The Easiest and Best Chocolate Cake Ever! (with vegan friendly option!)
A foolproof chocolate cake recipe that is quick, easy, and delicious and you can make it in one bowl with no mixer! See recipe notes for gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free options too! Highly recommend you top this with some cream cheese chocolate frosting!
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened natural or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp instant coffee powder or espresso powder
- 1 cup milk or buttermilk or sub almond or oat milk for a dairy-free cake
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil or melted coconut oil
- 2 large eggs (sub 2/3 cup applesauce for egg-free option)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 batch Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe (see recipe linked below)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F(176º C). Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring. Insert a circle of parchment paper in the bottom of each pan.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment, add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and coffee powder. Whisk through to combine well.
- Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together by hand with a whisk or on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add the boiling water to the cake batter until well combined. Note: The cake batter will be very thin after adding the boiling water. This is correct and results in the most delicious and moist chocolate cake ever!
- As soon as the batter is well mixed, distribute cake batter evenly between the three prepared cake pans, making sure the pans are no more than 2/3 full. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Frost cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and serve!
Notes
Freezer Friendly
Let the baked cake layers cool completely. Wrap them well with plastic wrap and then with foil. Put each layer into a freezer bag and freeze up to 2 months. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight with wrapping intact. The next day, the layers are ready to fill and frost. To make this cake vegan friendly use the following substitutions (note, I have not fully tested all these substitutes, will update the recipe when I do. If you try this let me know how it turns out so I can update! Thanks!): Milk - use almond or oat milk Egg - use 2/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce in place of 2 large eggs in the recipe. Note, you might have to bake it a bit longer. Just use the toothpick test to make sure it is baked through. Alternatively, use an egg substitute like Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer. You can also use gluten free flour to make this cake gluten free!
Let the baked cake layers cool completely. Wrap them well with plastic wrap and then with foil. Put each layer into a freezer bag and freeze up to 2 months. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight with wrapping intact. The next day, the layers are ready to fill and frost. To make this cake vegan friendly use the following substitutions (note, I have not fully tested all these substitutes, will update the recipe when I do. If you try this let me know how it turns out so I can update! Thanks!): Milk - use almond or oat milk Egg - use 2/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce in place of 2 large eggs in the recipe. Note, you might have to bake it a bit longer. Just use the toothpick test to make sure it is baked through. Alternatively, use an egg substitute like Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer. You can also use gluten free flour to make this cake gluten free!