Chocolate Cake from Scratch
This amazing Chocolate Cake from Scratch is ultra moist and so rich and decadent!
We always get rave reviews from this chocolate cake recipe. It is one of our go-to chocolate cakes for all sorts of fillings and frostings (from Almond Joy Cake and Mint Chocolate Chip Cake to Chocolate Oreo Cake and more.)
Table of Contents
Why we Love It
There are so many reasons to love this amazing chocolate cake. Here are just a few:
- Velvety soft, moist texture
- Decadent and rich cake for chocolate lovers
- Makes plenty of batter for an impressive three layer cake
- Perfect go-to chocolate cake for birthdays and other special occasions
How to make a Scratch Chocolate Cake
*You can find the full, printable recipe for this rich chocolate layer cake further down in this post, but here is a quick rundown of how we made the cake!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease and flour three 8 inch cake pans (We often line our pans with parchment paper as well)
- In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugar, all purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk these dry ingredients for 1 minute to blend.
- Add softened butter a few pieces at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Mix until the dry ingredients look like coarse sand and the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk , oil and vanilla until blended.
- With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add about half of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 1 ½ minutes at medium speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each pour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
- Next, slowly add the cup of hot coffee (prepared instant coffee or brewed) and mix another 30 seconds until blended. The chocolate cake batter will be very runny. Don't worry!
- Pour into 3 prepared 8" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch or a small wooden pick comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.The cake layers will pull away ever so slightly from the sides of the pan.
- Cool the cakes 10 minutes on a wire rack and then turn out of the pans.
- *Yields approximately 9 cups of batter, plenty for three 8 inch cake pans and a nice, tall cake!
Recipe FAQs
More Chocolate Cakes
Aside from today's rich chocolate cake, we have created many more Chocolate Cakes that we love!
Some of our most popular are: Marble Cake, Chocolate Velvet Cake, German Chocolate Cake, and Black Forest Cake.
Chocolate Cake from Scratch
This moist, decadent classic chocolate cake from scratch is the BEST! This cake recipe uses the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing, creating an extra moist cake with a tight crumb and velvety texture.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 2 ¾ cup (322g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (82g) unsweetened cocoa (lightly spoon into cup then sift)
- 2 teaspoons (10g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 1 cup 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften in microwave)
- ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil (we use Canola oil)
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (220g) milk
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- 1 cup (220g) hot coffee, it can be instant or brewed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and flour THREE 8 inch cake pans
- In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk for 1 minute to blend.
- Add softened butter a few pieces at a time while the mixer is on low speed. Mix until the dry ingredients look like coarse sand and the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk , oil and vanilla until blended.
- Method is important when using the Reverse Creaming Method. With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add approximately ½ of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 1 ½ minutes at medium speed. Don't mix above medium speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, beating for 20 seconds after each pour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl.
- Slowly add the cup of hot coffee and mix another 30 seconds until blended. The batter will be very runny. Don't worry!
- Pour into 3 prepared 8" pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes 10 minutes on a rack and then turn out of the pans.
- *Yields approx 9 cups of batter.
- Making cupcakes? Check out our Classic Chocolate Cupcake Recipe (conventional method of mixing for fluffier cupcakes) Holds up well to fondant
Notes
- These cake layers can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap, followed by aluminum foil, and frozen for up to three months.
- Thaw at room temperature, removing the wrapping after 30-45 minutes.
Loved This Recipe?!
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Hi Gloria, Yes, this mixing method will also hold up well to fondant.
Hi Crystal, We bake in advance and freeze our cake layers. We cool the cake layers in the pan about 10 minutes, turn out to cool a bit more, then we wrap in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil while still warm. Wrapped air tight in foil, cake layers can be kept frozen 2 months and will be fine. Freezing makes for a more moist cake. Some members tell us they use only commercial plastic wrap and double wrap the layers and they are fine frozen this way for a few days. If you are not wrapping in aluminum foil, using commercial grade plastic wrap is important. When ready to fill and crumb coat, we take the layers out of the freezer and let them thaw on the counter. Condensation will form on the aluminum foil. When this happens remove the foil and let the layers continue to thaw. You can fill and crumb coat partially frozen layers if you are not planning to use the Viva towel method for smoothing. The buttercream on your cake will take forever to crust (hours) if the cake is not completely thawed. Your buttercream can be made in advance. Since you have so many tiers, it is a good idea to fill and crumb coat the tiers on Thursday. Cover individually with plastic wrap and keep in a cool part of your home. On Friday, complete the cake tiers so that all will be ready the day before the event. Hope all goes smoothly.
If the fillings are perishable, should the filled, crumb coated cakes be refrigerated until ready to ice and decorate? Is overnight ok in the fridge?
Yes, refrigerate cakes with perishable fillings.......wrap in plastic wrap to prevent from drying out.
Do you have any experience with non dairy ingredients? I am hoping this cake will have the same results with non dairy butter and either rice or soy milk. I love your recipes, thank you for sharing!
Hi, I just made this recipe for a birthday cake but I only need a two layer, so I did the rest of the batter as cupcakes. I was worried about leaving the cupcakes or cakes out of the oven long enough for the other to bake, so I baked everything at once. Unfortunately, either because there wasn't enough air flow due to the oven being full or because I had to open the oven earlier to remove the cupcakes, my cakes fell. Actually, the cupcakes fell too. Is this due to the cramped oven? What should I do in the future? I just didn't want batter sitting too long due to the leavening. Thanks for the recipe though!
Still this cake shrinks badly csn any of the members tell me if any of you fscing this issue or it is just me ? There must be somthing wrong somwhere as it doesn't make sense to bake 4 times to get 4 nch layers can you please guide me what might be the problem
Hi, I have made this recipe for cake and cupcakes and everybody loves, although cupcakes doesn't rise much.. I need to make a 2 tier cake for 50 servings and just wondering if this recipe will hold for 2 tier. Thank you so much !
Hi Dineshi, I am happy that you are enjoying the recipe. Yes, the recipe will be fine for 2 tiers. The lower cake tier will have dowels or bubble tea straws inserted into it to support the upper tier that will be on its own cardboard cake circle.
Great, thank you :)
Hi--I left a question earlier that wasn't answered. Do I need to actually join My Cake School to get advice?
Hi Vanessa, I am sorry. We try to answer all the questions but it is just Melissa and me and sometimes one is overlooked. You are correct that if the oven is too full and pans are touching there is not enough air flow for proper baking. Also, opening the oven door too soon can cause a cake to fall. Under baking is another common reason for cakes to fall. It is a good idea to check your oven with an oven thermometer to see if it is heating to the correct temperature. An oven thermometer is inexpensive and can be purchased online or found at Target or grocery stores. In the future, you can fill a cake pan or cupcake pan with the extra batter and put in the refrigerator until the oven is free. You may need to lengthen the baking time just a bit because the cake batter will be cold when you put it into the oven. Hope this helps.