Super easy, moist and best triple chocolate cake recipe from scratch, homemade with simple ingredients! Loaded with cocoa powder and coffee. This is the ultimate one bowl cake and pairs perfectly with chocolate frosting.
If you have been looking for the perfect cake for your next party, I assure you that your search has come to an end! I have tried many recipes and always find myself coming back to my true and tested family recipe. The texture is perfectly soft and moist but not so soft that it falls apart. The chocolate flavor is very balanced. It's not too bitter and not too sweet and pairs well with many of these Frosting and Filling Recipes.
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This Ultimate Triple Chocolate Cake is the BEST!
- Simple ingredients
- Fluffy
- Moist
- Intense chocolate flavor
- Soft but stable texture
How To Make Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe From Scratch?
- Mix wet ingredients- This includes eggs, oil, milk, vanilla extract.
- Mix in dry ingredients- This includes flour, cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda
- Stir in coffee- Until batter is smooth and creamy.
- Fill cake pans- Lined with parchment paper and greased sides.
- Bake- Until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool cakes- Fully.
- Assemble- Place one cake on serving dish and spread icing on top. Place the other cake on top of the icing. Then, ice whole cake.
- Decorate top- With mini chocolate chips and sprinkles.
Variations for Moist Chocolate Cake
Birthday cake- Use the decorations from this Best Birthday Cake {Easy and Fun}, but the recipe below.
Use dark chocolate- The end result will be super rich but not as sweet.
Glazed cake- Top with a smooth glaze for an elegant finish. This Chocolate Ganache would be perfect.
Ganache cake- Use this Chocolate ganache frosting {2 ingredients} to ice the cake.
Chocolate cake decoration/design- Try any of the ideas from the following: Birthday Cake Ideas, Easy Cake Decorating Ideas, Russian Piping Tips Tutorial
Kit Kat cake- Use the recipe below and then, decorate it according to this Kit Kat Cake with Strawberries recipe.
Try other extracts- Such as coconut, caramel, cherry, almond for a unique flavor profile.
Try a different frostings- Such as Coconut Pecan Frosting or this Easy Mint Frosting.
Tips And Techniques for Best Homemade Chocolate Cake
What makes the cake moist and fluffy? Creaming the butter and sugar together creates air pockets. These expand while the cake is baking creating a fluffy cake. The moist cake is produced by the correct ratio of liquid to dry ingredients.
Why do you add boiling water to cake? Some recipes use boiling water or coffee to help develop and deepen the flavor of the cocoa powder.
Why is my cake dry and crumbly? This may be due to too much flour being added to the cake. Make sure to measure accurately in order to ensure a cake that is not dry and crumbly. It can also be that the cake was over baked, or baked at too high of a temperature. Over-baking the cake also evaporates a lot of moisture, resulting in a dry cake.
Why is my cake dense? This may be due to either too much sugar or other liquids being added. It is also possible that the cake was over-mixed which can make the cake dense, chewy and gummy.
Why did my cake deflate and sink in the middle? Too much baking powder and baking soda can cause a build-up of gas. This causes the center of the cake to rise too quickly before the rest of the cake finishes baking, then the center deflates and sinks. This can also happen if the oven was opened halfway during baking. It causes heat to escape, causing a dramatic drop in oven temperature and this can result in deflation.
Why add coffee in cake? It brings out the flavor of chocolate and makes it more intense!
How to keep chocolate from sticking to pan? Make sure to line the cake pans with parchment paper along the bottom and then grease the sides.
Can you add cocoa to cake mix? Yes, you can add unsweetened cocoa powder. Check out this post to learn all the ways to improve a boxed cake mix: How to Make Box Cake Better (Taste Homemade).
Storage
Refrigerate- In a sealed container for up to 3 days.
Freeze- The cake and frosting can be stored in sealed containers separately for up to 1 month. Thaw to room temperature and then assemble, as per instructions below.
More Easy Chocolate Desserts
- Chocolate Trifle
- Black Forest Cake (With Cake Mix)
- Depression Cake (Wacky Cake)
- Pretzel Cake
- Chocolate Crackers (Sweet and Salty)
Recipe
Chocolate Cake
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Ingredients
- 2 Eggs Large
- ½ cup Oil
- 1 cup Milk Whole or 2%
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- ¾ cup Cocoa powder
- 2 cups Granulated sugar Granulated
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon powder Optional
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1.5 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1.5 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 cup Strongly brewed coffee Or water, Hot
- 4-5 cups Chocolate buttercream icing
- 1 cup Chocolate chips Mini size, For decorating
- 1 tablespoon Sprinkles For decorating
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, oil, milk, vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda and mix until partially combined.
- Stir in hot brewed coffee until batter is smooth and creamy. Batter will be very thin and that's normal.
- Pour batter in two round cake pans (Dimensions: 9x2) that are lined with parchment paper and greased along the sides.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool down fully.
- While they are cooling, prepare chocolate icing.
- Remove parchment paper from bottom of each cake.
- Place one cake on a cake stand and spread icing on top.
- Then, place the other cake on top of the icing and press gently to secure it together.
- Ice the whole cake.
- Use the back of a spoon or spatula to create a rustic design.
- Toss mini chocolate chips and sprinkles on top.
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- This recipe will either make 24 cupcakes or a two 9 inch round cakes.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Acacia
Yum! You are not alone Abeer the chocoholic! Chocolate Cupcakes are sooo hard to resist. They look so small and innocent....but really behind their super deliciousness and perfect icing they are EVIL! Love your recipe and decorating skills
Ann
I love these pretty chocolate cupcakes! Let's see who eat the most if you're sharing this cutie with me
Belinda
I totally feel you. I am the same exact way, I am now wanting this for breakfast!! Love that yellow.
Abeer
@Britt...hahaha. We would both be committed long-term then. lol. You really should give this recipe a shot...it's really good 🙂
@Yummychunklet...nothing beats colored frosting. I was debating between pink and yellow but yellow made me happy so I went with that 😉
@Denise... You and me both. I can't ever remember just eating ONE! lol
@Kayle... Woohoo for chocolate addicts. Nice to see I am not the only person with this problem...hehe
@Blond duck... Yes! Sprinkles make everything better and the more colorful they are, the happer I am 😛
Abeer
@Acacia...Glad to hear i am not alone! CupCakes truly are so innocent...hehe
@Ann... I would have a hard time sharing...lol!
@Belinda..I wish I had some leftover cupcakes so i can eat them for breakfast too
Britt
Good thing there are no rehabs for chocoholics- I'd be committed for the long-term!! These look amazing, now I'm craving chocolate cake! I'll have to give this a try soon.
yummychunklet
I love the intensity of your yellow frosting!
Denise & Laura @ Bakingwithbite
These look amazing! Chocolate cupcakes are my favourite, I can never have just have just one!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
I eat chocolate pretty much every day too. We can both be addicts, together 😛 This recipe looks amazing!
Blond Duck
Everything is better with sprinkles!
Evelyne
Yes i could live on chocolate and no you are not alone for solo disappearing acts lol. The cake and cupcakes looks great and wow that icing pops of color!
john
Chocolate really is addictive, isn't it? Although I don't eat it every day, amazingly enough. Don't worry I get plenty, and if I had these in front of me? Well, I might finish off the entire batch by myself, too.
suzie
That yellow frosting looks like sunshine and I could use some sunshine! Looks lovely as usual!!
Medeja
It sounds a bit similar to brownies..Is the taste rich enoughor you think cake would taste nice with a layer of butter cream or some jam?
beth pollock
That looks delicious! And your cake is so simple and pretty.
Abeer
@ CCU....awww, thanks. You are too kind Uru!
@ Natalie... Thanks... the bright yellow frosting is my favorite too 😀