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 hate to be a pain…if I 1.5 the recipe it looks like it’s 397 1/2 grams flour;510 gr sugar; 90 gr cocoa;3 tsp baking soda; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder;3/4 tsp salt; 3/4 cup oil;3 eggs; 2 1/4 tsp vanilla; 11/2 cup buttermilk; 1 1/2 cup hot water… does this sound right? Do you recommend using a food scale? I just got one.
Thank you for your wisdom
Hi Kathy! Your measurements are correct and you can feel free to round up when there’s a half gram (for ex: 397.5g can be rounded up to 398g). Just so there’s no confusion here are the measurements for 1.5x this recipe: 3 Cups (398g) flour, 2.5 Cups (510g) sugar, 1 Cup (90g) cocoa, 1 Tbsp baking soda, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt, 3/4 Cup oil, 3 eggs, 2 1/4 tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 Cup buttermilk, 1 1/2 Cup hot water. Enjoy!
Hi-how did you do the decoration with the sprinklers?
Hi there! Here’s a tutorial for how to add sprinkles (different cake, same technique): https://sugarandsparrow.com/decorating-cakes-with-sprinkles/
Can you use hot coffee instead of the water? I know the coffee enhances the chocolate flavor.
You sure can, Kathy! Hot coffee is a wonderful substitute for the hot water in this recipe.
Hello! I only have 2% milk. Can I use that to make my own buttermilk? Thank you in advance!
Hi Klaudia! Yes, that would work. There isn’t as much fat in 2% milk so the cake may not be quite as rich, but it shouldn’t make too much of a difference!
I am planning to make this cake for my friend’s birthday next week and just wanted to know a few things.
Can you make the cake bigger (wider) and have more layers? Like 4 eight inch layers? And what would you have to do to the recipe?
What tins would you suggest to use? Ones that the bottom comes off, or ones that are just normal?
And I am also planning to frost the cake in chocolate buttercream after, and am wondering about how to get the layers completely straight in order for that to work. What would work best to make all the cakes straight and not domed?
Thank you so much.
Hi Lewis! Yes, you can make four 8-inch layers with this recipe if you double it. I usually use cake pans that are one piece (not removable bottom tins) because the batter is so thin. To make the cake layers level, here is the method I use: https://sugarandsparrow.com/level-and-torte-cake-layers/ I hope that helps! And if you need more info on how to build a cake from start to finish you should check out all of the posts in my Cake Basics series here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/category/cakebasics/
I want to make this into 3 8” layers. Should I double the recipe? It was such a hit last time I made it.
Hi Kathy! To make three 8-inch layers, make 1.5x the recipe to have the perfect amount of batter (multiply each ingredient by 1.5). You can double the recipe instead, but you’ll have enough batter for four 8-inch layers.
Awesome recipe. Easy to follow and taste is 100%!
Thanks so much, Anne! So happy you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do!
Hi there. I have made this recipe a number of times and it has become my fave for chocolate cake. I want to use it for a 10 inch (2 inch deep pans) 3 layer cake and I am wondering if doubling the recipe should suffice. I usually have a little batter left over normally.
Hi Zara! I’m so happy you love this recipe as much as I do 🙂 since a 10 inch pan needs about 6 Cups of batter to fill it 2/3 full, you’ll actually need to triple this recipe to make three layers. That’s if you want the layers to be 2 inches tall. If you don’t mind them being shorter, you could probably get away with making double or 2.5x the recipe. Hope that helps!
Not sure what happened but it didn’t work for me at all sadly.
The cake was SO dense and heavy and was inedible.
I used the recipe for three 5 inch pans and had to bake for 45 minutes before the toothpick came out clean. It tasted fine but the texture was really unpleasant.
No idea what I did wrong 🙁
So sorry to hear that, Cindy – I’ve never heard of this cake turning out like that. Did you substitute anything? And were you sure to use very hot (just boiled) water at the end?
Followed the recipe to the letter. No idea what happened. Will have to try again and figure out what I did
Hi,
How tall is the 3 layer 6 inch cake when made and assembled
Hi Naznin! It’s about 5 1/2 inches tall when assembled.
This cake is amazing!!
I used two 8” pans and sliced each one to get 4 layers total.
It came out perfectly moist, not too sweet and it didn’t colapse at all!!
I used vanilla buttercream to cover it and topped it with a chocolate drip for my dad’s birthday. He absolutely loved it.
I’m so happy I found your blog and will definitely make this cake again.
Yay, Ingrid! I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit for your dad’s birthday! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know and for the kind words about my blog 🙂
Can this recipe be used for the middle tier of a 3 tier cake?
It sure can, Uzma!
I made this cake thrice using your recipe and it turned out so perfect!! Thanks so much!
Can you also suggest what can I do to substitute eggs in this recipe?
I’m so happy to hear you love this recipe, Aashka! I’m not sure how to substitute the eggs in this recipe BUT I have a great Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe that is egg-free and so tasty it truly rivals this one. It’s also one-bowl! https://sugarandsparrow.com/vegan-chocolate-cake-recipe/
I just made this cake to celebrate my parent’s wedding anniversary. The whole family loved it! It was delicious! The cake was moist and had just the right amount of sweetness.
Yay, Amy! So happy to hear that this recipe was a hit for the whole family!
This recipe is amazing!!! I just made it into this basket design, with homemade white chocolate succulents on top and a lot of sprinkles-HUGE hit. Thank you thank you, will def be making this again 🙂
Yay, Rebecca! That makes me so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit 🙂 The design sounds beautiful!
This recipe is fab! Lovely crumb to it but my only concern is it collapsing on itself. I did the 4 layer 6 inch version for a birthday cake and i’m so worried about the bottom layer. It’s so light that I don’t think it can support the weight of the rest 🙁
So happy you love this recipe, Nicola! It should be totally fine as a four layer cake but if you’re concerned about the weight you can always support the cake by making it into a double barrel (here’s a video to show you how: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wi6IRWItnI&t=135s).
This recipe and your response to my question about how to transfer the frosted cake made my family’s Christmas Eve special, even during covid. Thank you! A follow up question. I’m looking to make this again in a larger size. Your intro says this batter works for two 9” pans but the recipe says 8”. Which works best for the baking time in the recipe?
Thanks for catching that, Amy! The baking time specified is best for two 8″ pans or three 6″ pans. This recipe will work with 9″ pans, but the baking time would be more like 30-35 minutes for those (less time because the batter won’t be as deep). Hope that helps!