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Our easy chocolate cake recipe is topped with a delicious chocolate frosting and is made with pantry staples.
The Easiest Chocolate Cake
This is our FAVORITE chocolate cake recipe!!!
We love dessert, and especially cake! There are a few kids who choose chocolate cake for their birthday treat every year (who can blame them?). We’ve tried several made-from-scratch chocolate cake recipes over the years, and we finally found a winner that is the tastiest and easiest of all!
This easy chocolate cake recipe is a family favorite that is so soft, delicious, and MOIST. If you love chocolate cake too, you’ll also love our Chocolate Sheet Cake. Serve it with homemade Vanilla Ice Cream, and you’ll be in heaven!
WHY WE LOVE IT:
- Pantry staples. This easy chocolate cake calls for simple ingredients that we always have on hand so it can easily be made without a trip to the store!
- Best chocolate cake. It is fudgy and moist – just the way a chocolate cake should be!
- Party perfect. You can’t beat a slice served with Ice Cream!
Ingredients
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 30 minutes
COOL TIME: 10 minutes
Cake Layers
- 2 cups all-purpose flour – or cake flour for a silkier crumb, see How to Measure Flour
- 2 cups sugar
- ¾ cup cocoa powder – Since the recipe also uses baking powder, you can use natural or Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil – or canola oil
- 2 large eggs – room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Chocolate Frosting
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened – see How to Soften Butter Quickly
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder – natural or Dutch process cocoa
- 4 cups powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar) – sifted to remove clumps
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 6-8 tablespoons half and half – or whole milk
- optional decorations – sprinkles and birthday candles, frosting flowers, a worded message, beautiful berries, or sliced almonds or chopped walnuts
How to make Easy chocolate cake
- PREP. Grease two 9″ round pans, line with parchment paper, and set aside. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- BATTER. Whisk 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, ¾ cup cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk in 1 cup milk, ½ cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.
- Pour in 1 cup of boiling water and stir everything together.
- BAKE. The cake batter will be thin. Pour the batter into greased 9-inch round cake pans lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes.
- COOL. Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto wire racks. Cool completely, level the top of the cakes, and frost with chocolate frosting.
Make It Into Cupcakes
Add cupcake liners to a muffin tin and fill to about ⅔ full. Bake for 17-19 minutes. Makes about 24-30 cupcakes.
The Frosting
- BEAT. Beat ½ cup softened butter, ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 pinch salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Add 6-8 tablespoons half and half to get it to be the frosting consistency you desire.
- FROST. Spread this delicious frosting over your cake and add any sprinkles before it sets.
PRO TIP: Add A Crumb Coat
Add a thin layer to coat the crumbs. Let it set and then add a thicker layer of frosting without worry that the crumbs will get caught up in it.
Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
Chocolate Frosting
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 6-8 tablespoons half and half
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 9-inch round pans with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk in the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla till smooth. Stir in the boiling water, mixing until smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then invert onto cooling racks. Cool completely.
Frosting
- Beat all ingredients in a bowl until smooth, adding enough half and half to get a spreadable consistency.
- Place one cake on a cake stand or serving tray. Spread about one cup of frosting on the top. Place the other cake on top. Frost the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting.
- Serve immediately or cover and let sit overnight.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
Tightly wrap in plastic wrap and place in a Ziploc bag on the kitchen counter for up to 3-4 days or in the wrap again with foil and in the freezer for 6-8 weeks.
Cover and store the cake on the counter for 4-5 days. Once cut, press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the exposed cake, or cover it with more frosting to prevent drying out. Store for 3-4 days at room temperature.
Place the frosted cake in the freezer for 4-5 hours, or until the frosting is solid. Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and then again with aluminum foil for 4-6 weeks. Unwrap the plastic wrap, recover it lightly with the foil, and allow the cake to thaw.
This is honest to goodness the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made! I’ll never buy a chocolate box cake again! It tasted so moist and delicious without being too sweet. And it truly was easy to make. Highly recommend!
Hi I have a question. Do you know how many cupcakes this recipe makes?
Thanks
I am sorry, I do not. I haven’t used this recipe to make cupcakes. Maybe close to 2 dozen?
The cake was good, but I’d have used less Cocoa powder, probably a teaspoon of it..
Glad you tried it! Thank you for sharing that!
Loved it
Happy you did! Thank you for sharing that!
Hey can you use 2% milk instead of whole milk
I haven’t personally tried, but I am sure it would be just fine 🙂
I used 2% milk and it came out fabulous! 🙂
This was my first attempt at baking – this recipe is so easy to follow and the cake was so delicious!!!
Way to go!! Thank you for trying it! Happy you liked it!
Hi, i would like to bake this mouth watering cake recipe but I have a 9x9x3 inch pan, how many cups of flour needed in order to bake this in my 9x9x3 cake pan ? please do let me know . Will be baking this for some occasion .
You probably just half the recipe for a 9×9 pan. Good luck!
Thanks Guys, Your Recipe Was Too Fantastic. Me and My Family Loved it. I Will Share your Rrecipe with my friends. Hope they will love it too.
I hope they will too! Thank you so much for sharing that!
This was an incredible cake. Easy, Moist and flavorful!
So happy you think so 🙂 Thank you for letting me know!
My 94 year Dad wanted a chocolate fudge cake and I gave this cake a try. He loved it! Becaus He likes a single layer cake, I used 2 square pans so it would be the equivalent of your circle pans. This helped maximize frosting around the edges, which he loved! Thank you for making my Dad’s day!
Awe, thank you for making this for him! I hope he had a good birthday!