Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe

There is something so irresistible about a deliciously rich and Moist Chocolate Cake recipe! This chocolate cake made with oil has three beautifully moist chocolate cake layers enveloped in a fluffy, whipped chocolate buttercream frosting made with melted chocolate. It’s sheer perfection!

I like to think of this cake as the epitome of a chocolate birthday cake (it’s even the inspiration behind my Harry Potter Birthday Cake recipe)! The crumb texture is light, not crumbly. It has a strong yet pleasant chocolate flavor; and last but not least, this cake is really moist. Are you more of a peanut butter fan? This chocolate cake is so delicious with my homemade peanut butter frosting! Or try my Twix Cake for a little candy bar flair!

Why This Recipe Works

• Chocolate cake recipe with oil. Some cakes use butter for the fat (like my spice cake recipe). This moist chocolate cake recipe with oil is more moist than cakes made without oil.
• Blooming cocoa powder. What does it mean to bloom cocoa powder? It means adding a hot liquid to a mixture with cocoa powder. When the hot liquid combines with the cocoa powder, it draws out the chocolate flavor making the chocolate richer and more pronounced than if the cocoa powder wasn’t bloomed. 

Ingredient Notes

• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Using unsweetened cocoa powder rather than a Dutch-processed cocoa powder provides more of a bitter, albeit still sweet, chocolate flavor. Check out my cocoa powder post to learn more about the different cocoa powders!
• Baking Soda: The baking soda will react with the buttermilk and will bubble, creating the nice rise in the cake that we want! 
• Baking Powder: Because we are blooming the cocoa powder with hot water, the baking powder will also be affected by the hot water, helping it to activate quicker than if using cold water.
• Eggs: Use room temperature eggs in order to help them incorporate into the batter better.
• Buttermilk: The acid in the buttermilk will react with the baking powder (base) which will help give a nice rise to the chocolate cake layers.
• Vegetable Oil: Making chocolate cake with oil produces a more moist cake than without oil. 
• Hot Water: Using hot water helps us in a few ways: First, the hot water will bloom the cocoa powder, drawing out a richer chocolate flavor. It will also activate the baking powder faster than if using cold water. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined.

2. Mix the wet ingredients. Mix the eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with hand beaters until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix until combined. Then add the vanilla and hot water. Mix until fully incorporated.

3. Divide batter. You’ll need three 8-inch round cake pans. Grease and flour the pans or use cooking spray that contains flour. Divide the batter evenly among the 3 prepared cake pans. I use a kitchen scale so that I can ensure each pan has the same amount of batter in it.

4. Bake. Bake the cakes at 300°F for 30-33 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs, but no wet batter. Remove the cakes from the oven.

5. Cool and frost. Let the cakes cool in the cake pans for 5-10 minutes. Remove from the pans and let them continue to cool on a cooling rack until room temperature. To frost the cake, place a cake layer on a cake stand, spread a little less than a 1/4 of the frosting on top of the cake in an even layer. Place the second cake round on top of the frosted cake round, continue by spreading an additional 1/4 of the frosting over the cake. Place the last cake round on top of the frosting. Use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake.

Recipe Tips

Either grease and flour the pans OR use cooking spray that contains flour. If using cooking spray, use Baker’s Joy. It’s the best and only cooking spray I use when making cakes. 

This frosting recipe is slightly different from my chocolate buttercream recipe, both are equally as delicious. The recipe noted in this recipe card will produce a lighter colored frosting due to whipping the butter for so long. 

Frost at room temperature or wrap and chill the cake layers prior to frosting. Wrap each cake layer in plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator. Personally, I find it easier to frost a chilled cake, so I wrap my cakes and let them chill for a few hours. This isn’t necessary, you can definitely frost a room temperature cake if you’d like.

Use room temperature wet ingredients to ensure a good rise on the cakes. I would also recommend checking the expiration date on your baking soda and baking powder. Expired baking soda and expired baking powder won’t produce as light and fluffy of cakes. 

Don’t over mix the cake batter when combining the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Over mixing your cake batter at this point will produce a tougher batter which will have a harder time rising. 

Are you a fan of chocolate + hazelnut? Try my Ferrero Rocher Cake!

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

This moist chocolate cake recipe with oil will last at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week. To properly store a chocolate cake you must wrap it in foil or plastic wrap or store it in a cake box in the fridge to prevent it from drying out.

To freeze individually cake layers, wrap each cake layer individually in plastic wrap once completely cooled and store in the freezer for up to 1 week. If storing longer than 1 week in the freezer, wrap each layer in an additional layer of aluminum foil. Plastic-wrapped and aluminum foil-wrapped cake layers will last in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer and let thaw in the fridge overnight. Next morning, remove from the fridge and let the layers continue to thaw, then frost the cake when the layers are cool but not frozen.

To freeze a completely frosted cake, flash freeze the cake in the fridge fro 20-30 minutes or until the frosting is completely set. Wrap the entire cake in plastic wrap. The cake will keep in the freezer for up to 1 week. If freezing for longer than 1 week, wrap the entire cake in another layer of aluminum foil. A plastic wrapped- and aluminum foil-wrapped cake will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer and let thaw in the fridge overnight. Remove from the fridge the next morning and remove the wrappings. Let come to room temperature or cut when chilled but not frozen.  

For more information on storing and freezing cakes, check out my How to Store and Freeze Cakes guide!

FAQs

More Chocolate Cake Recipes

• Best Chocolate Cupcakes
• Chocolate Buttermilk Bundt Cake
• Chocolate Tres Leches Cake

This recipe was originally published on Jan. 10, 2020. It was republished on Jan. 24, 2022, to include additional information and photos.