you use cake flour in this recipe? Is it ok to use cake flour instead of all purpose flour?
Hi Sarah, I don’t recommend cake flour in this chocolate cake recipe because it simply can’t withstand fine cake flour. Cake flour is a super fine ingredient, and since this chocolate cake already has cocoa powder in it (another VERY fine dry ingredient), those two ingredients together usually result in a flimsy cake. Trust me though, this cake recipe has a perfect crumb as-is. I hope you give it a try!
I made four cakes for my daughter’s first birthday party (we have a huge family). I did two of you vanilla cakes and two of these chocolate cakes. They were awesome! Everyone was impressed (you made me look like an awesome baker). I made your vanilla buttercream and your raspberry buttercream (except I used freeze dried strawberries instead of raspberries). They were so good my husband and I decided we should always have cake on hand. Now I bake a cake, we each have a slice and I freeze the rest for a treat on weekends. They freeze beautifully and taste just as good as if it were fresh. Thank you for sharing you baking secrets!
That makes me sooo happy to hear, Sarah!! I’m so glad you and your family have been loving these recipes! Totally makes my day 🙂
This cake is absolutely delicious. I used two 9 inch pans. I am not the most experienced baker, and this recipe was so simple and easy for me. I brought it to a family dinner, and everyone loved it. I look forward to trying cupcakes with this recipe.
So happy you love this recipe as much as I do, Angie! Glad it was a hit!!
This cake is “Perfect!” I baked it for a birthday girl, and the guests LOVED it! Whew! I would definitely double the frosting recipe to add the beautiful swirls for the top. This recipe is a keeper.
So happy the recipe was a hit, Jeannine!
Thankyou so much! Will try it this weekend! I’m hoping to make a vanilla or white choc buttercream to ice it in the naked style. Will try your recipe as well.
Oh thank you so much! I am making a cake for a family wedding and they’ve requested a mud cake but I just love your recipe and mud cakes are so heavy! I’ll try the coffee – what is the measurements? Thanks heaps!
Same measurements as the hot water, just use strong coffee as a straight substitute for the hot water. Hope you love it!
Hey!
Do you have a richer mud cake recipe or could I add chocolate to this? I tried this today and it’s amazing however I’d just like it a little richer. The texture and level of moisture is unreal. Thankyou
Hi Stephanie! I’ve actually never made a mud cake before, so I don’t have any advice for turning this recipe into one. I have tried adding hot coffee instead of hot water and the taste was more rich – the chocolate flavor was amplified without it tasting like coffee. But feel free to add melted chocolate and experiment and let me know how it goes!
Hi Whitney,
Can I use Coconut oil instead of Vegetable oil? Can I half the receipe to try for the first time? I don’t have kosher salt so planning to add Iodine Salt. Will it work? Or should I eliminate salt? Thanks In Advance.
Hi Benazir, although I have never personally tried it, I’ve heard that coconut oil can be used as a substitute for vegetable oil in baking. And iodized salt will be fine (all salts are pretty interchangeable in baking). If you want to half the recipe, that’s totally fine!
This is the best and easiest recipe I’ve ever tried.. thankyou so much for this.. my husband and kids loved it!
So happy to hear that, Santhi!! I’m glad you love this recipe as much as I do 🙂
Hey Whitney,
Thank you so much for this recipe, I’ve tried it several times and it’s absolutely perfect each time! It’s my go-to chocolate cake now – pretty quick and easy to make and totally delish <3 It's completely different than what we're used to here in Poland – the most common base for b-day cakes is usually a kind of soft sponge which is also great, but it's super soft and too delicate for any cream heavier than whipped cream and mascarpone. 🙂
I've used yours with mascarpone-based chocolate cream and swiss meringue oreo buttercream (not a huge fan of a regular buttercream), and it's brilliant. I've actually got it in the oven at the moment for my b-day party tomorrow 🙂 Gonna use a truffle cream and blackcurrant preserves for the filling, and powdered milk buttercream for decor. Hoping for a decadent elegant result 🙂
Lots of love from Poland!
Aga
I’m so happy to hear that you’re loving this recipe, Aga! It’s one of my absolute favorites too. Pairing it with truffle cream and blackcurrant preserves sounds like a dream!
OMGosh! I thought I had a great chocolate cake recipe but mine didn’t even hold a candle to this one. Heavy, dense, just sweet enough. My new favorite. People rave about it everywhere I take it. Now, if you just had a vanilla or almond version 🙂
So happy you love this recipe, Tami! Thanks for letting me know! Have you tried my vanilla cake recipe yet? It’s a crowd fave as well: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-cake-recipe/
Can you tell me how many oz of sprinkles to order to replicate? Thanks!
Hi Kelly! I used about 5 oz of the Rainbow Road sprinkles by SprinklePop. Here’s the link, just be sure to choose the 8 oz option so you have enough: https://amzn.to/2VP5ZKI
I can’t wait to try this!! Going to make this for my daughter’s 3rd bday, although with your white buttercream recipe for the frosting. Not going to do a dry run though so wish me luck!;)
Do those 5 ounces also include the sprinkles piled on top of the cake?
I’m obsessed with your website and cakes, so pretty and so glad I came upon it!
Thanks for the kind words, Sara! I’m excited for you to try these recipes! And yes – the 5 oz of sprinkles should be more than enough for placing on the sides and then piling on the top of the cake.
This cake sounds wonderful. I have to make a chocolate cake for someone with a dairy allergy, would I be able to substitute soy or almond milk when making the buttermilk?
Hi Diane! From what I’ve read online, soy milk is the best substitute in cake recipes because of the high fat/protein content. I’ve never tried it myself but it seems like it works great! Let me know how it goes if you try it.
Wish me luck I’m about to attempt this for my daughter’s birthday will post the outcome
Yay, Maya! Hope you love it!
Could you use black cocoa mixed with black gel food color to make a black cake?? I know the flavor will be a little different….
Hi Breanna! I’ve never tried baking with black cocoa but I hear it’s amazing. It’s definitely worth a try (let me know how it goes if you do!). You could either use black cocoa or use regular cocoa and add a few drops of black food color gel to make the cake black.