It probably won’t surprise you to hear that I am the person in charge of birthday baking at my office. We’re a small company, and after I learned that sub-par grocery store cakes were the standard for employee birthdays, I hijacked the responsibility. Nobody has complained so far. Quite the opposite, in fact.
This cake has kind of made me famous. Well, as famous as you can be in a company of less than 20 people. This is the cake that everyone gets excited about. They hyperventilate a little, or gasp, or hug me, and I can watch their eyes grow large, like I just told a kid that tomorrow is surprise Christmas. I am not exaggerating, this cake really is that good.
It is tender, rich, and so very moist. It is also just loaded with chocolatey flavour, but without being too sweet or overwhelming. The last time I brought this cake in we all ate our first few bites in blissful silence (which is a feat at my office). Half the people there say they don’t even like chocolate cake before asking me to pretty please bake this cake for their birthday as well.
After that laundry list of fantastic attributes, you’d be hard pressed to think this cake could be improved upon. But it can. You see, it is easy. No softened butter, no whipping, no beating. You basically just stir everything together and bake. Then, after removing from the pan and chilling, you level the layers off with a knife, which means you, the brilliant cake master, get a tub of tasty cake scraps to hoarde all to yourself. It’s the cake equivalent of the first pancake off the griddle. Brilliant.
Making coffee for the cake. Mmm!
Now, because this cake is so rich I don’t frost the entire thing anymore. It’s just unbearable, even for my sweet tooth. So, instead, I frost in between and on top, and leave it open down the sides to avoid diabetic comas. I frosted the most recent cake with dulce de leche, and that was fantastic.
Sadly, this recipe is not mine, but I’m not really sure who it belongs to. I think I may have originally found it on Smitten Kitchen, but I haven’t been able to find it there since. Hmm. If you know, fill me in, I’m happy to give credit where credit is due!
The Best Chocolate Cake You Will Ever Have
2 cups (256g) all-purpose flour
2 ½ cups (500g) white sugar
¾ cup (64g)cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda (USA / Canada)
1 tsp table salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil
1 cup full-fat sour cream
1 ½ cups strong coffee
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature, beaten
2 cups dark chocolate chipsPreheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter three 8″ (20cm) round cake pans, line the bottom of each one with parchment, and butter the parchment as well.
Before you start, weigh the bowl you’ll be using and note the weight. Sift the dry ingredients together. Whisk in the oil and sour cream, and then the coffee. Add the vinegar and vanilla, and then the eggs. Stir until blended, mixing 1 cup of the chocolate chips as well. Weigh the finished bowl of batter, subtract the original bowl weight, and divide the resulting number by 3. Using the scale, divide the batter between the 3 cake pans. Sprinkle each layer with 1/3 cup (57g) chocolate chips.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out almost clean. Cool the layers in the pans for 20 minutes on wire racks. Run a knife around each layer, and then invert both layers onto wire racks and peel off the parchment. Once the layers are cool, pop them in the freezer for 1 hour or so until they’re nice and firm. Remove the layers from the freezer and level them off with a long, serrated knife before placing them back in the freezer. Eat the scraps—they’re utterly delicious.
Frost between the layers with a delicious frosting of your choice!
It looks delicious. I am going to try making this.
Have you made it yet, Almarie? How was it?
Ok, my mouth is watering.
Mine, too! Having this entry at the top of my blog for a week is making me want to make another cake…
Looks amazing. Think I’m going to try to make it tomorrow! Do you have any good frosting recipes you’d suggest?
OOooh, yes. Frosting. Sigh. The best frosting I have ever come across is whipped ganache—it’s basically just melted chocolate and cream, and then you beat it until it is light, whipped chocolate and cream. It is utterly divine. Fine Cooking has the recipe here. I would recommend using dark chocolate (the milk can be very sweet) and only frosting between the layers. I have made this cake and frosted the entire thing, but it was so rich that it was borderline unenjoyable… which is something I never thought I would say about chocolate, but there you have it 😛
This looks fantastic. I have been doing a lot of baking for my family lately, and I will have to give this one a try. One question, what is a neutral vegetable oil?
Thanks for reading & baking, Michelle! Let me know how this cake works for you once you try it 🙂 A neutral vegetable oil is just a vegetable oil with a relatively neutral flavour, like canola (but not olive oil).
Oh, that’s easy enough. Thanks! I will definitely let you know how it goes.
Enjoy!
So nice to see a real cake recipe on the blogosphere, too many times I have clicked on a link for one, only to see packet cake mix as one of the ingredients, which makes me think, why bother at all!
Looks yummy, will definitely give this one a go….
I’m with you, Sista Sertraline, boxed cakes don’t really count 😉 And then definitely don’t require a recipe! Let me know how you enjoy the cake, it’s awesome!
Can I use partly skimmed condensed milk instead of eggs? because my mom like eggless cakes and I want to make this one for her Marriage anniversary which is nearing fast. 🙂
NO. Absolutely, definitely not. Those two ingredients are not even close. Eggs are a binding ingredient—they hold everything together and provide lift, texture, and a small dose of magic. Milk does none of those things. If you make that swap, it will ruin the cake. You should look at experimenting with vegan egg replacement recipes if your mom is allergic to eggs—I’m sure she has a few on hand already!
Best.cake.ever. I made this on July 4th, and it was super moist & amazingly delicious. All of my family & the company we had over said the same. Didn’t even need frosting. Definitely will be the recipe I use from now on for chocolate cake! Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad to hear it! I lurrrrrrve this cake and I’m thrilled to spread the love 🙂 Enjoy your new favourite cake recipe!
Just a question…….. 1/3 cup chocolate chips in each of three layers equals 1 cup. What is done with the 2nd cup?
JC
Whoops! Looks like I forgot to mention that you’re supposed to stir that cup into the batter 🙂 Thanks for catching that, JC!
Much obliged! It looks like such a great recipe and plan to make it this week.
J.c.
Awesome! Have you made the cake yet? How was it? I’m jealous just thinking about it 😉
Sometimes life just takes over! 🙂 Have not had the opportunity to make it but all ingredients for the cake are in the house and ready! Canning is ruling kitchen activities right now. There are a few birthdays coming up shortly so I hope to put this recipe to use then.
I will post the results and a picture if I can figure out how to do that. 🙂
J.
Ha, I totally get it! It seems there is never enough time in a day—these days it is like I am choosing between having a decent supper, tidying up, working on my blog, or squeezing in some DIY-ing. If you want to share photos, you can upload however many you want for free to http://imgur.com and then share the link 🙂
This cake is so yummy, I had a chance to make it in a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with a basic chocolate glaze. It’s sinful. This really is the best chocolate cake recipe that I have ever made.
Awesome! I’m so thrilled you agree… and also jealous that you’ve eaten this cake recently 😉
I made this cake twice. Once at Thanksgiving with Special Dark Cocoa, no weighing of the ingredients so the batter was quite soupy. The cake was completly black in color. My family trampled one another to get seconds and demanded I make it for Christmas dinner. I did, but I followed the recipe exactly the second time, using ther regular cocoa and weighed the ingredients. It was still amazing they said and so they were conflicted. In the end they said…Connie, we want the black cake!!..LOL…Now I have to figure out if I can recreate the error from the first cake.
Oooh, your cakes sound just divine! I’ll be making this beauty tonight for a birthday party 🙂 Mmmm! I can’t say what might have changed with your method between your batches to get cake #1 again, but I would definitely try using that special dark cocoa again—yum! The batter is always pretty soupy, so who knows, maybe that was your only real change?
I think you are correct. I will find out soon. 🙂
This sounds like a delicious experiment!
I think I’ve read every single concoction entry of yours, now I’m into the foods. I shouldn’t read these while I’m hungry!
I will make this cake tomorrow. I will eat this cake tomorrow. There will be no cake left by noon Wednesday (this is Monday night).
I speak the truth because I’m one of those luckies who can eat what I want, when I want, anytime I want. I’m eating this cake!
You have a lovely blog, Marie. I’ve been soaping, lip balming, headache erasing, pain relieving, solid perfume concocting…..etc…. with your recipes a month now and I really appreciate your hard work and SHARING.
I’m hooked. Now I’m going over to your bug spray page to ask a question.
Cj
Hi Cristie! Thanks so much for reading and DIYing with me 😀 If you’ve read all 700+ posts here I am seriously impressed 😉 How was the cake? You’re making me want to go scavenge my freezer to see if I have a slice hiding in there anywhere… 😀 Mmmmmm.
How was it?? I’ve made it twice. Once for me (and I HAD to share with my guys) and again for my friends birthday last week. Usually she only takes a tiny piece of dessert home after eating here, and I expected she’d do it again and leave me the goods.
Nope. She really did take half that cake with her :'(
And yes! It is absolutely the best chocolate cake in the galaxy!
Mmmm. I did exactly what I said I would and dug a lone container of cake scraps out of the bottom of my freezer… it has made for some delicious desserts 🙂
At last, the best chocolate cake recipe I’ve ever seen! Will definitely be making this today (when I buy some cake pans since I don’t seem to have any)
You have a good pancake recipe? My grocery store stopped selling my favorite pancake mix — the resulting cakes were about 2 inches tall and super fluffy inside while crispy on the outside and I’ve never been able to replicate it with homemade stuff!
I do! PANCAKES! And more pancakes!
Oh my god this cake… This cake is the God of all cakes. I layered the cakes with a powdered sugar glaze and I can say for sure that the next week is going to involve me eating copious amounts of this cake while surviving the monthly reds and preparing for a week-long work trip to Germany the following week. This week is going to be insane and the cake is perfect timing.
WOOHOO! Another convert 😉 Welcome to the club! Omnomnomnom.
My birthday is tomorrow. I should make this.
Happy birthday! Enjoy some cake! Yay!
Thank you! 😀
I’m making this cake for my husband’s birthday. He is a certified chocolate fiend, as am I. I’d like to reduce the amount of sugar, without ruining the cake — what do you suggest?
(P.S. have you ever tried making your own vanilla ice cream? Hamilton Beach’s recipe has just 6 ingredients. I pour pureed strawberry sauce over the ice cream)
I’ve afraid I’ve got no recommendations as I am not a pastry chef in the slightest, sorry! And yes, I have made my own ice cream; it’s so decadent and rich compared to shop-bought stuff that I was utterly floored the first time I did. YUM!
One other comment: some renowned Canadian chefs won’t use American wheat as our wheat is heavier, which caused their recipes to fail.
Explains some of my spectacular failures! And, this weird fact: Americans are known to water down their beer, but we Canadians add too much water in our butter and cheeses! The highest butterfat content found in butter is a recent Canadian brand: STIRLING’S. You can taste the difference using this butter in pastries and butter cookies. Pastry chefs do not have to import butter from America or Europe. I know we have lots of water in Canada, but it we shouldn’t floor our dairy products!
HUH, that is SO interesting! Now I really want to go out and buy some proper butter and see what I think. For science 😉 Thank you so much for sharing, how cool/odd!