My favorite chocolate cake recipe! This cake is super moist and full of a RICH chocolate flavor. The secret? dutched cocoa powder, lots of butter and mayonnaise!
I know mayonnaise might sound a bit odd but if you think about it, mayo is just eggs and oil in fluffy form. Who doesn't wan't more fluff in their cake amirite?
One of the reasons this chocolate cake is so popular with cake decorators and clients alike is that it's got an amazing texture just like my super popular vanilla cake recipe.
This cake also uses the reverse mixing method resulting in a nice tight crumb that is soft and moist. This cake also has a powerful chocolate flavor thanks to our friend dutched cocoa powder.
What is Dutched Cocoa? Dutched cocoa doesn't mean it's from Holland, it just means it's been through a process that reduces the acidity of the chocolate. Dutch processed cocoa powder has a smoother, more mellow flavor that's often associated with earthy, woodsy notes and is pretty darn delicious if I do say so myself!
For a stunning bundt-pan version with a holiday spin, try my red wine bundt cake with a red wine ganache glaze.
Homemade Chocolate Cake Recipe
This chocolate cake recipe is my go-to when I want a great cake for family or friends. Way better than a box mix (in my opinion) and easy to make.
People are always impressed with the flavor of this cake because it is so rich. I like to pair this cake with my chocolate buttercream but if you want to really please the chocolate-lover in your life then go with the luxurious dark chocolate ganache.
When I was growing up, we always made chocolate cake for special occasions. My Dad's favorite cake was german chocolate cake with that coconut pecan filling. We would bake up a box cake and before it was barely cooled we would slather on a can of that frosting.
This cake has officially taken the place of family favorite.
Dark Chocolate Cake Recipe
One of the coolest things about this particular chocolate cake recipe (in my opinion) is the color of the cake. It's soooo dark and almost reddish colored. That's from the cocoa powder.
I never really put much thought into cocoa powders and the different types until I started experimenting with a chocolate cake recipe for my wedding cake clients. I always say other bakers raving about the Hershey's recipe but when I tried it, I found it to be quite bitter tasting and not at all what I was looking for in a chocolate cake recipe.
I really like Cacao Barry Extra Brute cocoa powder because it's pretty inexpensive, has a fantastic flavor and is pretty easy to find. I buy mine on Amazon but did you know there are black cocoa powders? Like SUPER black.
I have tried a few and some of them are better than others but the one I really like I could only find in Canada and the shipping was crazy expensive. Nowadays you can find black cocoa powder pretty much anywhere online, even Valrhona makes one!
Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe
What's the secret to a moist chocolate cake recipe? Probably something that you would never think of putting in a cake.
One word. Mayonnaise.
I know what you're thinking. WHAT? This isn't a chicken salad sandwich here. Mayonnaise is going to make my chocolate cake taste weird!
Fret not. Mayonnaise cake is a real thing. And if you think about what mayonnaise really is, it's made of whipped eggs and oil. Two things that go great in cake and add some nice moisture and flavor.
Go with a nice neutral mayonnaise for the best flavor.
Easy Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe
If you're just not into putting the effort into baking your cake from scratch, have no fear. You can go with the ever delicious doctored box mix. This is the chocolate version of WASC recipe.
Chocolate WASC cake is easy to make and tastes delicious. I tweaked my recipe a bit to include a bit of butter to make the cake more stable for stacking and filling or for using in sculpted cakes.
Chocolate Cake Recipe with Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate cake goes with a lot of different flavors but to me nothing beats chocolate buttercream. I use the same dutched cocoa powder that I use for the cake in the easy buttercream frosting. The frosting tastes just like melted chocolate ice cream to me and is my absolute favorite.
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Recipe
There are lots of pretty tasty gluten free chocolate cake box mixes out there as more and more people are needing gluten free options (my dad included). I have made this cake gluten free successfully using Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Flour .
Dairy Free Chocolate Cake Recipe
To make this chocolate cake dairy free you can replace the milk with almond milk and the butter with earth balance butter although I would leave out the salt in the recipe otherwise it can taste really salty.
Dairy Free Chocolate Cake Recipe
This chocolate cake can be made into cupcakes with no issue and bake up beautifully. This recipe makes about 24 cupcakes.
Can You Use Cups Instead Of A Scale
This recipe (and all my recipes) are made using weight measurements instead of cups because I truly want you to succeed! So many things can go wrong in the science that is baking and measuring in cups is not exact. Weighing your ingredients greatly reduces your chances of the recipe failing and who wants to waste precious butter and vanilla at todays crazy prices?
Not familiar with the reverse mixing method? Watch how I make my best chocolate cake recipe step by step in this video.
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
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Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Recipe
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 14 oz Unbleached cake flour
- 15 oz granulated sugar
- 2.25 oz Dutch cocoa powder
- 8 oz water
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 oz Mayonaise
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 oz unsalted butter at room temperature
Chocolate Buttercream
- 8 oz pasteurized egg whites room temperature
- 32 oz powdered sugar
- 36 oz unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 oz cocoa powder
Instructions
Cake Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil. Add in cocoa powder.Whisk until smooth then add in cold mayonnaise, vanilla and eggs. Whisk to break up the eggs.
- Weigh out all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt) and place into a stand mixer bowl and attach the paddle attachment.
- Turn mixer on low (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers). Add in your room temperature butter in small chunks. Combine on low until you achieve a sandy mixture.
- Add ½ of your liquid ingredients into your dry ingredients and mix on medium for 2 minutes. If you do not do this step, your cake could collapse.
- Turn your mixer back down to low and add in the rest of your liquids slowly. Stop once or twice to scrape the bowl as needed.
Once they are all combined, turn back up to medium for another 30 seconds. - Lightly grease two 8" round cake pans prepared with your choice of pan release. I prefer cake goop.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350ºF depending on how big your pans are. The bigger the pan, the longer it will take for them to bake. When a toothpick comes out of the center with a few sticky crumbs on it, the cake is done.
- After the cakes have cooled for about 10 minutes, or the pans have cooled to the point they can be touched, flip the cakes over and remove from the pans onto a cooling rack to cool completely. I cover mine in plastic wrap to keep them from drying out why they cool.
- Once the cakes are completely cool you can trim them and frost them.
Chocolate Buttercream Instructions
- Place egg whites, powdered sugar in a stand mixer bowl.
Attach the whisk and combine ingredients on low and then whip on high for 5 minutes.Reserve 8 oz of your butter and melt in microwave until JUST melted, don't over heat. Combine melted butter with cocoa powder and mix until smoothAdd in butter in small chunks and continue whipping until the mixture is light and white and creamy. Give it a taste, if it still tastes buttery then keep whipping.Add in chocolate mixture, vanilla and salt and continue whipping until mixture is combined. Scrape bowl if needed. Remove the whisk and place the paddle attachment onto the mixer. Let your buttercream mix on low until the mixture is smooth and creamy and there are no bubbles left. This can take up to 20 minutes
Notes
Nutrition
grace says
do you use two 8x2 pans or two 8x3 pans?
in the pic it looks like a 8x3?
thank you.
Grace
The Sugar Geek Show says
8"x2" pans are what I use
Alice says
Could this cake be used for carving?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes it can, just make sure your cakes are always chilled
Silvia says
Hi Liz, thank you so much for teaching us how to bake cakes. Why do you prefer to use dutch cocoa powder? if i use regular cocoa powder should i change the amounts of baking soda?baking powder?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I prefer dutch cocoa powder because it has a richer, more chocolate-y taste and is darker in color.
Shona Tan says
Looks good! Would it be possible to substitute the mayonaise with sour cream/yoghurt/buttermilk?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Mayonaise is eggs and oil so it's not the same as yogurt or buttermilk so the recipe may not turn out
Jesus says
Hey, I wanted to halve your chocolate and vanilla cake recipes but I wasn’t sure about how to halve the amount of eggs, because your recipe calls for 3, should I add one and beat the second egg separately and only add half of it to be like 1 1/2 eggs?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes you can do that or you can just use the white or just use the yolk. The small difference will be ok.
Simone says
Hi Liz, I made this cake the other day and I decided it into 3 8” pan and cooked it for 30 min. The cake came out too dry. I also cooked all 3 cakes at one time. Do you think I baked it too long? Could it be that I cook them too close together in the oven? Please help. I need your expert advice.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yea 30 minutes sounds like a lot for three thin layers, try a little less time next time. I think baking all at once is ok though
Angela Brady says
Hi Liz, I just made this cake and the center sunk. Any advice? TY!
The Sugar Geek Show says
It's hard to say. Did you substitute any of the ingredients? did you use dutched cocoa powder? Did you make sure all the ingredients where room temperature. Did you make sure to follow the mixing directions 🙂
Bryan Williams says
Hello Liz,
I had the same problem. (I always read the comments before starting a new recipe.) I have made this recipe four different times and each time the problem seems to get worse. I didn't substitute ingredients, they were all room temp, I followed the instructions exactly as written. The cake bakes wonderfully, nice slight dome and all. I open the oven after 35 minutes to test. After I have stuck the center with a fresh toothpick, the center collapses. I have also checked the ingredients to make sure they are fresh. I have also tried to using the moistened cake pan wraps, so the center bakes more evenly. My oven bakes perfectly and I have checked for accuracy. When a recipe says 35-45 minutes, my oven will have the item baked in exactly 35 minutes. Any suggestions???? Please and Thank you!
The Sugar Geek Show says
I'm not sure why this happens for some, the only thing I can think is that it's just not baked all the way. Try leaving your cake alone until you reach 40 minutes
Barb says
Do you have a favorite icing recipe for this cake?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I seem to always pair my chocolate buttercream with the chocolate cake 😀 https://sugargeekshow.com/best-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/
cathy armes says
You are so generous to share, thank you! I also bought your incredible book! Do you think I could use this recipe for cupcakes?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Totally! I have used it and it worked perfectly 🙂 This is the updated chocolate cake version from my book 🙂
Sheila says
Hi Liz, thank you for the recipe, what is cake flour? Could it be Self Raising flour?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Cake flour and self-rising flour are not the same. In your area it might be called pastry flour
Brenda Jarmusz says
Liz in my family a chocolate mayonnaise cake was our very favorite and always a go to cake, its rich and moist and has tons of flavor. When my mom died I was 10 and I never got to have that cake again, thank you so much for the recipe my friend as well as bringing back the most amazing memories. I can now make this and smile. She use to make a mint icing to go with it and omg it was divine. My favorite flavors are chocolate and orange together so I will be doing that. Lol. Thanks again liz, as always you rock!!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Oh my gosh that brings a tear to my eye!! The mint icing sounds AMAZING!! Will definitely give that a try <3 Big hugs to you my friend
Brenda Jarmusz says
Awww thank you so much dear friend, you are such a sweetheart. Huge hugs right back at you.
Bouchra M says
Hello, when you say mayonaise.. Does it mean Oil? On the picture it seems to be eggs with milk and oil
The Sugar Geek Show says
I updated the recipe to use mayonnaise because it has a better taste and texture
Lisa says
I don't have cake flour could I use plain flour thank you
The Sugar Geek Show says
Sorry you cannot substitute for cake flour. Check out some of my other recipes that use AP flour 🙂
Chl says
cake flour substitute. For each cup of plain flour remove 1tbl of the flour and replace with cornflour. Mix well to combine before use.
The Sugar Geek Show says
No that does not work the same. AP flour and cake flour are completely different. Using AP flour will result in a very dense, cornbread texture. If you want the cake to turn out like the recipe you must use the ingredients that are called for.
Marion says
I cannot access cake flour in Kenya(Africa) and i would like to try out your recipes. What do i do considering most of your recipes call for cake flour
The Sugar Geek Show says
I'm sorry you cannot access cake flour, I understand that must be frustrating. Unfortunately, I don't have an alternative for you for recipes using cake flour because there is not a substitute. If you use all purpose flour the texture of the cake becomes more like cornbread because of the higher gluten content.
My only suggestion is to try the traditional mixing method instead of the reverse creaming if you are going to use AP flour but I haven't tested it so I can't say for sure if that would work.
Grace says
Hi,can I use the square pan instead of round pan?
Thank you!
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can use any shaped pan you desire
catherine f says
My go-to chocolate cake recipe! Yummy and moist, but sturdy enough for stacking or carving!!
Lisa Gregerson says
Hi Liz, Thank you for recipe. I can hardly wait to bake this beauty. My question, actually confusion, same cake on both your sites, same amount for granulated sugar, but different for flour. All else appears to be the same for both recipes. Which is the flour amount recommended? Anxious for your reply. Lisa G.
Artisan Cake Co.
10 oz cake flour
10.5 oz granulated sugar
Sugar Geek Show
12 oz King Arthur unbleached cake flour
10.5 oz granulated sugar
The Sugar Geek Show says
The recipe on sugar geek show is the most recent and updated version
Corey Day says
Is this still the most updated? Recipe above says 14oz cake flour and 15oz sugar.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes the recipe is correct