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.
Whitney, Hi i did the recipe exactly you explain in the post
However, muy 3 cakes (6) resulted, very ,very little, not tall. . I am very sad. What can I do?. Would you help me.
Please.
I want them tall, Like yours.
Your recipe, is original, or, you converted the measures??
Thank you so much. I was very happy when I baked, but the results were very bad. What can I do???.
Hi Coqui! Sorry to hear that your cakes didn’t seem to rise – I’ve never heard of that happening with this recipe. Assuming that you haven’t substituted any ingredients, here are a few things to check for next time: 1) be sure to use NON dutch process cocoa (aka natural, unsweetened cocoa) as this recipe calls for it. If you used dutch process, it will affect the rise of the cake negatively 2) check to see that your baking powder is fresh. It expires every 6 months, and if it’s expired it will not allow the cake to properly rise 3) make sure that all your ingredients are room temperature except for the hot water. The video embedded in this post might be very helpful to watch before your next attempt. Hopefully this helps and you’re able to try again soon!
Hi there!
I want to make a 6″, 3-layer cake. Can you please give the recipe? I know it isn’t the same as for 8- or 9-inch recipes. I would appreciate it if you could send it to my email address. Thanks!
Hi Christine! This recipe makes enough for a 6″ three layer cake as-is. No need to alter it at all!
Hi ,
Can i use lowfat buttermilk instead of full fat?
Hi Victoria! Lowfat should be totally fine.
I made this chocolate cake recipe at cupcakes and it made 24 standard size cupcakes. Paired it with the ruby chocolate buttercream which is delicious!
Amazing, Hannah! Thanks so much for sharing and I’m happy you loved this recipe!
my cake is cooking right now just a another 30m 🙂 i can not wait.
Yay, Mohammed! Hope you love this recipe!
Hi Whitney,
Have loved making some of your cakes so far! For some reason I’m not able to see any of the comments on any posts anymore…
I am planning to make this cake this weekend but using 5 inch tins and just checking if I would need to adjust the cooking time at all? Thanks!
Hi Elonie! There was a temporary issue on the tech side of things that hid the comments, but it has since been resolved (phew!). I’ve never tried this recipe in a 5 inch tin before, but my hunch would be to check the cake at 30-35 minutes as it won’t take as long to bake. Hope that helps!
Hi,
I was wondering why you have mentioned not using Dutch Process Cocoa Powder for the One-Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe. I prefer to use this but I also like the look of your recipe so would it be ok to use Dutch Process?
Thank you
Hi Lizzy! The reason why you’ll need to use natural (aka non-Dutch Process) cocoa powder with this recipe is because Dutch Process is treated with an alkalizing agent to lessen its acidity, which neutralizes the leavening agents in this recipe. In other words, it cancels out the ingredients that make this cake rise and won’t bake properly. Hope that helps and that you have access to natural cocoa powder – I use Hershey’s brand and it should be available at your local grocery store.
Thank you.
I would have crashed ahead with the Dutch Process Cocoa
have you ever used powdered buttermilk?
Hi Kathy! I have not tried powdered buttermilk, so I am not sure how it would work in this recipe. You are welcome to try it!
I did make this with the powder buttermilk and it came out great. Your buttercream frosting is fantastic. I’m practicing cake decorating with your tutorials.
Yay! Thanks so much for the update, I’m so happy to hear it worked and that the recipe is a hit!
I just made this in 2 x 8 inch pans and it came out VERY cracker on top. Hoping that when I cut it flat the cracks will only be on the top and not all the way through. Any ideas as to the cracking please?
Hi Selina! A cracked cake typically means either the oven temp is too high or the pan is placed on an incorrect rack (too high up in this case). I recommend getting an oven thermometer to make sure the internal temp matches what’s on the oven display, and placing the cake on a rack in the center of the oven. Even still, a cracked cake top is rarely ever a problem once the cake is leveled/torted. Hope that helps!
SUCH a goo recipe. It was sooo moist my boyfriend asked that i make it again. I do have a few questions. How can I adapt this recipe to get 4 6 inch layers that are 1-1.5 inches in thickness? As well as 4 8 inch layers. Lastly could I add chocolate chips to make it like a chocolate chocolate chip cake.
So happy to hear that Alexis! To make four 6 inch layers instead of 3, you have two options: 1) make 1.5x the recipe (multiply each ingredient by 1.5) and you’ll have more batter than necessary, or 2) make the recipe as is and divide it between four pans. You should end up with layers that are at least 1 inch tall. I would decrease the baking time to about 30-35 minutes since the layers would be smaller. To make four 8 inch layers, just double the recipe. You can add chocolate chips, but I would add mini chocolate chips (about 1 cup) and coat them in 1 Tbsp of flour before folding them in at the end so that they don’t sink. Hope that helps!
Thank you!! I will definitely be adding in some chocolate chips for another time that I make this
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have literally been trying different chocolate cake recipes for YEARS and not a single one has been a keeper. This one is!!! I haven’t written a recipe on a recipe card in two decades but I’m going to write this one down right now so I can always find it! Same with you buttercream! Smoothest cake I’ve ever frosted!!
Yay, Darcey!! It makes me so happy to hear that you love these recipes as much as I do! Thank you for taking the time to let me know 🙂
Seriously the best chocolate cake recipe I’ve ever used! It’s 110% a keeper!
Currently in the oven!! I am a little nervous since I accidentally added the hot water right in with all the wet ingredients. Is this ok? The batter is thin as described! So excited to see it and try it.
Hi Rosie! So excited for you to make this cake! I have never added the hot water in with all the wet ingredients before, but hopefully it turned out ok for you. Let me know!
Thank you so much for all the tutorials! I’m baking my first Cale this weekend for my 37th birthday! Quick question, can I use cacao powder instead of cocoa? I just always read that it’s healthier, but I don’t know how it holds up in baking.
Hi Michelle! I’m so excited for you to make this cake to celebrate your birthday! I’ve never baked with cacao powder before, so I’m not sure how to alter this recipe to substitute it in. After some Googling it sounds like cacao powder tastes more bitter and is very absorbent, which means upping the sugar and increasing the liquid in a recipe, both of which could throw the chemistry of this specific recipe off. You can feel free to experiment with this recipe as a base if you’d like to use cacao powder, but I would recommend sticking with cocoa powder with this one since it wouldn’t be a straight substitution. Happy early birthday and I hope that info helps!
Hi Whitney! How come you do not sift the all purpose flour for this cake? Is it better not to sift it for chocolate cake?
Hi Julianna! In my experience with this recipe, sifting doesn’t make enough of a difference to add as a step. I think it has something to do with the cocoa powder acting as a softener already, which is why you don’t typically see sifting as a step in most chocolate cake recipes. Hope that helps!