Moist and Delicious Chocolate Cake Recipe

This recipe makes a rich, two-layer 9-inch round cake.

📝 Ingredients

For the Cake

• 2 cups (240g) All-Purpose Flour²

   

• 2 cups (400g) Granulated Sugar³

   

• ¾ cup (60-85g) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (Natural or Dutch Process)⁴

   

• 1½ tsp Baking Soda⁵

   

• 1½ tsp Baking Powder⁶

   

• 1 tsp Salt⁷

   

• 2 large Eggs, at room temperature⁸

   

• 1 cup (240ml) Milk or Buttermilk (Buttermilk adds extra moisture and tang!)⁹

   

• ½ cup (120ml) Vegetable Oil (or Canola oil)

• 2 tsp Vanilla Extract¹⁰

   

• 1 cup (240ml) Hot Coffee (or boiling water)¹¹

   

Expert Baking Tips for Moisture

• Hot Coffee/Water: The hot liquid “blooms” the cocoa powder, deepening the chocolate flavor, and helps create a thin, moist batter.¹² Decaf coffee works perfectly fine!

   

• Oil over Butter: Using oil (which is liquid at room temperature) instead of solid butter contributes to a softer, moister, and more tender cake crumb.¹³

   

• Buttermilk/Sour Cream: If using milk, a swap for 1 cup of Buttermilk or substituting $\frac{1}{2}$ cup of the milk with $\frac{1}{2}$ cup of full-fat Sour Cream can help the cake hold onto moisture for longer.

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1. Prep and Combine Dry Ingredients

1. Preheat the oven to ¹⁴$350^\circ\text{F}$ (¹⁵$175^\circ\text{C}$).¹⁶

    

2. Prepare Pans: Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper circles.¹⁷ For a dark color, you can dust the pans with cocoa powder instead of flour.¹⁸

    

3. In a large bowl, sift (recommended for cocoa powder) or whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.¹⁹

    

2. Mix Wet Ingredients

1. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla extract until well combined.

2. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed (if using a mixer) or with a whisk/spatula until just combined. The batter will be thick.

3. Add Hot Liquid

1. Reduce the mixer speed to low, or carefully use a whisk, and slowly pour in the hot coffee (or boiling water). Mix until the batter is smooth and well combined. The final batter will be quite thin—don’t worry, this is correct!

4. Bake

1. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.

2. Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

3. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10-15 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.