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This moist chocolate cake recipe is the only one you will ever want. It’s dark, sinful, dense and fluffy at the same time, rich and oh so delicious.
My coworker claims it is better than any chocolate cake out there and better than any bakery. That’s a heavy claim right there yet so true.
I love baking. I’ve made plenty of cookies, cupcakes, sweets and treats. Try my banana pudding recipe you’ll die.
As far as cakes go I had only ever made carrot cake and a pretty looking Neapolitan cake. Even though I think scratch made is best (with the exception of brownies) cakes have just never been my thing.
My husband is no baker and after dating for about a month he came over my parent’s house with this giant chocolate cake elegantly covered in purple saran wrap.
He admitted it took him two tries, but with the help of his mom he succeeded in making me the most delicious chocolate cake I had ever had in my entire life. I knew at that moment that I wanted to marry him.
Fast forward a few months to Valentine’s Day and I told him I wanted him to make me that same moist chocolate cake recipe. What ensued was utter disaster.
My husband couldn’t remember what recipe he used. I literally wanted to cry. He found what he thought was the recipe and made me a heart shaped chocolate cake, but it wasn’t it. Not….even….close.
I went into detective mode and grilled him on the recipe.
Here is what I gathered about this “mysterious” moist chocolate cake recipe:
It had melted chocolate AND cocoa powder in it. This was a big clue because most chocolate cake recipes just have cocoa powder in them.
According to him it had lots of sugar.
Not sure what a lot is, but added it to the clue list.
The moist chocolate cake recipe he used had a frosting recipe with it, but he didn’t use the one they had. He opted for a simple ganache instead.
The recipe had both coffee and buttermilk in it.
My Google-ing skills are impressive to say the least. A doctor once thought I had a medical background because of how much I had known about a particular medical condition.
I searched and searched for the recipe and every so many months I would try a new recipe claiming to be the best moist chocolate cake recipe. It’s hard to eat a chocolate cake when you know there’s a better one out there, but I did what I had to.
After about 2 years I made a two layered chocolate cake for work. I didn’t even taste it I just took it to work. I was working the overnight shift at the time. We cut up the cake and everyone was in silence.
Here are just some of the comments:
“This is the best chocolate cake I have ever had. Even better than “coworker’s” chocolate cake. Don’t tell her!”
“OMG! I don’t even like chocolate cake, this is so good.”
Someone even brought me a cannoli a few days after I gave them a piece of the cake to say thank you and how good the cake was.
I tasted it and knew I had finally found THE moist chocolate cake recipe I had been looking for.
I saved the recipe on my computer at the time. Long story short I somehow lost it a second time.
You know the saying “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”? I feel this somewhat applies.
I wanted to smack myself in the head. How could I be so careless?!
But after another 6 years of searching I have found that moist chocolate cake recipe again and am sharing it with all of you so that I never lose it again.
This time around I used the recipe from Alexandra Cooks, which she adapted from Epicurious, which came from Gourmet magazine. The first time I think I did use Epicurious’ recipe, but it was such a long time ago who knows.
MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE INSTRUCTIONS
Melt 1/2 cup of good quality chocolate in 1 1/2 cups of hot brewed coffee. The original recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate. I sometimes do half semi and half dark depending on what I have on hand. Stir occasionally until the mixture is blended together and smooth.
In a large bowl sift together 3 cups sugar, 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 cup black cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt.
If you don’t have access to black cocoa powder you can substitute it with regular cocoa powder.
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (this is not a typo).
In another large bowl using a stand mixer, beat together 3 eggs until they are light in color and fluffy (approximately 3 minutes).
Slowly add in 3/4 cup oil, 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla, and the melted chocolate/coffee mixture.
Once combined gradually add in the flour/sugar mixture. Beat the mixture on medium speed just until combined.
Grease and line 8″ or 9″ round cake pans with parchment paper. I like making 2 layer cakes, but there’s plenty of batter to make it 3 layers if you prefer. If you have extra cake batter you can make cupcakes too.
Divide the batter between the pans and fill no more than two-thirds of the way full as this batter expands.
Place into the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake pans on a wire rack.
The second time I made this chocolate cake it baked very unevenly. Not sure if it was my oven, but next time I’m going to use these evenbake cake strips. Your wrap them around your round cake pans. They make your cakes bake more evenly and not crisp up as much on the edges.
After you cakes have completely cooled it’s time to frost them. I chose to go with a simple ganache. I think it makes the cake even more elegant, but you can use premade frosting and it’ll still taste good.
For the ganache:
Place 1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate into a medium bowl. Set aside.
Add 1 cup heavy cream to a saucepan set over medium heat. Allow for it to come just to a boil and immediately turn off the heat. Pour the hot heavy cream over the chopped chocolate. Whisk until smooth.
Allow the ganache to cool before putting it on the cakes.
You can pour the ganache over the cakes so that it’s almost like a glaze or let it cool until thick and whip it into a fluffy frosting.
I chose to let it thicken up. I then filled the cake with ganache and frosted the outside.
Admire your cake then dig in 😉
MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups brewed coffee, hot
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup black cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
GANACHE INGREDIENTS
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate
- Preheat the oven to 300 Fahrenheit. Grease your round cake pans. Line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper. Combine the chopped chocolate and hot coffee. Stir the mixture occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
- In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt). In another large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the eggs until they are pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Slowly add in the vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to the eggs until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed just until combined. Divide the batter between your pans and don’t fill more than two-thirds of the way full.
- Bake the cakes 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes until an inserter comes out clean.
- Take cakes out of the oven and let cool on baking racks.
- While the cakes are cooling make the ganache. Put the 1 cup of semisweet chocolate into a bowl. Set aside. Put the heavy cream into a saucepan and bring just to a boil over medium heat. Pour the hot heavy cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Let the ganache cool before glazing your cakes. If you want to frost your cakes, let the ganache cool until thickened and whisk until it achieves a frosting consistency. Frost your cakes and serve.
