I have been meaning to post this easy from-scratch chocolate cake recipe for some time now. But, I haven’t been able to get around to it. This is one of my favorite recipes to make and is my number one request along with vanilla (recipe coming soon). Everyone needs to have a good chocolate cake in his or her recipe collection. This chocolate cake fits the bill; it’s moist, rich, and delicious.

The cake is a one-bowl recipe (my favorite). It’s super easy to make (you’ll see), just dump all the ingredients together in a bowl and voila, you have a delicious chocolate cake. But, don’t take my word for it, you should try it.

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What makes this chocolate cake different?

Now, I did not create the original recipe, I used the Hershey’s chocolate cake recipe and vamped it up a bit. So what’s different?  I substituted the milk with buttermilk, added some espresso powder, and the secret… mix Hershey special dark cocoa powder with the regular unsweetened cocoa powder.  What…?

I love using buttermilk in recipes because it makes the cake so moist, this cake is no different.  Buttermilk tenderizes the gluten in the flour and gives it a tender crumb.  While, the expresso powder brings out the intense chocolate flavor. Expresso powder can be used in two ways: as an addition to the dry ingredients or the hot water essentially creating instant coffee. Both methods are fine.

Finally, combining the special dark cocoa powder with the unsweetened cocoa powder makes this cake extremely rich. I have been experimenting with the ratio for a while now, but you really cannot go wrong here.  The special dark cocoa is super rich you can taste it whether you add more or less. For a more intense and richer chocolate cake, replace the entire unsweetened cocoa with the special dark. I would not complain about that at all.  Would you?

What kind of frosting did you add to the cake?

The outside of the cake was frosted with a chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. However, I filled it with a rich chocolate American buttercream that uses only the special dark cocoa powder. I know what you’re saying, I thought you didn’t like American buttercream because it’s too sweet? Um, I don’t, but it works well here. The cake wasn’t overly sweet, but it had just enough sweetness. Of course, you may decide not to use the filling and in that case, you may use the Swiss meringue buttercream which isn’t sweet at all. Warning, you are guaranteed to experience chocolate heaven with this one.

Steps for making the chocolate cake?

First, you will need some materials:

• 3 8-inch cake pans
• A cake tester (never worry about running out of toothpick again)
• A handheld mixer (I use this one from Kitchen Aid) or a stand mixer
• Non-skid mixing bowl
• Hershey special dark cocoa
• Hershey unsweetened cocoa

The first step is to mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add the oil to a mixing bowl and the eggs.

Add the buttermilk and vanilla

Mix the wet ingredients together, then add to the dry ingredients.

Mix well until combined and add to the batter evenly to the three 8-inch cake pans.

How to make the chocolate buttercream filling

Beat the butter until light and fluffy.

Add the cocoa powder and the confectioner’s sugar (mix slowly) in no particular order.

Add the two tablespoons of heavy cream, add more until you reach your desired stiffness.

To assembly add the first layer to the cake board, then add the chocolate buttercream frosting. Then add the next layers until the cake is fully assembled. There you have it, delicious and rich chocolate cake.  Look how delicious that filling looks.

The Best Chocolate Cake from scratch

This from-scratch chocolate cake is to die for. It is rich, moist and delicious. It is every chocolate lovers dream

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Frosting 25 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings 3 8-inch cake

Ingredients

  

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Chocolate Cake

• 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups cocoa powder ½ cup dark cocoa powder + ¾ cup regular cocoa powder
• 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
• 2 ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp espresso powder
• 1 ½ salt
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cups canola oil
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk
• 1 ½ cups boiling water
• 2 tsp vanilla

Chocolate frosting filling

• 2/3 cup special dark cocoa powder
• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 stick butter 1/2 cup
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Swiss Meringue buttercream

• 6 egg whites
• 4 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
• ¼ cup melted chocolate

Instructions

 

Directions:

Chocolate Cake:

• Heat oven to 350 ̊F. Grease and flour 3 8-inch cake pans.
• Stir the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
• Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, mix together, then add the boiling water. Mix until combined.
• Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool completely before adding frosting.

Chocolate Frosting Filling

• Beat the butter until white and fluffy
• Add the cocoa powder and confectioner’s sugar. Then, add heavy cream and the vanilla extract. Add more heavy cream if the frosting is too stiff.

Chocolate Swiss Meringue buttercream

• Add the egg whites and sugar to a heatproof bowl and mix over a double boiler.
• Mix until it is warm to touch and the sugar is completely dissolved or until the mixture reaches 140°F.
• Once the mixture reaches 140⁰F, mix the egg whites on high until the mixing bowl is cool to touch.
• Add the butter one piece at a time, mix until combined. Then add the vanilla, melted chocolate and cocoa powder mix until combined.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!