Years ago, before we had moved to the California Bay Area, we were in San Francisco on vacation when I found a cookbook at the Baker’s Hall store attached to the Boudin Bread Factory on Fisherman’s Wharf called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth. It was, of course, right up my alley and is still one of my favorite cookbooks in my collection. This devil’s food chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting is from that book, although I’ve adapted the recipe a bit over the years. This is my go to chocolate cake recipe and it’s definitely a keeper. I make it for birthdays, for special occasions, or when friends are coming over. I looked for years and years for just the right homemade chocolate cake recipe but so many were too sweet or too dry and crumbly or just not chocolaty-enough for me. I love serving a big slice of this cake with a few raspberries on the side and a nice tall glass of cold milk for drinking. When it’s celebration time, homemade layer cakes are the best! Be sure to check out these other reader favorites: Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting, Homemade Funfetti Cake, and Best Red Velvet Cake.
Why this Recipe Works
The thing I love about this chocolate cake is that the chocolate factor is deep and intense. That’s in part to using both cocoa powder AND bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate in the cake batter. The dark brown sugar in the batter also boosts both the flavor and moisture level of the cake. And using buttermilk, oil, and boiling water with your wet ingredients keeps the cake from going dry or crumbly.
Ingredient Notes
Chocolate: The combination of unsweetened cocoa powder and chopped bittersweet chocolate makes for a deep, intense flavor that really does make this the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted. Sugar: The combination of granulated sugar and dark brown sugar results in a well-rounded, more interesting flavor which is lacking in other chocolate cake recipes and especially missing in a box mix. Fat: Using both butter and oil results in a cake that is big on flavor but also super moist.
How to Make the Best Homemade Chocolate Cake
Recipe Tips
Measure your ingredients carefully. It’s common to over measure flour, resulting in a dry, dense cake. I recommend using the spoon & level approach for best results and have a guide on how to measure baking ingredients for more detail! Don’t overbake. I actually don’t like to bake “until a toothpick comes out clean” because I feel like that often means the cake is likely to be a little dry. Instead, I watch for just a few crumbs clinging to my toothpick or skewer. You just don’t want it to come out wet from batter that is still not baked all the way through. Pair with your favorite frosting! We love the decadent classic combination of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, but I have lots of frosting recipes that would go well with this recipe. Others I would recommend are homemade rainbow chip frosting, salted caramel frosting, or Oreo frosting.
More Classic Cake Recipes You’ll Love
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Best Red Velvet Cake Vintage Cherry Chip Layer Cake Homemade Funfetti Cake From Scratch
This post was originally published in May, 2017. The photos and content were updated in November, 2021.
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