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 Andrea, Yes, you can omit the 1 cup hot coffee and replace with 1 cup hot water.
Hi BeBe,
This cake is so delicious! I know you said your layers are higher than 1" once baked (I posted that mine came out at exactly an inch). What do you suppose would cause mine to not rise as high as yours? I followed the recipe to a T including the mixing time. When it came time to mix on medium speed I used no. 4 on my 5 quart Kitchenaid mixer. Should I have gone to no. 6 to mix?
Looking at some remarks I noticed a discrepancy in the ingredient ( instructions) with the cocoa powder and your response to someone asking about the weight. I'm wondering which one is correct. (or I could be reading it wrong)
Ingredients read: 1 cup (82g) unsweetened cocoa (lightly spoon into cup then sift)
But in your response to Maria Jan. 4, 2017 you wrote: " I sifted the cocoa then lightly spooned it into a cup"... If your cocoa was not sifted that may be the reason your weight was more.
So the first way sounds like its saying to sift AFTER spooning into a cup, but then you tell Maria to sift the cocoa then lightly spoon into a cup.
I only ask because I followed the actual ingredient instructions and my cup to weight measurement was way off too. I did not sift until after as stated in the instruction. Could this have affected the height of my layers. I wouldn't think so unless the extra cocoa made the batter heavier. Any help would be appreciated as I LOVE the flavor and moistness of this cake.
Hi Gloria, Thanks for catching that discrepancy, I obviously answered the question without checking the recipe instructions. I just weighed a cup of the cocoa powder to double check the weight and it is 82 grams. I also checked the gram weight chart in the Cake Bible and 1 cup of cocoa, lightly spooned into a measuring cup for dry ingredients and it is also 82g. I don't think an extra Tablespoon would have affected the cake but you say yours was way off, so that is possibly a factor. If there was too much cocoa in the recipe the batter could have been too stiff causing low volume. Other causes of cake layers not rising as high as they should are: Baking powder, baking soda out of date or wrong amount used, oven temperature too high, not using the suggested pan size. Unrelated to your question, but sometimes we want 3 layers just because we want more frosting with a slice of cake. Our cake recipe may only have 6 1/2 to 7 cups of batter so we put a bit over 2 cups batter in each of the 3 eight inch pans. The cakes only rise about 1 1/4 inches high but after the cake is filled and frosted it is still a nice height.
Thank you BeBe! Then mine DID come out perfect! I baked 3 laters in 3 8” pans and the height of each layer after being baked was approximately an inch to 1-1/4”.
I've tried several of your cake recipes and I love them! I have a question... do you sift the flour in this recipe, and for all your other cake recipes as well? If so, do you measure the flour first then sift, or sift then measure?
Thank you!
Hi Marie, Thank you for your nice compliment on our recipes. I do not sift the flour in this recipe. I think almost all of the recipes on the site have the flour unsifted. We whisk the dry ingredients to blend and this also aerates the flour as sifting would. When recipes state 3 cups flour, sifted --flour is listed first so measure flour then sift. If it states, 3 cups sifted flour -- flour is listed second so you would sift then measure. I do think that is hard for most people to remember so I will always state in parenthesis after the ingredient (measure then sift ) or (sift then measure). It is a good idea to have a digital scale then it would make no difference because you are using the weight measurement. Hope this helps.
This is day of Pinterest, blogs and reviews, etc. I personally don't care for reviews that don't review the product. So, I can say, I tried this cake 5 times. It is remarkable. Here is my review:
For my wedding cakes, I simply prefer the reverse method. In my humble opinion, the cakes are sturdier. I was not happy with my chocolate cakes and frankly cater to budget friendly brides so I typically try to use cocoa powder instead of bar chocolate. I was very skeptical about this recipe since it didn't have bar chocolate but never again.
I had a bride try a piece yesterday that I layered with a caramel cream cheese buttercream. She simply could not speak. Finally at the last bite, she looked at me and said, "I don't want to finish it" You know that was good. She had her sons with her (11 and 13). All 3 stated it was the best cake they have ever eaten. She tried a Sticky Toffee cake I made and decided on this chocolate cake even though the groom doesn't eat chocolate. Wow!
I only made 1 adjustment, we have Keurig and I was afraid the coffee wouldn't be strong enough, so I added 1 T of instant coffee to each cup. Other than that, no adjustments. I let the cakes cool for about 15 minutes, then wrapped them in plastic wrap, then foil and froze them. I read freezing warm cakes makes them really moist. These were very moist and flavorful.
I will never make another chocolate cake but this one. It is absolutely delicious.
Hi Dadee, You have definitely made our day with your nice review of the recipe. I am so happy that you are using it for your customers!! Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts on this cake!!
I am making the chocolate cake from scratch in Utah at 5,000 elevation. What do I need to do differently to make sure it comes out ok. I live in Texas so I am not use to baking in high altitudes. Thanks!
Hi Karolyn, I'm sorry but we do not have experience with high elevation baking as we live near sea level. Here is a link to a Craftsy post about baking at high elevation that I think you will find helpful.
https://www.craftsy.com/baking/article/how-to-bake-at-high-altitude/
I would like to make a two layer cake. It could be “8 or 6”. If I cut everything in half, will that be enough batter for a 6”?
Melissa, I’m finding your videos very soothing. It helps calm me when trying something new. Also, In times like these, that’s super important. Thank you!!!
Hi Judy, I think it would be best to have two 6x2 inch round layers. The recipe makes 9 cups of batter so you will have slightly over 2 cups per pan. That is a very nice compliment for Melissa, see does have a soothing voice. Below are links to two cake batter charts that you will find helpful.
http://www.wilton.com/cake-serving-guide/cms-baking-serving-guide.html