With a super moist crumb and fudgy, yet light texture, this chocolate cake recipe will soon be your favorite too. Top with chocolate buttercream and chocolate chips for 3x the chocolate flavor. You can also prepare this chocolate layer cake as a sheet cake, too. See recipe note.
Originally published in 2013 and now with more in-depth descriptions, a helpful video tutorial, clearer instructions, and different ways to use this classic chocolate cake recipe. I hope you enjoy all the new features in this recipe post!
Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake… But Better
This pictured cake is a combination of chocolate buttercream and mock-devil’s food cake. You know the Devil’s Food chocolate cake you get at a restaurant or even from a box mix? This is that exact cake, only completely homemade. Notice the reddish tint? That’s where the name Devil’s Food comes from. The baking soda in this recipe reacts with the natural cocoa powder, which results in the reddish color. More on the science behind using dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder here, if you’re interested.
This is, without a doubt, the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. And judging by your feedback in the reviews, I’m confident you’d say the same thing!
This Chocolate Cake Is:
- Extra moist
- 2 layers, but can be made as 3 layers or as a sheet cake
- Soft with a velvety crumb
- Deeply flavorful
- Unapologetically rich, just like my flourless chocolate cake
- Covered with creamy chocolate buttercream
One reader, Greta, commented: “This is, hands down, the best chocolate cake I have ever baked. And I’m not the only one who thinks so… because I have baked and shared this cake with many people… it’s simply the best! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Melanie, commented: “This has become my go-to chocolate cake! My family loves it. The directions are very clear and easy to follow. Before now, I did not consider myself a baker. I had only baked box cakes. Now, this recipe has catapulted me into a from-scratch cake baker. So glad I found this recipe and many others from this site. ★★★★★”
Another reader, Todd, commented: “Outstanding! One of the best cakes I have ever made. Moist, chocolatey, beyond delicious! ★★★★★“
Key Chocolate Cake Ingredients & Why
Each ingredient serves an important role. For best results, do not make substitutions.
- All-Purpose Flour: The structure of the cake. Unlike confetti cake where you can use either, do not use cake flour here—when combined with ultra-light cocoa powder, cake flour is too fine for this cake.
- Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: Do not use dutch-process cocoa powder. Save it for another recipe, like these homemade brownies. If you’re interested, see dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for an in-depth explanation.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Remember the differences in baking soda vs baking powder? We use both here for lift.
- Salt: Salt balances the flavor.
- Espresso Powder: Espresso powder is optional, but I recommend its addition because it enhances the chocolate flavor. The chocolate cake will not taste like coffee, I promise. I use espresso powder in my chocolate zucchini cake, Guinness cake, chocolate raspberry cake, and marble loaf cake too!
You can find it in the coffee aisle at the grocery store or online. - Oil: Don’t use butter in this cake batter. Cocoa powder is a particularly drying ingredient, so this cake needs oil for suitable moisture. Same goes for my chocolate cake roll recipe, too.
- Eggs: Use 2 room temperature eggs. To speed up the gently warming, place refrigerated eggs in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes. Did you know what the temperature of your ingredients has a direct correlation to the success of your recipes? Unless otherwise noted, use room temperature ingredients.
- Buttermilk: This chocolate cake requires the moisture and acidity from buttermilk. Lately I’ve been using a mix of sour cream and buttermilk, as well as reducing the hot liquid. You can read more about this next and see my dark chocolate mousse cake, tuxedo cake, black forest cake, German chocolate cake, and chocolate peanut butter cake recipes.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract adds flavor.
- Hot Coffee or Hot Water: Hot liquid enhances the cocoa powder’s flavor. It also encourages it to bloom and dissolve appropriately. You’ll notice I don’t use hot liquid in my chocolate cupcakes recipe. That’s because there isn’t the same volume of dry ingredients. With this amount of cake batter, we need a hot liquid to break up the cocoa powder lumps resting in all that flour. If you don’t drink coffee, you can use hot water. For deeper and darker flavor, though, use coffee. (Decaf coffee works!) You use it in this black velvet cupcakes recipe, too.
What an Easy Cake!
No mixer required for the batter, simply whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (or vice versa, it doesn’t make any difference), add the hot coffee, then whisk everything together. The cake batter is thin. Divide between 2 9-inch cake pans. You can easily stretch it to 3 or 4 8-inch or 9-inch cakes if needed. Or make a quarter sheet cake using a 9×13-inch cake pan. See my recipe notes for details.
Need a 1 layer cake? Use this mint chocolate cake recipe for 1 9-inch round cake.
Need cupcakes? Use either my super moist chocolate cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting, or cream-filled chocolate cupcakes recipe.
Lately I’ve Been Using Sour Cream
As mentioned above and in the video tutorial, there are two ways to prepare this cake batter and the slight difference involves the wet ingredients. You can follow the recipe as written using buttermilk and hot coffee/water. Or you can add sour cream. Whichever way you make it, the process is the same. (Just reduce the liquids and add sour cream!)
- Original Version (pictured and written below): The original recipe produces a very thin batter. The cake is extra soft with a deliciously spongey texture.
- Sour Cream Version (written in recipe notes and shown in video tutorial): By replacing some of the buttermilk and hot coffee with sour cream, the cake batter is slightly thicker and produces a slightly denser cake with more structure. I love using sour cream in my vanilla cake, too!
Both cakes are equally moist and chocolatey with the same flavor and ease of preparation. It just depends if you want a spongier cake or not. 🙂
Silky Chocolate Buttercream
Like my yellow cake, I use my favorite chocolate buttercream. I slightly increase the amount of each ingredient to produce extra frosting. If you prefer a thinner layer of frosting, use the chocolate buttercream recipe. But if you crave extra buttercream, follow the frosting measurements below. You need 6 ingredients total:
- Unsalted Butter
- Confectioners’ Sugar
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Heavy Cream or Milk
- Vanilla Extract
- Salt
Because there is no leavening occurring, you can use either dutch-process or natural cocoa powder in the buttercream. Heavy cream provides an extra creamy frosting, but milk can be substituted if needed.
While I love chocolate frosting here the most, this cake is also wonderful with vanilla buttercream or strawberry buttercream frosting instead!
So, why do I call it triple chocolate layer cake when it only has 2 layers? Well, chocolate is used three times: chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate chips. Press a handful on top like we do with warm chocolate chip cookies, or go with “the more the better” motto like we did. Let’s eat!
Print
Deliciously Moist Chocolate Layer Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: serves 12-16
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is my favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe. With a super moist crumb and fudgy, yet light texture, this chocolate cake recipe will be your favorite too. Top with chocolate buttercream and chocolate chips for 3x the chocolate flavor. You can also prepare this chocolate layer cake as a sheet cake. See recipe Note.
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 3/4 cup (62g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder (optional)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil (or canola oil or melted coconut oil)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) freshly brewed strong hot coffee (regular or decaf)
Chocolate Buttercream
- 1 and 1/4 cups (282g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3/4 cup (62g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or dutch process)
- 3–5 Tablespoons (45-75ml) heavy cream (or half-and-half or milk), at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional for decoration: semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease two 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder (if using) together in a large bowl. Set aside. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or you can use a whisk) mix the oil, eggs, and vanilla together on medium-high speed until combined. Add the buttermilk and mix until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot water/coffee, and whisk or beat on low speed until the batter is completely combined. Batter is thin.
- Divide batter evenly between pans. Bake for 23-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Note: Even if they’re completely done, the cooled cakes may *slightly* sink in the center. Cocoa powder is simply not as structurally strong as all-purpose flour and can’t hold up to all the moisture necessary to make a moist tasting chocolate cake. It’s normal!)
- Remove the cakes from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely in the pan.
- Make the buttercream: With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy—about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, 3 Tablespoons heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Do not over-whip. Add 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder if frosting is too thin or 1-2 more Tablespoons of cream if frosting is too thick. (I usually add 1 more.) Taste. Add another pinch of salt if desired.
- Assemble and frost: If cooled cakes are domed on top, use a large serrated knife to slice a thin layer off the tops to create a flat surface. This is called “leveling” the cakes. Discard or crumble over finished cake. Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with frosting. Top with 2nd layer and spread remaining frosting all over the top and sides. I always use an icing spatula and bench scraper for the frosting. Garnish with chocolate chips, if desired.
- Refrigerate uncovered cake for at least 30-60 minutes before slicing to help set the shape. After that, you can serve the cake or continue refrigerating for up to 4–6 hours before serving. Cake can be served at room temperature or chilled.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days. I like using a cake carrier for storing and transporting.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cake through step 4. Wrap the individual baked and cooled cake layers tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature then continue with step 5. You can prepare the chocolate buttercream 2-3 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate, then bring to room temperature before spreading onto/assembling the cake. Frosted cake freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature or serve cold.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack | Cake Stand, Serving Plate, or Cake Turntable | Icing Spatula | Bench Scraper | Cake Carrier (for storing)
- 3 Layer Cake: You can also prepare this cake as a 3 layer cake. Divide batter between three 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans in step 1 and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This frosting will be enough for 3 layers. If desired, use the frosting recipe from my Piñata Cake if you want extra frosting.
- Cocoa Powder: Use natural cocoa powder in the cake, not dutch-process. (See dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for more information.) Since there is no leavening occurring in frosting, you can use either natural or dutch-process in the chocolate buttercream.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. You can make your own DIY buttermilk substitute if needed. Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough room temperature whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 cup. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Sour Cream Version: Lately I’ve been using a mix of sour cream and buttermilk, as well as reducing the hot coffee. Reduce the buttermilk and hot coffee to 1/2 cup (120ml) each. Add 3/4 cup (180g) of room temperature full-fat sour cream with the wet ingredients. You can see this described above, in the video tutorial, and in my dark chocolate mousse cake. That cake and this cake are both fantastically moist, but the sour cream version has a slightly sturdier crumb.
- FAQ: The sour cream version (note above) makes a sturdy enough cake that will hold under fondant.
- Amount of Cake Batter: This recipe (and the sour cream version) yields about 6 cups of batter, which is helpful if you need it for different Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read more about why room temperature ingredients are important.
- Espresso Powder/Coffee: Espresso powder and coffee will not make the cake taste like coffee. Instead, they deepen the chocolate flavor. I highly recommend them both. You can find espresso powder in the coffee aisle at the grocery store or online. You can use the same amount of instant coffee (the powder) instead of espresso powder if desired. If coffee isn’t your thing, you can leave out the espresso powder and use extra hot water or hot chai tea.
- Bundt Pan: I recommend my chocolate cream cheese Bundt cake but without the cream cheese filling. Reduce buttermilk in that recipe to 1/4 cup and increase sour cream to 1 cup.
- 9×13-inch Pan: You can bake this cake in a 9×13-inch baking pan. Same oven temperature, about 35-40 minutes bake time.
- Chocolate Cupcakes: Here is my favorite chocolate cupcakes recipe. Same unbelievable texture as this cake! (You’ll notice I don’t use hot liquid in that recipe. That’s because there isn’t the same volume of dry ingredients to break up. If you need more than 1 dozen chocolate cupcakes, use this chocolate cake recipe for 2-3 dozen. Same baking instructions as my chocolate cupcakes.
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten and originally from Hershey’s
Reader Comments and Reviews
Delicious!!! Both cake & frosting were made for the first time – followed the instructions exactly & it turned out perfectly
This is by far my favorite chocolate cake recipe! I tried it first with the sour cream substitute, but my whole family preferred my second try with only buttermilk. The cake was a delicious and was so moist!
Hi Sally! Can I make this cake in a bundt pan?
Hi Raian, See recipe notes for Bundt Cake details.
I’ve made this recipe several times and absolutely love it! It’s my go to chocolate cake recipe now.
I’m currently visiting my sister in Nevada, so I’m at a higher elevation than usual. Do I need to make any adjustments for that?
Hi Melissa, We wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I made this cake for my 14th birthday along with the favorite cream cheese icing recipe and it was the best!
Baking this cake now! I’m so scared because of how thin the batter is, I know it says it’s thin in the recipe but I’ve never worked with such a thin batter before. Besides that. This recipe is perfect and I love it.im hoping it turns out great!
i love this recipe thank you for doing it
This cake was straightforward to make without very special/unusual ingridients and tasted fantastic. I used full fat natural jogurt instead and butter milk in the cake batter and that worked fine
Hey Jackie,
How much yoghurt and buttermilk did you use?
Thanks
I just replaced the buttermilk in recipe with same quantity of natural jogurt
This is a keeper! Love the rich flavor.
It’s ‘birthday season’ in my family, so as always I turn to Sally’s Baking Addiction ! I’ve made this cake a couple times in the past – hits! – and have another request for it this week … but need a 3 layer, 6 in for this ocassion. I see your choc cupcake recipe is easily converted to that size, but it’s a little bit different recipe (no hot coffee) . Suggestions for converting this recipe to 3, 6 inch pans? Could I just fill pans 2/3 and use extra batter for a couple cupcakes ? Thanks in advance !!
Hi Aileen! You can use this batter in 6 inch cake pans and use the rest for cupcakes, yes.
Great, thanks! Also, I only have Dutch process cocoa… can I use it if I skip the baking powder? I never realized there was a difference…. Whoops!
Hi Lindsey, Unsweetened natural cocoa powder is required for the cake. It would take some testing to use Dutch process and wouldn’t be a simple omission of baking powder. You can use unsweetened natural cocoa powder or Dutch process cocoa powder in the frosting (since there aren’t leavening agents). Hope this helps!
I have used many of your recipes and always amazed!! Trying this one soon. I wanted to make a 3 layer, 10 inch cake. Do you think I should double the recipe? Or just 1.5 it? Thank you!
Hi Lindsey, here’s everything you need to know about cake pan sizes and conversions. Hope you love the cake!
I love this cake, Sally and bake as my go to chocolate cake. I want to make mini cakes (4″) soon and wonder if this recipe will work for that size round pan? I would do as you suggest and measure water to a 1/2 way in the pan, but use that amount of batter. I was also going to use in 6″ heart shaped pans, which I believe hold the same amount of batter as 6″ round pans. Thanks for any comments or thoughts.
Hi Paula! Yes, absolutely, but you would have quite a lot of batter left over if using small pans. You could use our chocolate cupcakes batter, instead, which it what we recommend when bakers make a three layer 6 inch cake.
Thank you for your reply. I think I have made the cupcake recipe before but would love to make small cakes and cupcakes with ingredients like the triple chocolate cake, which is our favorite. The combo of sour cream with buttermilk just works. I actually make the Triple Layer Chocolate Cake as a 6″ 3 layer. Makes tall layers, which I love. Any addtl thoughts on cupcakes with the sour cream/buttermilk combo? Thank you.
Can I use your chocolate ganache instead of the frosting?
Absolutely!
This cake is pure decadence. Thank you Sally for inspiring me to have the courage to bake a layer cake from scratch. My family gave rave reviews.
This and your raspberry chocolate cake are the best!!! And this one is so easy! I literally followed your advice and put the dry ingredients together, then the wet, and then mixed them together with the coffee. Brilliant!
I have a question about sour cream – would it be necessary to reduce the amount of baking soda if I want to reduce buttermilk and use sour cream instead? I have easier access to sour cream than buttermilk.
Hi Namali! See recipe Notes for sour cream instructions.
So easy and so delicious! Well done, Sally!
Can I substitute butter for oil? If I can should the butter be melted or softened?Thanks in advance!
Hi KK, Butter isn’t ideal for this cake, it really needs oil for the most moisture.
I made this cake with a few differences, since my partner or I don’t really like coffee at all, I used hot chocolate instead. I also substituted the regular salt for a habanero sea salt, and I added a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. Perfectly spicy! A nice little kick to it. And then I’m gonna top it off with a spicy caramel buttercream. This cake is super good, thank you so much for the recipe.
I loved this recipe so much
The best chocolate cake!! Made the cake and then used vanilla frosting. Fantastic!
all I can say is WOW, I don’t think I have the patience to put all those chocolate chips on the cake and if I did I can guarantee you they would not be in such precision, But I will try this cake w/o outside chips
I cannot wait to make this cake for my son’s birthday! How can I convert this recipe into making enough batter for four 9” round layers? Just like your Piñata cake recipe.
Hi Jillian, you can make two separate batches (rather than doubling) for 4 layers, or you could 1.5x the recipe for 4 slightly thinner layers. Hope the cake is a hit!
This was truly the MOST moist and delicious cake! Made it for my son’s 5th birthday as he requested a homemade chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, cake. I frosted the cake with the chocolate cream cheese frosting and it was AMAZING!
Delicious! I cut the sugar by 1/4 cup and used the not so sweet frosting recipe.
this review is for Super Moist Chocolate Cupcakes and chocolate buttercream frosting-both were excellent, easy and I finally perfected piping for the first time. Why don’t all your recipes have a place to write a review-there are already reviews there but no place for me to enter one???
I am asking a question for the super moist cupcake because for some reason there is no place to post shown on that recipe, If it only takes 20 minutes to bake and 15 minutes to prep, why does it say 3 hours and 35 minutes including cooling time. I have to let these cool for 3 hours before frosting?? I want to make these cupcakes tomorrow along with the buttercream chocolate frosting.
Hi Mimi, we find that’s how long it takes to completely cool. If yours are ready before then, you can frost them whenever you’d like to.
Looking forward to making this cake. We are trying to reduce white sugar intake here do you think we can cut it back a little or substitute some other sweeteners. Like Agave?
Hi Judy, Sugar is used for moisture and texture in baked goods as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended.
This cake is the only recipe I use now.
We LOVE it !!
I threw myself a birthday bash and of COURSE I made this cake. This is my all time fave choc cake recipe. I use a gram scale and FOLLOW TO THE LETTER and it has NEVER ONCE FAILED ME. It is always a showstopper. I also put the cake pans on the gram scale and push in about 600 g of filling for each one so they are similar size. 23 minutes almost exactly every time, anymore and it slightly burns. The tip to grease pan, then add your parchment circle, then grease again = genius.
I have made this cake many times and love the texture and flavour. I need to make chocolate cupcakes in a couple of days and really love this recipe. It says for 2-3 dozen use this recipe but follow baking instructions for cupcake recipe. The cupcake recipe says fill only halfway so they don’t sink. Is that also suggested halfway then for this recipe?? I don’t want them to be tiny either so I’m curious if it is the same filling instructions. Thank you!
Hi Asha! Yes, about 1/2 way for chocolate cupcakes is best.
Thank you for the quick reply!
I have made this cake about 4 times now and it’s so fantastic. People literally rave about it every time I make it. And the buttercream is so effing good. It’s honestly the best chocolate cake out there.