This is my go-t0, most favoritest chocolate cake recipe. I found it on the internet eons ago and can't find it again to give credit.
It was my sister's 26th birthday yesterday and mom was having us over for a really nice dinner so naturally I offered to make and bring the cake. I asked my sister what kind of cake she wanted - chocolate. I asked her what kind of icing she wanted - rainbow chip. You got it Sis!
I've never in my life had a slice of chocolate cake as moist as this. I urge you to try this recipe the next time you need a chocolate cake. Seriously, you cannot go wrong.
SERIOUSLY MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE
Source: the vast world wide web
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil (I use canola oil)
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I only ever buy 1%)
1 cup HOT coffee
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups cocoa powder (I use Penzey's Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder)
2 cups cake flour (when I've substituted all-purpose flour, my cake always sank in the middle)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
-----
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease and flour your cake pan(s) (2 round, or 1 sheet).
3. Add all dry ingredients (except sugar) to a bowl and whisk to combine.
4. In mixer, add sugar and oil and mix to combine.
5. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated.
6. Slowly add milk, coffee and vanilla extract.
7. Add dry ingredients in increments with mixer on low speed.
8. Add sour cream and stir to combine.
9. Pour into cake pans and transfer to oven.
10. Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Again - try this recipe the next time you need a chocolate cake - you'll never try another!
83 comments:
that is one tasty looking cake!
Totally gorgeous!! What a yummy cake!
This cake really is "seriously moist". I thought there must have been an error when I was pouring chocolate soup into the pans but it baked fantastically. I now have a new favorite chocolate cake recipe!
I didn't even think to specify that the batter is really thin! I should've known, because I was terrified the first time I made it. I'm so glad you liked it though!
how many teaspoons of coffee powder in your hot coffee???
I think I used 3 rounded teaspoons of espresso coffee powder for 1 cup of water
if i leave out the coffee, do i need to substitute with something? Pregnant lady not keen on coffee, but love chocolate.
I'm not that great at figuring out substitutions in recipes, unfortunately. But I definitely wouldn't not substitute something at all. If it makes you feel any better, you can't taste the coffee. It just helps to bring out the richness of the chocolate. You could use decaf as well, I'm sure. Hope that helps!
Thank you! Thank you! Amazing cake . No one
would let me leave without your cake reciepe.
Heaps of gratitude from Little Coyote Creek!
Tricia,
I made this cake for a birthday party with a friend - it was huge -5 layers and it was incredible. I have NEVER gotten so many comments from guests saying they loved it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe!!!
the recipe shld be corrrected to say - add all dry ingredients- except the sugar-- messed up the cake- very disappointing
I MADE THIS CAKE TODAY EXACTLY AS WRITTEN.......VERY HEAVY TOOK AN HOUR TO BAKE MORE LIKE A FUDGE BROWNIE. TOO MUCH OIL I THINK. I'VE BEEN BAKING FOR AT LEAST 45 YEARS AND CONSIDER MYSELF EXPERT ALWAYS HAVE RAVE REVIEWS ON MY BAKED PRODUCTS WITH REQUESTS FOR MORE, ALSO HAVE TAKEN CLASSES AT CIA SO I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING,DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, I'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE. PLEASE ADVISE.
I'm sorry to hear you did not have success with this recipe. I occasionally bake things that do not turn out - even things that I've made successfully before, and it's always a bummer. Unfortunately I have never had a problem with this particular recipe, and I have not trained at the CIA or have any formal training, so I have no advice for you. Sorry.
This recipe REALLY is moist! so chocolaty and light,not heavy like another writer said. I followed the recipe like posted and my cake came out perfect! I am a chef and owner of Artsy Cakes in TX. I will definitely use this recipe in my business. Thank You sooo much!I LOVE it. Rightnow Im exercising my self control....I could really eat the whole cake! lol
www.artsycakestx.com
I tried this recipe last night (around 7:00)and the cake is gone! Not even 24 hours later. I made it with this frosting recipe from Hershey's. http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=184
Try it, you won't be disappointed! Thanks Tricia for a great cake recipe!
This cake is awesome! Found your blog from a google search when my husband requested super moist choc cake for his birthday. This cake did not disappoint! I paired it with the chocolate icing on the back of the Hershey's cocoa powder container and threw in some mint chips for extra fun. Definitely a winner!
Excellent cake! It is, indeed, very moist! I am glad I read the comments to be sure that batter should be very thin- I almost added more flour. The only substitution I made was out of necessity. I didn't have cocoa, so I used baking squares. I melted 4 squares with 1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick) and adjusted the amount of oil to half a cup. I had so many compliments and requests for the recipe on this cake. Thanks for posting it!
2 cups cake flour (when I've substituted all-purpose flour, my cake always sank in the middle) <--- what kind of cake flour? Can you please post the brand that you use? Thanks
I personally use Pillsbury Softasilk cake flour
I followed this cake exactly as it's written. It sticks a little to the pan despite all the precautions and I've gotten different results with it cooking unevenly towards the center of it, but every time I've made it, I've gotten someone new addicted to it! It's my absolute favorite cake recipe, and I am not one who generally likes chocolate cake. I pair it with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting and it almost has a "cookies n cream" taste to it. Add a raspberry garnish on top and you have a cake that not only looks pretty, but TASTES amazing! THANKS! :-)
Thank You Tricia!
I found your recipe this morning while searching for a rich, very moist, incredible chocolate cake to make for my wife. This reciped and its reviews looked great. But the cake itself was OUTSTANDING! I followed the recipe (sifted the cake flour before measuring), used hot water instead of coffee, lined my pans with parchment, and the cake turned out perfect. I used a ganache for filling and frosting and served with the Cake Bible's Raspberry Sauce on the side. It wowed everyone.
Thanks for passing on this great recipe!
Awesome cake .Am not much of a baker but it came out excellent.
This was really really good!! thanks so much for posting!!! Do u mind telling me how u made the frosting??? Thanks!
Sarita, the icing on this particular cake was actually Rainbow Chip by Betty Crocker (whatever sister wants, sister gets!) :) Glad you liked it, as well as everybody else!
Can this cake be made in a microwave oven? If yes, then for how long should it be baked in the microwave oven?
I have no idea how long it would take to bake the cake in the microwave. After receiving your question I did some research. I've found instructions stating microwaving for anywhere from 8 to 14 minutes, as well as some comments saying it's difficult to get it to cook properly. I have made coffee mug cakes though, and in a coffee mug it usually takes about 60 seconds. But unfortunately I've never tried microwaving a whole cake.
There was one commentor who said that this cake came out heavy, like a brownie. I simply cannot understand how this could have happened...this has to be the moistest cake that I have ever baked and I baked my for about an hour as did the commentor.
I was craving chocolate cake, came across this recipe but then realized that didn't have coco powder...so I used a Ghiradeli semisweet baking chocolate bar and creme fraiche instead of sour cream. I also reduced all the liquids by a 1/4 cup each due to the liquid of the melted chocolate and it was still the moistest cake ever. Mine was slightly more espresso flavored but soooo amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.
This looks awesome and I want to make a "sheet" rather than a round. How big a pan for a sheet??
Thank you!
Jill, when I make a sheet I use a 9x13. Happy baking!
I made this cake a couple of days ago and it was really moist and yummy. The only thing is that it wasn't very sweet... it just tasted like it was missing something. Did anyone else's come out that way? Any suggestions Tricia? Thanks!
Mike, assuming you made the cake exactly to the recipe, and without tasting yours, I have no idea why yours wouldn't be sweet enough. My only guess is perhaps your coffee was too strong. I've never had the feeling the cake was missing something, and in fact prefer to eat this cake without any icing. If you make it again and find it still isn't sweet enough, maybe you could top it with extra sweet icing? Sorry I don't have any better advice. I'm glad you still said it was moist and yummy though :)
Seriously moist, as promised! And idiot-proof too!!
I turned this into cupcakes - it makes about 30. I actually messed up the recipe instructions (it's my first time making cupcakes!) and added all the liquid ingredients into the dry ones... and it still worked great. Also, I realized too late that I didn't have any sour cream, so I replaced it with the same amount of Fage greek yogurt plus an extra half tsp baking soda.
Topped the cupcakes with a half strawberry coated in baking chocolate - delicious!!
Wat is sour cream? Wat can be used in place of it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_cream
Also, you could use unflavored, unsweetened yogurt in place of the sour cream. Somebody else said they used Greek yogurt with great results.
Hi Tricia,
Your cake came out well - moist and nice. As you said the cake did sink in the middle when I used all purpose flour - but since I cut it into pieces and did not serve it as a whole that did not matter. The only thing was that I found the cake to bit a bit too sweet - probably I did not add enough coffee. Will try with lesser sugar next time. I did not put frosting on the cake. On the whole a great recipe - thank you!!
Hi! I would like to make this cake for my little girls birthday,so I would substitute coffe with cocoa and I would like to know if the toping is weaped cream,because I am not familiar with the one you are using.. Thak you very much....
Hi Tina,
Here is a link to the store-bought icing I used on my cake http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/frosting/products/rich-creamy/rainbow-chip. You could use any store-bought icing or homemade icing. I think it would also be great with whipped cream though, as I often even like to make this cake and just eat it without icing at all, so whipped cream would be a nice accompaniment. I'd like to hear how you make out :)
This cake is exactly as wonderful as described. I used whole milk, threw in a shot of Bailey's, and reduced the sugar by like 1/4 cup. It definitely took more like 50 mins to bake, but it turned into some amazing, glorious chocolate cake! Thank you very, very much for sharing this recipe :). You made several people very happy.
Sorry if I missed it in the string of comments, but what size cake pan is this for?
I'm gonna try this cos it looks seriously good.
If you do a sheet, it's a 9x13
If you do rounds, it's 2 - 8 or 9 inch rounds
Or you can do 24 cupcakes
Made this cake for my daughters Birthday - was delicious -thankyou!Will try it next time with Greek yogurt instead of cream to make it a little less 'sinfull'.Did this in a blueberry muffin recipe and it tasted great.
Hi Tricia... My mouth is watering while reading all the comments. This means I will try this recipe. Two questions: 1. Did you sifted the flour and then measured? 2. I'm not into using oil, I've heard it can be substituted with unsweetened apple sauce, Have you or any tried?
Thank you... From Puerto Rico...
Mohicano,
I do not sift my flour before measuring. I usually just whisk it a little after measuring.
I have not tried the applesauce instead of oil trick in this particular recipe, but I have for other recipes and never noticed a difference. If you give it a try, make sure you report back and let us all know how it turns out!
Thanks!
About to bake this cake...... Very excited after reading these comments... But I only have butter or olive oil in the house. Can I use an equal amount of melted butter to substitute the sunflower oil... Or do you think its safer rather just to use the olive oil?
Tried out the recipe with some alterations....firstly I used both brown and white sugar 1 cup each...didn't have enough oil at home so again half of butter and half vegetable oil.....did not have buttermilk either so poured 1/2 tsp vinegar in one cup milk (although the substitute calls for 1 tsp vinegar for 1 cup milk but i used the other half tsp later)....I added the remaining half tsp of vinegar in 1/2 tsp baking soda ( i had read sometime back on the internet that adding vinegar to baking soda will help moisten the cake )
Additionally i even added 125 gms of dark chocolate also to get a deeper, richer and more chocolaty taste n believe me the result was just FABULOUS and A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !!!
P.S:- the cake did not have the flavours of vinegar & coffee in it...they just made it taste better :) :) :)
Wonderful, wonderful! Thank you so much for posting this! WOW! I made this for my son's 3rd birthday. I made 2 batches for both a tiered round cake and cupcakes. I cannot even begin to tel you how many compliments I got. Even from kids that don't typically like the cake. I have a family reunion in a few weeks and I just got an email requesting the cake! It was amazing.
One question, I know you like to eat it plain, but when you do frost it, do you do a crumb coat? I tried everything to frost my cake but because it's so moist, I wasn't able to frost it into a pretty cake! Crumbs mixed into my frosting. I used a cream cheese frosting. I think next time, I'll try a thinner frosting like a whipped cream frosting. Any thoughts?
Again, thanks. This will now be our family celebration cake...and well, of course a Mama needs chocolate cake, cake! :-)
Phoenix, I have never had much luck frosting this cake without getting crumbs all over. I would think it would help if you refrigerate your cakes first, make a nice frosting that's not too stiff and you should probably get some good results. Or maybe you could even make an extra cake, crumble it, then use it as garnish on the cake after you've frosted it? These are the only ideas I have so I hope this helps!
This cake is amazing! Turned out great. It's so good on it's own, doesn't even need any frosting. Glad I found this website. :)
Can't wait to try it! Just wanted to know, if I wanted to make cupcakes, how long would it take to bake?
Also, what size sheet pan can I use?
Thanks!!
Fathima, cupcakes generally take around 20 minutes, give or take a few. I would set a time for 15 minutes and check on them every couple of minutes until they spring back at the touch of a finger. It's also going to depend on the temp of your oven.
When I use a sheet pan, I use a 9x13.
I have a microwave convection combination oven. The rack wont take 2 pans at a time. Can I bake them one at a time? Will it affect the rising of the second one after sitting in the pan for an hour?
Deepali, I think your cake should cook up in way under an hour, so the second cake waiting should not be affected too much, if at all.
yummers, got this cake and cupcakes just comin out of the oven! made a batch and a half so we could bring a cake to a bday, and keep some little ones for us! did a few substitutions -- didnt have enuf powdered sugar so i melted some choc chips, added them to the hot coffee and cut back on the sugar a little bit. also used a mix of brown and white sugars...consistency is perfect!
Loved!! Even hubby who doesn't like chocolate cake ate a lot!! Itried to do a vnilla version of this cake but it came out with 2 colors darker from the outside in, the taste, for me, was good, not too sweet. Do you have any vanilla cake as moist as this? Thanks for sharing!!
BTW, if you respond me please use the same id but for hotmail.com!! Thanks!!
I made this for my family recently & everyone loved it!! I followed recipe exactly, but used a bundt pan. Thought it might overflow, but it didn't. Cooked at 325 for 40 minutes, it was perfect! Very, very moist and perfect flavor!! Thank you for posting recipe!!
Forgot to mention I frosted with homemade cream cheese frosting. Cake was cool and frosting room temp. No crumbs!!
This cake was delicious! Made it for my daughter's birthday. I followed the recipe exactly and it was really good. I don't typically like cake, but I ate multiple pieces of this. Thank you!!
The cake is delicious, but it's always sinking = ( , I can't find cake flour in my country so I'm using 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch as a substitute ( I found that on the web ), is this the reason why it is sinking?? and also, do you have the measures in grams or ounces ??just to make sure I'm doing everything else exactly as it should be, thank you anyway for the recipe , it is really tasty!!
This is my first cake from scratch -- subbing creme fraiche for the sour cream and using Tully's fresh brewed italian roast. It's the best batter I've ever tasted (the cake is still baking).
Well i just made this cake and it was very moist and yummy.....Swan Cake flour is the best....My coworkers ate all of it and wanted more. I used a butter cream chocolate frosting. Use dark chocolate and milk chocolate to balance the frosting. THANKS TRICIA
I tried this cake for the first time today after finding your blog. It is AMAZING! Best chocolate cake I've ever made. My boyfriend is going to be so thrilled when I finish it off with peanut butter icing and reeses peanut butter cups. THANKS FOR SHARING!
Hi, Tricia! This recipe sounds great! Thanks for posting it. I'm making this as cupcakes for kids and prefer not to have the cup of coffee in it, but if I don't include that, wojavascript:void(0)uldn't I need to add at least a cup of hot water? Otherwise, wouldn't my version not have enough liquid and wouldn't be as moist? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts soon as I'm making a batch first thing tomorrow.
Globetrotter, yes I would definitely add a cup of hot water in place of the coffee. Or you could even use decaf coffee if it's the caffeine you're concerned about. If you're concerned about tasting the coffee, I just want you to know that you do not taste the coffee, it only accentuates the chocolate flavor. I hope you enjoy the cupcakes!
Hi, Tricia!
Thanks for your quick response. I did put in the cup of hot water last week, and it worked out perfectly. *Everyone* loved the cupcakes! :-)
Follow-up question: at the end, your directions said to "add sour cream and stir to combine." May I just put the sour cream and mix it with the mixer? That morning, to play it safe, I literally stirred it in with a spatula, which was very time-consuming, esp. to get the sour cream fully mixed in so that there were no specs of white in the chocolate blend.
Looking forward to your thoughts.
Thanks!
Globetrotter, using the mixer to incorporate the sour cream would have been just fine :)
This was, by far, the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted and one of the easiest I've baked! It comes out so moist and so chocolatey! Every bite was just perfect :-) Thank you so much for stumbling upon this recipe and being so generous in sharing it with the rest of us :-)
One question though, do you know of a vanilla variation of this recipe?
This cake is just so good!
GoKeri, I do not know of a variation for vanilla - but if you happen to find one, please come back and share!
Hey Tricia,
I want to make this for my friends birthday but in the form of a a barbie doll cake. Would this be possible? What kind of baking adjustments would have to be made? I thought I would divide the batter between a tin and a pyrex bowl and stack them.
Would love to hear your suggestion! thanks
Simplemente ESPECTACULAR!! Es super suave, esponjosa, hidratada, Deliciosa!! Pero tengo que decir que sus mejores cualidades son las mismas que me hicieron ver estrellas cuando trate de poner buttercream para luego ser forrada con fondant. Pero si ponen papel encerado con un poco de aceite y luego espolverean harina, esta crea una fina capa que no deja que eso pase. Asà me funcionó mejor.
This is a fantastic recipe, thanks!
I tend to cover it in a fudge type sauce made from milk/dark chocolate, butter (salted) and golden syrup. Yum!
Anyone on this side of the globe, cake flour = self raising flour.
Thanks again
Emma
Mixed feelings about this cake...
The taste itself is great-- it's a delicious cake and it definitely is "seriously moist" as promised. Based those two factors alone it would be fantastic. Also, it's relatively easy to make and get into the oven (no creaming butter or any of that- yay!) so that's another plus.
Now onto the down side... this cake is nearly impossible to work with. It is sticky and despite properly greasing/flouring the pans, I found I still lost a little cake off the bottom when transferring it from the baking pan to a plate. The most difficult part by FAR is icing this cake. It's so moist but also falls apart easily, so despite using a very soft, spreadable buttercream, crumbs got all in the icing, the icing was difficult to spread without the cake falling apart, and it was just in general kind of a disaster to get the cake iced, layered, and looking appetizing (presentation is important to me, especially since I made this for a holiday party, and there were crumbs all stuck in my icing).
All in all, I'd give this cake a 10 for taste and moistness, but about a 2 for ease of preparation (after cooking) and overall quality to work with. Not sure I'll be making it again, at least not when I was a nice looking cake to take somewhere or for guests.
Mixed feelings about this cake...
The taste itself is great-- it's a delicious cake and it definitely is "seriously moist" as promised. Based those two factors alone it would be fantastic. Also, it's relatively easy to make and get into the oven (no creaming butter or any of that- yay!) so that's another plus.
Now onto the down side... this cake is nearly impossible to work with. It is sticky and despite properly greasing/flouring the pans, I found I still lost a little cake off the bottom when transferring it from the baking pan to a plate. The most difficult part by FAR is icing this cake. It's so moist but also falls apart easily, so despite using a very soft, spreadable buttercream, crumbs got all in the icing, the icing was difficult to spread without the cake falling apart, and it was just in general kind of a disaster to get the cake iced, layered, and looking appetizing (presentation is important to me, especially since I made this for a holiday party, and there were crumbs all stuck in my icing).
All in all, I'd give this cake a 10 for taste and moistness, but about a 2 for ease of preparation (after cooking) and overall quality to work with. Not sure I'll be making it again, at least not when I was a nice looking cake to take somewhere or for guests.
Wow! Thanks so much for this recipe. I've been on a quest for the PERFECT chocolate cake recipe for years. This is it! I made cupcakes, baked for exactly 23 mins. Recipe makes 3 dozen. Interested in making a cake to see how it torts. The crumb is extremely tender and delicate...maybe too delicate for torting. But for cupcakes, the recipe is fab! So moist!
:) the recipe is almost identical to one my best friend and I found on the web, and that immediately became our favourite recipey (and not the only one we will ever use!)
The main difference seems to be sour-cream/milk - I'm interested to try how it works using sour cream instead of milk.
Anyway, here's where we got our recipey from - maybe you got yours from the same source? http://kitchensimplicity.com/moist-chocolate-cake/
:) the recipe is almost identical to one my best friend and I found on the web, and that immediately became our favourite recipey (and not the only one we will ever use!)
The main difference seems to be sour-cream/milk - I'm interested to try how it works using sour cream instead of milk.
Anyway, here's where we got our recipey from - maybe you got yours from the same source? http://kitchensimplicity.com/moist-chocolate-cake/
I used Cabernet instead of coffee best chocolate cake ever!!!
Hi Tricia
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I have been using it for over a year and getting compliments and recipe request every time! The last 4 times I have baked it, it rises perfectly, but once it starts to cool down, it collapses in the middle. It has never done this before. I have a thermo fan oven that shuts properly and I don't open the door until the time is up and use fresh ingredients at room temp. Can you please give advise. Thanks you.
OMG! Tricia... I've been searching for 3 days now, and thank God I found your website again. I made this cake for my husband last year and he almost fell out of his chair. This is the BEST chocolate cake on earth. Thank you so much for sharing. I am making this cake again tomorrow for my husband's birthday.
This is one of the best chocolate cake recipe I read. I like to do this recipe now.
I have been using this recipe since the day I found it!! Amazing moist chocolate cake!! I have even hand written it into my family recipe cookbook as I fear it too may just POOF, vanish from the Web!!?? Brilliant cake.
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