the best chocolate cake recipe {ever} - cooking _ add a pinch

$: The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe {Ever} - Cooking _ Add a Pinch$
The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe {Ever}

January 25, 2013 By Robyn 406 Comments

The best chocolate cake recipe. Ever? There are plenty of claims for the best chocolate cakerecipe. I get that. But with one bite of this chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, every singleperson around the table commented that this was the best chocolate cake they’d ever tasted.

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The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe {Ever} - Cooking | Add a Pinch http://addapinch.com/cooking/2013/01/25/the-best-chocolate-cake-reci...

1 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

So as for my house, this chocolate cake recipe now holds that honor.

As the compliments continued, I didn’t begin to tell them how easy it was to make.

In all honesty, it is probably one of the easiest cakes I’ve made in a long time, really, but I justsmiled and thanked them.

As we continued on gobbling up the cake, drinking our coffee or iced cold milk, the complimentsjust kept coming.

Then the requests for the recipe started.

That’s generally when you know that folks really like what you’ve made if they ask for the recipeand tell you for what event they plan to serve it.

As a cook, that really is one of the highest compliments you can receive – well, at least in mybook.

It was great to hear that they thought the cake was just as good after their last bite as theythought it was with their first.

Here’s another great thing about this recipe. The cake batter really can be made in a bowlwithout the use of a heavy duty mixer. Of course, that just makes things easier, but this is easily a

recipe my Grandmother would have enjoyed making in her tiny kitchen with a whisk and a bowl.And I’m sure it would have turned out perfectly, too.

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2 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

I’m not going to kid you, this makes a very rich, moist, and absolutely luxurious chocolate cake

recipe. So if you are a faint of heart chocolate cake person, this is not the cake for you.

Based on the Old Fashioned Hershey’s Chocolate Cake Recipe, I sort of went a bit heavy-handed

with some changes testing cake after cake until I got it just the way I wanted it, but the end resultwas oh so worth it.


3 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

The few crumbs left on plates gave that away.

One of the ingredients that really made this chocolate cake recipe come to life, in my opinion,was the addition of espresso powder in both the chocolate cake and in the chocolate frosting.

If you’ve not tried a bit of espresso when baking with chocolate, you really should.

The espresso works to elevate the flavors in much the same way as vanilla extract and I now thinkof it as an essential part of my spice cabinet.

Espresso powder is easy to find at the grocery store or even online if your grocer doesn’t stock itnormally.

Believe me when I say, it is very much worth the effort to have just for those times you are bakingwith chocolate!

So my friends, if you have a chocolate lover in your midst, make them this cake. If they’ve had abad day this is certainly something that will brighten it for them. If they’ve had a great day, thenthis chocolate cake is a great way to celebrate with them!

It just needs to happen.

Promise.


4 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

Let me just say again, This Chocolate Cake Recipe + this Chocolate Frosting Recipe = The BestChocolate Cake Recipe {Ever!}

And here it is.

4.8 from 102reviews

Prep time15 mins

Cook time30 mins

Total time45 mins


Chocolate Cake with decadent Chocolate Frosting thatwill quickly become your favorite!

Author: Robyn Stone | Add a PinchCuisine: DessertServes: 12

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

¾ cup cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Chocolate Frosting

1½ cups butter (3 sticks)

1 cup cocoa

5 cups confectioner’s sugar

½ cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon espresso powder

Instructions

Print


5 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

Do let me know how you like it.

If you are looking for cupcakes from this recipe, I’ve shared my recipe for the best chocolatecupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting for ya.

Love ya!Robyn

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Birthday, Cakes, Chocolate, Cooking, Cooking Style, Desserts, Essentials, Father's Day,

Halloween, Holiday and Occasion, Recipes, Tailgate Recipes, Valentine's Day Tagged With: chocolate, cocoa,

Cooking, eggs, espresso powder

About Robyn

A seventh generation Southern wife and mom who loves to share simple, fresh, and scrumptious

recipes the whole family will enjoy.

Comments

366Dianne says:May 27, 2013 at 7:55 pm

HELP…My frosting doesn’t look like yours What did I do wrong? It looks a little grainy.

Reply

367Daniela says:June 1, 2013 at 12:46 pm

Did you use regular sugar? If so you need to use confectioner’s (powdered sugar) orelse it will turn out grainy.

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray orbuttering and lightly flouring.

2. For the cake:

3. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowlor the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stirthrough flour mixture until combined well.

4. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speeduntil well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on highspeed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.

5. Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes,until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

7. Frost cake with Chocolate Frosting.

8. For the Chocolate Frosting:

9. Add cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove any lumps.

10. Melt butter and pour into bowl with cocoa powder. Whisk together until well-combined.

11. Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoonof milk. After each addition has been combined, turn mixer onto a high speed for about a minute.Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added.

12. Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.

13. If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the rightconsistency. If it appears to wet and does not hold its form, add more confectioner’s sugar, atablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.

67K+


6 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

368Katy says:May 28, 2013 at 9:43 am

This cake was pretty good. The frosting was easily the best I have ever tasted, I definitelydidn’t use it all so that I could eat some later. The cake was good, but a little dry for meand definitely more like a chocolate snack-cake rather than a moist or fudge-likechocolate cake. Without the frosting, I’m not sure that I would have been a huge fan, butthen again, maybe it would be too decadent with a more decadent cake. In the future, I

will probably look for a different cake recipe, but make the frosting for the rest of my life.Seriously.

Reply

369monique guerrero says:May 28, 2013 at 7:51 pm

HELLLP!the cake is amazing and all but the frosting, oh the frosting!It’s going crazy! The frosting is dripping of the cake and i dont know what to do!Please help me!

Reply

370Gabie says:June 1, 2013 at 2:57 pm

Did you let your cake cool down long enough? even a small amount of residual heat is

enough to give you runny icing…

371Suze says:May 29, 2013 at 9:12 pm

I just made this for a Memorial Day gathering and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you somuch for this great recipe. I’ll be making this again in my very near future.

Reply

372Tenns says:May 30, 2013 at 8:27 pm

This cake looks absolutely decadent and delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe out!

Reply

373chrc says:May 31, 2013 at 1:21 pm

I made this for my mom for mothers day and she and her fiance absolutely loved it. I find itis easier to make than other cakes I have done andI don’t have 9 inch pans, but three 8 inch pans work well, you may just want to make extraicing for the extra layer.

One thing- always follow the order the the icing ingredients. I made a shortcut making ittoday for my aunt and had a hell of a time mixing it.


7 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

Reply

374Cindy says:June 1, 2013 at 3:32 am

my daughter and i just made this cake, it was sensational, we recorded us making it on her

ipod as well lol, we had lots of fun and my son loved it to

Reply

375Sc says:June 1, 2013 at 8:31 am

I haven’t eaten the cake yet but those who have enjoyed the frosting must have a muchheavier duty mixer than me! I nearly burned out my brand new kenwood mixer doing this.No matter how long I mixed for, the sugar would not cream. The frosting is grainy andawful. My poor family are going to get a shock tomorrow I think but I will let you know.

Reply

376Michelle says:June 8, 2013 at 1:55 pm

Use PURE CANE powdered sugar. If the package doesn’t say “pure cane”, it will mostlikely turn out gritty frosting.

377Joy Cain says:June 1, 2013 at 11:13 am

This recipe sounds amazing!!!! I’ve used that cake recipe on the back of the Hershey’scocoa box and it calls for a cup of boiling water, this sounded strange to me, but theflavor is outstanding. In my American’s Test Kitchen cookbook, it says that adding hot liquidto cocoa powder intensifies the cocoa flavor. My recommendation, as I haven’t tried it yetbut am planning on it, is to heat the milk at least enough to make it steamy. I also wonder

how some of these cake recipes, I made your salted caramel cake, YUM!!, would it be okif cake flour is used rather than all purpose. Any ideas?

Reply

378Ashley says:June 1, 2013 at 8:09 pm

My cake taste great so far, but where does the boiling water go?

Reply

379Maria Gomez says:June 1, 2013 at 9:26 pm

hi

is expresso powder the same qs the expresso coffee?

Reply

380chris says:June 5, 2013 at 1:47 pm


8 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

Espresso powder and espresso coffee are NOT the same thing. You need to useespresso powder (espresso instant coffee).

If you can’t find the instant kind you could try using a cup of espresso instead of theboiling water (make sure it is hot), but then you can’t do that for the icing.

If anyone has used the non instant espresso powder and had it work out please post it. Itried it once before I knew the difference and found it was too grainy/didn’t dissolve, asit is not meant to do that in your coffee maker.

381Sherri says:June 1, 2013 at 10:22 pm

I absolutely LOVE this recipe….espresso powder is da bomb! The cake is incredibly moistand the frosting is very rich. I, too, had major problems with the frosting, though. I’ve madethis cake twice and both time it looked like the frosting was smooth and creamy up to

about the 3rd cup of powdered sugar. Somewhere after that, the frosting looked like itseparated or did something strange. I tried adding extra powdered sugar, then extra milk,to correct the problem, but coudn’t get it back to the smooth consistency. I beat thefrosting for a minute between each addition of p. sugar and milk….any ideas what I keepdoing wrong? It still tastes great, but looks grey and funky.

Thanks!

Reply

382Yvonne says:June 2, 2013 at 3:14 pm

This cake and frosting are amazing. The frosting is out of this world and the cake is very

moist – just the way I like it. Did I say the frosting was awesome? My husband went crazyover it and my daughter too. Am doing this again!

Thanks for sharing.

Reply

383hawley says:June 3, 2013 at 9:33 am

Hi there:

i want a french vanilla frosting any suggestions on an amazing one to use? I’m wondering ifrobyn would have one just as good as the chocolate frosting for this cake? i wantsomething as nice as this frosting since everyone is raving about it. Im gonna use this recipein the future, but my sister in law loves french vanilla frosting so i want to use this cakerecipe with a fv frosting.

Thanks so much

Reply

384Geana says:June 3, 2013 at 6:22 pm

This was awesome!! I took it to a banquet and someone asked if they could take the platefrom me so they could lick it!

Reply

385


9 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

Seemae Arora says:June 4, 2013 at 5:08 am

It was awesome… The cake was pretty good and easy to make.. Thanks for a wonderfulrecipe. God bless.

Reply

386Chris says:June 4, 2013 at 11:51 am

My son recently requested a chocolate cake with a peanut butter frosting. I am a pastrychef by trade but was looking for something new to try for his birthday. I made thischocolate cake recipe and it was a huge hit with not only the kids but the adults as well. Iwas very impressed with this recipe and will continue to use it when I need a recipe thatcan just be whipped up in a pinch.

Thank you for sharing!

Reply

387Rose says:June 4, 2013 at 6:00 pm

Hi Robyn,

Cake looks delicious and by the reviews, dying to try it. Just wanted to ask if you’ve everused buttermilk in the recipe, and if so, do I need to make adjustments with the otheringredients?

Thank you

Reply

388Dianne Bonnici says:June 5, 2013 at 8:39 am

I tried this cake out for my boyfriend’s birthday…It was a BIG success!!! I got so manycompliments…it tasted better than a confectioner’s cake! I used vanilla icing insteadthough! Highly recommend this recipe!

Reply

389Safa'a says:June 6, 2013 at 10:14 am

Thank you! I loved the cake! I tried it for a huge friends gathering and it was GREAT!

Reply

390gracelyne says:June 6, 2013 at 12:44 pm

BEST cake I ever made! Thanks!!

Reply

391Edna says:June 6, 2013 at 2:41 pm


10 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

Ten Out of Ten Robyn I love baking and wanted to try something different from my normalcake recipes. I felt like a lovely moist chocolate cake AND this was right on the money!!!!

The family loved it. I agree it is much better than a confectioners cake. THANK YOU forsharing it. I am forever grateful. The best chocolate cake EVA……..PERFECT!

Reply

392Rose says:June 6, 2013 at 11:24 pm

Hi Robyn,

The cake is FABULOUS! Followed your recipe exactly, didn’t want to risk trying the buttermilkand glad I did; wouldn’t change a thing(I did only use a pinch of espresso in frosting

instead but that was just my choice). I don’t have to try another choc cake recipe again!Thanks so much for sharing and look forward to trying out your other recipes.

Reply

393Nicole Pretorius says:June 7, 2013 at 11:34 am

I made this chocolate cake and it was a success.. the only problem I had was that thecakes broke in half when I tried to tip them out of the pans. For the icing I used the sameingredients, I just used my own measurements and it was divine!I will be making this cakeagain tonight and if its a success again I might use this recipe for my 21st cake! :-):-)

Reply


Hey! I’m planning to make this cake today, and I wonder if I could make this in cupcakeform. How long would I need to bake it? Thank you for the recipe ^^

Reply

395Robyn says:June 8, 2013 at 8:22 am

Hey Michelle,Yes, the link to the cupcakes recipe is at the end of the recipe post. Hope you enjoy it.

396gemma says:June 8, 2013 at 11:50 am

Robyn, if you were here I would kiss you!! whoever is looking to make a chocolate cakeSTOP RIGHT NOW you have found it, this cake is soooo moist with a beautiful chocolateflavour!! yummy yummy yum yum!! Thankyou soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

much…

Gem xxx

Reply



11 of 13 11/06/2013 10:46 p.m.

« Older Comments

Very Important!! For the icing (and all baking, really) – Make sure to buy PURE CANEpowdered sugar. Others contain beet sugar (which is GMO, for those interested). The pure

cane powdered sugar is how to get creamy (non-gritty) delicious results. If the packagedoesn’t say “pure cane”, you can assume it is not. Happy Baking!

Reply

398Cassandra says:June 9, 2013 at 3:59 pm

I made this for my son’s birthday party and it was a hit! I love this cake and the cupcakerecipe. Easy to do, delicious, chocolately, perfect. Thanks so much!

Reply

399Tricia says:June 11, 2013 at 12:56 am

This recipe is amazing! I have never bothered to attempt to make a cake like this, figuring Iwould fail miserably but it was awesome!

Reply

400Susan says:June 11, 2013 at 3:53 am

I just tried making the cake as I would like to take it to a party this weekend. Everything wasgoing well, until I tried to move the cake base and found it very crumbly. I couldn’t evenput the second layer on top of the first layer as it broke into 4 pieces. When I tried to put it

together with the frosting, nothing worked! Pls pls let me know what I did wrong.

Reply

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