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.
Is this cake ok to freeze please (unfrosted)
My cake smells of ammonia, I don’t know what went wrong, I’ve put chocolate frosting to mask the smell, if I put in fridge will smell less
The best chocolate I have ever made and tasted. Delicious
This is the best cake I have made and eaten. 100% sensational. Thank you
For the 33cm cake tin, why does the cookbook say 45min cooking but this webpage say 35-40min?
Thank you Nagi for a fantastic recipe. It is now my go-to chocolate cake recipe. I have made it in a bundt tin and served it with caramel sauce and whipped cream, or as per the recipe with whipped ganache between the payer and a ganache icing on top. Always amazing. My little girl requested a Tinker Bell cake for her birthday (gulp) but this cake was the perfect cake again. It held up well under fondant and again I filled it with whipped ganache. The whole cake went, kids and parents loved it. I made my own fondant plus fondant flowers and bought a Tinker Bell figurine for the top. Looked adorable. Wish I could add a photo! It looked adorable! Thanks again for an amazing, easy, reliable and delicious cake!
First cake I’ve ever made and man did I make some mistakes
Firstly I put paper Inside n so all the cake on outside stuck to it lol 😆 then it cooked for 70 mins till cooked and I was having a stroke thinking omg 😲 it’ll be overcooked.
Can you just spray cake tins? That papery stuff is crazy 🤪
The Ganache was too thin dunno what I did but damn it tasted so good I don’t care what it looked like. Best cake ever.
How can I thicken ganash? Flour slurry do you think?
I use a closed cake tin sometimes (like a bundt tin) which is grease well with butter and then dust with flour. That works. I’ve also used a good quality spring-form tin and again, butter and flour the base and sides, then make a paper base as recommended, but I make it larger. Then I cut in the edges so when I lay it it in the base, the sides go up a bit. That also stops the batter flowing out. Or you can make muffins and they won’t flow out! For the ganache, make sure you have a thick, high fat cream to start with. The more chocolate to cream ratio the thicker it will be and the and harder it sets. Unless you use low fat cream (and don’t!), the whole thing will whip to a thick consistency. Don’t add flour. Uncooked flour will will taste wrong and have a pasty, grainy texture. The recipe has great suggestions re ratio of chocolate to cream to get the consistency you want. It is in the notes section! Good luck! It is an awesome recipe!
Thanks actually the next day the ganache was awesome and thick!!! Thanks for your tips!
This cake recipe is so good it’s better then from the shop cake. My whole just love this recipe cake
Hiii! I absolutely love this recipe but I was wondering if you could make 3 6″ layers with this recipe?
Hi I dont know if I got your sizes of pans but I do got 2 square pyrex dishes / pans , the 1 is a big an other is small ( I don’t know how to measure so I’m not able to give u sizes but I can do is to let you know big one takes over 2 litres water less than 3 litre whereas small tray takes over 1 litre under 2 litres water so which tray do I need for this recipe
My son wanted a Super Mario Mushroom Cake so we used this recipe, baked in an extra large roasting dish so we could shape the mushroom and it turned out and tasted superb 👌🏽 A hit with both the adults and kids, this is now my go to chocolate cake!
I love the clear instructions, making the cake recipe easy to follow and fun! The cake is tender and delicious.
I made this for grandson’s birthday cake. Had it in the oven for about 20 minutes and realised I had left out the eggs! It still seems OK, rose well and is baked through. Will it be OK or should I start again?
Preheating the lined cake pans with the oven, and then pouring the batter into the hot lined pans, completely eliminates any problems with batter leaking or running out of the pans.
I love this cake recipe so much it is simple and tastes absolutely amazing!!!!
Hi. Just wondering whether I would double the recipe for a 10″ cake. Greatly enjoying your wonderful cooking book Nagi.
An amazing chocolate cake. It was so moist and delicious. I added shaved dark chocolate to the icing to decorate. Love all your recipes and bought your cookbook. The videos are extremely helpful.
Hi. I found the cake too sweet. If I want to reduce the amount of sugar, how much should I?
I reduced the sugar by half, i.e. I used 1 cup of sugar only. The cake was amazing, the crumb was nice and moist, and it was deliciously chocolatey + plenty sweet, especially because the frosting complements it so well. I made it in a bundt tin (greased with butter and sprinkled with breadcrumbs, odd but works!)
I generally tend to cut down sugar in cakes. Have made this cutting back sugar by at least 1/2 cup and it turned out fine.
I made this with the chocolate buttercream frosting for my partner’s birthday. We loved it💓
Hi! The recipe uses a round tin, was wondering if it would also work for a square tin? Thanks!