I found this chocolate-cake recipe on the fantastic www.addapinch.com website, and now make this cake all the time and cannot say enough good things about it. Well, actually — let me try.
This cake is super-easy to make: No separating eggs, no complicated cooked icing, no finicky batter that doesn’t rise properly or stays too gooey in the middle. It comes out absolutely on point every time, leaves you with a minimum of bowls to clean up, and gets insanely good reviews. People will beg you to make this.
Now, let’s talk about the cake itself — it’s a lovely, moist (there it is, the most hated word in the English language!) and springy affair. It is insanely chocolate-y even though it’s a cocoa cake. This is another thing I love about it — no running around trying to find some obscure 63% cacao chocolate bars to grate into bits. You just add the cocoa and it is fabulous!
The frosting is every kid’s and adult’s dream — a fantastic buttercream. The cafe is spiked with a bit of powdered espresso, as is the icing, and it gives it an irresistibly rich flavor.
This cake recipe is based on an old classic and features a weird step where you add a cup of boiling water to the batter before pouring it into the pans. It may seem a little thin but it comes out perfectly.
The recipe here is for two layers, but I have to admit that sometimes I do the “multiply by 1.5” routine and make an insanely tall 3-layer cake and IT IS WORTH IT. For the sheer eye appeal, and the thrill of digging your fork into a gigantic slice. My husband and I make this cake when friends come over or if we’re going to a dinner party and bask in the compliments. I hope you do the same.
WORLD’S BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 cup milk, buttermilk, almond, or coconut milk
- ½ cup vegetable, canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.
World’s Best Chocolate Cake - Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.
- Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter until well combined.
- 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 of the chocolate cake comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.
- Frost with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, below.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
-
- 1½ cups butter (3 sticks), softened
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder
Instructions
- Add cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand mixer. Whisk through to remove any lumps.
- Cream together butter and cocoa powder until well-combined.
- Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoon of 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.
- Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and combine well.
- If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. If too loose, add more confectioner’s sugar, a tablespoon at a time.
