This is a really easy yet exceptional Chocolate Cake that truly tastes of chocolate. The crumb is beautifully tender and moist, and it keeps for up to 5 days. It requires no beater, just a wooden spoon.
Frost generously with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for a terrific birthday cake or chocolate ganache for a luxurious rich option. For a richer, fudgier chocolate cake, try this Chocolate Fudge Cake. The ultimate glaze to impress, however, is without a doubt Chocolate Mirror Glaze…..
This is the Chocolate Cake
If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that sometimes I get real stubborn about doing certain things the “right way”. And there’s also a time and a place for shortcut recipes and quick dinners.
Then there’s recipes like this Chocolate Cake which tick all the boxes – it’s easier than the way I’ve been making everyday cake for most of my life, and the results are better.
You’ll love how it really does taste of chocolate even though it’s only been made with cocoa powder (the secret is to add boiling water – it makes the chocolate flavour “bloom”).
You’ll love how tender the crumb is, and how it stays moist for 4 to 5 days.
You’ll love how the cake can stand on its own so you could just dust it with icing sugar then serve slices with dollops of cream on the side. Though of course, smothering it with frosting never hurts….
This is the famous Hershey’s Chocolate Cake recipe which I tried on the recommendation of Michelle from the Brown Eyed Baker (one of the first places I go in hunt for baked goods). I tried it without massively high expectations, because I thought “how much better can this be than the usual, being such a simple recipe?”
I love being proved wrong when it comes to food. So wrong in fact, that even though I tinkered with the recipe multiple times, I landed right back where I started using the recipe exactly as written.
I truly think this might be the only recipe on my entire website that I’m publishing from another source without changing the ingredients at all. It’s unheard of! But to me, it’s perfect as it is. I don’t see myself using any other recipe for an everyday Chocolate Cake, ever again.
Incredibly quick and easy
It’s astonishingly quick to make the batter, with all the ingredients mixed up in one bowl using a whisk.
There’s no need to cream butter like the usual recipes because this one is made with oil which is the reason why this cake is beautifully moist. No more dry chocolate cake! 🙌🏻 (Also means this is more forgiving than most, having once accidentally left it in the oven for 15 minutes longer than necessary and it still wasn’t dry).
I’m publishing this recipe as part of the Easter Recipes posted yesterday! So here it is, dolled up for Easter. The same cake in the photos above, the same frosting, topped with speckled Easter eggs, baby chicks (both from Woolworths in Australia), and a chocolate basket. I’ve provided directions in the notes of the recipe for how I made that chocolate basket (hint – it involves a balloon…).
My everyday Chocolate Cake
Easter aside, I call this my everyday Chocolate Cake because it’s just that – my new favourite to make for any occasion. There will be times that call for a mud-cake like Fudge Cake made with both cocoa powder and melted chocolate. There will be times that call for intensely dark chocolate cakes. There will be times that you need / want the nutty brownie-like Flourless Chocolate Cake. And there will be times you’re after one that’s light-as-air, a delicate chiffon cake.
This one is for all the other times when you just want a great, classic Chocolate Cake. Which in my world, is 80% of the time! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups plain / all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder , unsweetened (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda (bi-carb soda)
- 2 cups white sugar (Note 1)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs (~55-65g / 2 oz each)
- 1 cup milk (low or full fat)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or canola)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 1 1/2 batches Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (slide scaler on recipe)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C°/350°F (160°C fan). Read Note 4 regarding shelf positions.
- Grease 2 x 22cm/9" cake pans with butter, then line the base. (Note 3 re: springform pans and other pan sizes).
Batter:
- Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl. Add Sugar and salt. Whisk briefly to combine.
- Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Whisk well to combine until lump free – about 30 seconds.
- Add boiling water and whisk to incorporate. The batter is VERY thin (see video).
- Pour batter into cake pans.
Baking:
- Bake for 35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. See Note 4 regarding cook time if pans are on different shelves.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks upside down (Note 5).
- Cool completely before frosting. I frosted the cake with my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (scale recipe up by 50%).
Recipe Notes:
- bundt pan – 50 minutes
- single 22cm/9″ pan – 40 to 45 minutes
- 2 x 20cm / 8″ pans – 38 minutes
- 3 x 20cm / 8″ pans – 25 minutes
- 33 x 22 x 5 cm / 13 x 9 x 2″ rectangle pan – 35 – 40 minutes
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer vs tiny toy chick.
Chick won.
This was awesome! I did in a springform pan and then cut into layers to make a Black Forest cake. I also used monkfruit instead of sugar. This is a very easy and deliciously rich chocolate cake- definitely my go to. Thank you!!
I loved the recipe it was so yum! Best choc cake everr
I put everything but the flour in and mixed. I then mixed in the flour. It made 24 cupcakes exactly. About 15min with both pans in the oven; cooked until they bounced back when touched. Super moist and delicious. I did use the icing recipe and it covered exactly 24 cupcakes with normal level of frosting. The icing was also delicious. I have booked marked these for future use.
Just baked this for my son’s birthday cake. 2 layers and adjusted the time in the oven as per notes due to 8in tins used. Used the buttercream icing and increased the quantity as recommended. Everything worked perfectly!
Wow yummy! 🙂 made this today and am impressed.🫡
It’s so forgiving too as I didn’t have a few things. Had no oil so I melted the same amount of butter instead.
Had no normal milk so i used Almond milk instead. Had no white sugar so used brown sugar instead. All worked perfectly.
Followed all the same measurements and even added the full cup of boiling water at the end and accepted that batter had to be runny.
I’m glad I did as it’s so moist now and perfect!
If you’re thinking about it do it ! ✔️✌️
This is THE best chocolate cake ever! I get so many requests to make this cake for special events. Not too sweet, perfect sponginess, deep, rich chocolate flavor. THE BEST!
I made this cake a second time, only I dissolved 2 tablespoons of espresso powder in the boiling water before adding the water into the batter. The cake was incredibly moist and the chocolate and coffee flavors tasted amazing! I also added espresso powder to your Secret Less Sweet Fluffy Frosting recipe to make a chocolate coffee frosting. It was SO GOOD!!!
Does anybody know if I can double the recipe and then stack it, so I have 4 layers instead of 2 – will this hold or would this make it too heavy and due to the “fluffiness” of the lower layers would it fall apart?
Thanks!
Hi Nagi. The amount of sugar here is 440g. But in the book it’s 400g. Is there no difference in terms of sweetness as its a negligible amount?
What a fabulous chocolate cake Nagi. Together with your chocolate buttercream, just fabulous. I can’t thank you enough for your recipes, notes and videos which together make cooking one of your dishes so easy and more importantly, fun and satisfying. X
When I use my oven on smart cooking, it asks me for the weight of the cake. What size cake would this be?
A lot of my oven settings ask this, be great to know these details in other recipes.
Hi, I only have olive and coconut oil at home. Would these oils work? Thank you.
If I halve this recipe to make a 6″ 3 layer cake how long do you think I should bake for?
I made this cake for a birthday party and it was out of this world good (also used your yummy choc butter cream frosting!)
I would like to make it again for a bigger crowd so want to make 2 10” layers. Any idea how much more batter I should make? 20%, 25%?? Thanks!!
thanks a lot of information keren
I really like the chocolate cake
I made your chocolate cake. It was so easy and delicious! I substituted your Secret, Less Sweet, Fluffy Frosting recipe and everyone loved it. Do you think I could add some expresso powder to the frosting to give it a slightly chocolately coffee flavor?
I made the “forever chocolate cake” for my son’s birthday party last weekend. I had so many people compliment me on it! This is a fantastic recipe and now my go to for cakes. Absolutely recommend!
Super moist, super delicious and super easy!
Would recommend for newby cooks – if you follow the instructions, hard to fail.
Love it. I used cream cheese icing instead of chocolate and it was a huge hit