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Slice of homemade chocolate cake with rich chocolate frosting showing moist layers on a white plate. Close-up view of a classic chocolate cake with soft crumb and creamy chocolate buttercream.

Homemade Chocolate Cake

This homemade chocolate cake is ultra-moist, rich, and bakery-quality, made with cocoa powder and hot coffee for deep chocolate flavor. Perfect for birthdays, parties, and celebrations, this classic chocolate layer cake stays soft for days.
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Course: Cake, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Cooling Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 520kcal
Cost: $12–$15

Equipment

  • 3 Round cake pans (8-inch or 9-inch)
  • 1 Electric mixer (Hand or stand)
  • 2 Mixing bowls (Large)
  • 1 Whisk (For dry ingredients)
  • 1 Offset spatula (For frosting)
  • 1 Serrated knife (For leveling)
  • 1 Wire rack (Cooling)
  • 1 Cake stand (Optional)

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cake

  • 2 cups All-purpose flour
  • 2 cups Granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoon Baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon Baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 2 large Eggs - Room temperature
  • 1 cup Vegetable oil
  • 1 cup Buttermilk
  • 1 cup Hot coffee - Or hot water
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

  • 1 ½ cups Unsalted butter - Softened
  • 4 cups Powdered sugar
  • 1 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • cup Heavy cream - Or milk
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon Salt

Instructions 

  • Frost and decorate.
  • Mix dry – Whisk dry ingredients together.
  • Mix wet – Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk, vanilla.
  • Combine batter – Add dry ingredients and hot coffee.
  • Bake – Bake until just set.
  • Cool – Cool completely before frosting.
  • Make frosting – Beat buttercream until fluffy.
  • Assemble – Stack layers with frosting.
  • Crumb coat – Apply thin base layer.
  • Final frost – Frost and decorate.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 520kcal (26%) | Carbohydrates: 68g (23%) | Protein: 6g (12%) | Fat: 28g (43%) | Saturated Fat: 14g (88%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 95mg (32%) | Sodium: 420mg (18%) | Potassium: 310mg (9%) | Fiber: 4g (17%) | Sugar: 52g (58%) | Vitamin A: 620IU (12%) | Calcium: 95mg (10%) | Iron: 3.6mg (20%)