Moist and sweet chocolate cake that's easy to make.
I finally have a chocolate cake recipe that I love. I've been tweaking the ingredients on this recipe to get it just right and now it's a family favorite. I think you'll love it too! It has a few bonus ingredients included that add to the flavor wonderfully, but is still easy to make.
Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
- 2 cups Flour.
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar.
- 1 cup Cocoa Powder.
- 1 teaspoon Espresso Powder.
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda.
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder.
- ½ teaspoon Salt.
- 1 cup shaken Buttermilk.
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil.
- 2 large Eggs.
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract.
- ¾ cup brewed Coffee.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups unsalted Butter.
- 5 ¼ cups Confectioners' Sugar.
- ¾ cup Cocoa Powder.
- 4 ½ tablespoons Heavy Cream.
- One and a half ⅛ teaspoons Salt. (Just less than ¼ teaspoon).
- 3 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract.
Cake Directions:
- Preheat oven at 350°F.
- Spray (with a baking spray) two 8" (by 2") round cake pans.
- In a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, mix together your flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate medium bowl, use a whisk to mix together your buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Slowly add your liquid ingredients from the separate bowl to your stand mixer dry ingredients while on low speed.
- Add the brewed coffee and mix well.
- Remove bowl from stand mixer and use whisk to ensure ingredients all the way to the bottom are fully mixed.
- Pour your well-mixed cake batter into your two 8" round cake pans, distributing the batter as equally as possible between the two.
- Bake at 350°F for 35 minutes to 45 minutes. Use a wooden toothpick in the center of each cake to check when cakes are fully baked. The toothpick should come out clean. (Bake times vary by oven.)
- Allow cakes to fully cool on cooling racks.
Cake tip: Chocolate cakes tend to be very running; not as thick of a batter as other cakes. This is normal. If your cake sags a little in the middle, this is okay. Just fill it in with frosting in the next steps.
Frosting Directions:
- In a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium until creamy. (You can soften the butter first, but don't melt it.)
- Add your other ingredients: confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract.
- Mix on low speed until well blended, then high speed for a minute.
Frosting tip: If the frosting is too thin, you can add more confectioners' sugar. If the frosting is too thick and not spreadable, you can add more heavy cream.
Assemble your cake:
- Put the first cooled cake round on the bottom of your cake keeper container or a round cake-board.
- Using a rubber or silicone spatula, spread your chocolate frosting on top evenly, and to your desired thickness for the middle layer of frosting.
- Put your second cooled cake round on top of the frosting, on the other cake round.
- Spread your frosting on top of the cake and around the sides of the cake, completely and evenly, to your desired thickness.
Coffee mug pictured in the photo: