Moist & Fudgy Chocolate Cake (One-Bowl)

Name: Moist & Fudgy Chocolate Cake (One-Bowl)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 cups granulated sugar; 3/4 cup cocoa powder ((Dutch processed or natural unsweetened)); 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda; 1 teaspoon fine sea salt; 3/4 cup whole milk; 1/2 cup vegetable oil; 1/4 cup full-fat sour cream; 2 large eggs, (lightly beaten); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 cup hot coffee; Chocolate Ganache Buttercream Frosting ((or other frosting of your choosing))

You're not going to believe how perfectly moist and intensely chocolatey this cake is! This easy one-bowl, do-it-all recipe can be used to bake a sheet cake, layer cake, or cupcakes, so it's perfect for any occasion. If you need a chocolate cake recipe for a birthday celebration, graduation party, bridal or baby shower, or just because... this moist and fudgy chocolate cake is it!

A square slice of chocolate cake topped with chocolate frosting on a crumbled piece of parchment paper.

"The best chocolate cake recipe! Made this with my 7 year old and it was so easy to follow. In her words decadent and mommy can we make this again. This is now a staple!" - Tanisha, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This cake is giving serious Matilda chocolate cake vibes. I know my fellow '90s kids know what I'm talking about... the scene in the 1996 movie when Matilda's classmate, Bruce, devours Miss Trunchbull's chocolate cake. Just like the cake in the movie, this cake is intensely chocolatey and perfect for anyone who loves a dark chocolate cake.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

I may be biased, but I can't get over how perfect this cake is! It's seriously chocolatey with the perfect balance of fudgy flavor and moist texture. And it's incredibly simple to make. This is about to be your favorite chocolate cake recipe!

Here's what I love most about this recipe:

Easy to Make - This chocolate cake could not be easier to make! The recipe uses simple ingredients and comes together in just one bowl.
Versatile - This cake recipe is so versatile! Need a layer cake to celebrate your spouse's birthday? Check! Need a sheet cake for a graduation party? Check! Need to make a bunch of cupcakes for your child's birthday party? Check! This cake recipe can do it all!
Rich Flavor & Texture - I worked hard to really nail the flavor and texture of this cake. It needed to be deeply chocolatey with fudgy, dark chocolate flavor and also be perfectly moist without feeling too dense. And since cocoa powder is very absorbent and can dry out a cake batter, I needed just the right mix of liquid ingredients to achieve the luscious texture I wanted. Many recipe tests playing with different combinations and ratios of liquid ingredients led me here. Using a mixture of oil, milk, sour cream, and hot coffee keep this cake batter moist and luxurious.
Crowd-Pleasing - I served this cake (in sheet cake form) at my kids' birthday party and also made it for each of their birthdays (in layer cake form) at their requests! I always receive rave reviews on the flavor and how perfectly moist the cake is.

A partially-eaten slice of chocolate layer cake on a white plate with a fork. — This recipe baked as a layer cake.

Chocolate cupcake topped with a swirl of light brown chocolate frosting. — This recipe baked as cupcakes.

This recipe can be scaled up or down to make any size cake or cupcakes you need. As written, the recipe makes one 2 layer 9 inch cake, one 9x13 quarter sheet cake, or 24 cupcakes.

Want to bake just 12 cupcakes? Check out my moist chocolate cupcakes recipe. And for a stunning yet simple holiday version of this chocolate cake, check out my easy Yule Log Layer Cake recipe.

If you love this do-it-all chocolate cake, you'll love my popular moist and fluffy vanilla cake recipe, too! Just like this chocolate cake batter, my vanilla cake recipe can be used to bake a layer cake, sheet cake, or cupcakes.

Jump to:

Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Special Equipment
Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
Baking Different Sized Cakes & Cupcakes
Allison's Top Tips
Frosting Suggestions
Recipe FAQs
Storage Instructions
Recipe
Comments

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

See recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredient list and measurements.

Recipe ingredients with labels on a white surface.

All-Purpose Flour - This cake manages to be tender and moist without cake flour, so we're sticking with pantry staple all-purpose flour.

Cocoa Powder - You can use natural unsweetened or Dutch process cocoa powder to bake this chocolate cake. The decision comes down to what kind of chocolate flavor you want.

Natural unsweetened cocoa powder will give you a classic, slightly acidic chocolate flavor that's lighter in color, while Dutch process cocoa powder (my personal preference) adds a smooth dark chocolate flavor that's darker in color. The cakes and cupcakes shown in this post were all made using Dutch process cocoa.

Whole Milk - Milk adds moisture and richness to the cake batter. I always recommend whole milk for baking, though you can substitute a lowfat milk if you prefer.

Vegetable Oil - Vegetable oil adds needed moisture and fat to the cake batter. Compared to butter it creates a cake with a more tender crumb, which is why we're using oil instead of butter in this recipe.

Sour Cream - Sour cream helps to create a moist cake. Because of its acidity, it's also responsible for activating the baking soda, which helps the cake to rise when baking. You can substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream, but note that doing so may add a subtle tangy flavor to the cake.

Hot Coffee - The hot liquid blooms the cocoa powder, deepening its chocolate flavor, while the coffee enhances the flavor of the chocolate (without making it taste like coffee - promise!). If you prefer, you can substitute an equal measure of boiling water.

Special Equipment

This recipe requires no special equipment! All you'll need is a mixing bowl, whisk, and wooden spoon. Then choose your baking pan based on the type of cake you want to bake:

9x13 metal pan OR
Two 9 inch round cake pans OR
Cupcake pan

Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions

See recipe card at the bottom of this post for detailed recipe instructions.

Dry ingredients whisked together in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 1: Make the cake. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Wet and dry ingredients mixed together in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 2: To the dry ingredients add milk, oil, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Stir until well combined.

Cake batter whisked together in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 3: Add hot coffee to the batter, carefully mixing with a whisk until well blended.

Step 4: Add batter to a 9x13 pan lined with parchment. Bake at 350º F for 35 minutes. Let cool.

Baking Different Sized Cakes & Cupcakes

Layer Cake: For baking round cake layers, spray two round 9 inch cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Divide cake batter evenly between cake pans and bake at 350º F for 25 minutes.

Cupcakes: For baking cupcakes, add an extra ¼ cup (30 grams) flour to the batter. Line cupcake pan with paper liners and fill each ⅔ full with batter. Bake at 350º F for 18-20 minutes. The recipe makes 24 cupcakes. Want to bake just 12 cupcakes instead? Grab my one-bowl chocolate cupcakes recipe!

8x8 Pan: To bake the cake in an 8x8 pan, halve the recipe and bake in an 8x8 pan lined with parchment at 350º F for 25 minutes.

Allison's Top Tips

When the dry and wet ingredients in the cake batter are mixed together, the batter will be thick and look a lot like brownie batter. When you add the hot coffee, it will at first seem like it won't blend into the batter, but keep mixing. It will eventually come together and the batter will be thin and pourable.

Be sure to line the cake pan with parchment paper to ensure the cake doesn't stick. Here's a tutorial for the easiest way to line cake pans with parchment paper.

The recipe explains how to bake this cake in a 9x13 pan, but the same recipe can easily be adapted for other pans and sizes. You'll find instructions for baking this recipe as a layer cake or cupcakes in the Notes section at the bottom of the recipe card below.

Sliced chocolate sheet cake topped with chocolate frosting on a crumbled piece of parchment paper.

Frosting Suggestions

This cake is really versatile and could be frosted with just about any frosting you like. Here are some of my favorite pairings:

You can't go wrong with a classic all-butter buttercream frosting. This recipe makes the best-tasting American buttercream frosting, includes detailed-step-by-step instructions, and explains multiple ways to customize the flavor, from vanilla to chocolate to strawberry to cookie butter.
Chocolate ganache buttercream frosting plays up the richness of this cake to create a truly decadent chocolate cake. You see this frosting on the sheet cake and layer cake in this post, and this is the frosting to use if "Matilda cake" is your goal!
Fans of the classic chocolate peanut butter combo will love this cake paired with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. That's exactly what I did to create this chocolate peanut butter sheet cake (plus peanut butter cups and drizzles of chocolate ganache and melty peanut butter to take it over-the-top in the best way!).
To create the ultimate cookies and cream cake, pair this cake with Oreo buttercream frosting!
For an adults-only spin on chocolate frosting, try this Irish coffee chocolate frosting. It might be my favorite flavor of chocolate frosting, and it would be so fun for a St. Patrick's Day cake! You see this frosting on the cupcake photo above in this post.
Classic cream cheese frosting would also pair beautifully with this cake! This recipe also includes fun flavor variations like brown butter and vanilla bean.
For a lighter alternative, my whipped cream frosting stabilized with cream cheese is the perfect option! It's lightly sweet with an airy texture just like whipped cream, but it's sturdy enough for frosting cakes and cupcakes. Try my chocolate version, too!

Recipe FAQs

Why add hot coffee to chocolate cake? Won't it taste like coffee?

Boiling water is often added to chocolate cake recipes made with cocoa powder in order to bloom the chocolate, which brings out the flavor of the chocolate while minimizing any lumps in the cake batter. Hot coffee serves the same purpose with the added bonus of further enhancing the chocolate's flavor. The coffee adds a super subtle coffee flavor that most tasters won't even notice.

Does cocoa powder make cake dry?

Cocoa powder is very absorbent, so it certainly has the ability to dry out a cake. But since we need it for it's delicious chocolate flavor, we can simply add enough moisture to ensure that our cake isn't too dry. In this recipe, oil, milk, sour cream, and hot coffee add moisture to the batter and help to create a perfectly luscious texture.

Which type of cocoa powder is best for cake?

Either type of cocoa powder - natural unsweetened or Dutch process - can be used to bake chocolate cake. The decision comes down to what kind of chocolate flavor you want and what leavener is used in the cake.

Natural unsweetened cocoa powder will give you a classic, slightly acidic chocolate flavor that's lighter in color, while Dutch process cocoa powder adds a smooth dark chocolate flavor that's darker in color.

Since natural unsweetened cocoa is acidic but Dutch process is not, you'll also need to consider which leavener you're using. If the recipe calls for baking soda and there are no other acidic ingredients in the cake, then you'll need to use natural unsweetened cocoa in order to activate the baking soda. If your cake uses baking powder or if it includes another acidic ingredient like sour cream, buttermilk, or brown sugar then you're free to use whichever type of cocoa you prefer since you're not relying on it for adding acidity to the batter.

Storage Instructions

These storage suggestions are for the cake only. If you'll be frosting the cake, be sure to consider how the frosting needs to be stored; you may need to refrigerate the cake once frosted.

Room Temperature: This cake can be stored in a covered container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Freezing: This cake can be baked ahead of time and frozen. For round or square/rectangular cake, wrap the completely cooled cake in plastic wrap followed by a layer of foil before freezing for up to 3 months. For cupcakes, wrap completely cooled cupcakes with plastic wrap before sealing in a plastic bag or airtight container and freezing. Defrost all cake or cupcakes in the fridge before frosting and serving.

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