This chocolate cake is made with cocoa and hot coffee. It has been in my family forever. The secret is to not overbake it — that will ruin a chocolate cake every time.
Moist, delicious, deep dark chocolate cake that's so easy, so quick to whip together I thought surely I must have forgotten something! No changes and no criticisms, so this is the only commentary this recipe needs. I made half a recipe in an 8" round pan and frosted it with "Chocolate Butter-Creme Frosting," also from this site. Definitely pleased. Definitely worth repeating.
Read MoreThe cake came out tasting bland. I made another one because it was so simple, this time adding 3/4 tsp. of salt. Add a whole tsp. if you like.The cake came out just right.
Read More Moist, delicious, deep dark chocolate cake that's so easy, so quick to whip together I thought surely I must have forgotten something! No changes and no criticisms, so this is the only commentary this recipe needs. I made half a recipe in an 8" round pan and frosted it with "Chocolate Butter-Creme Frosting," also from this site. Definitely pleased. Definitely worth repeating.
The cake came out tasting bland. I made another one because it was so simple, this time adding 3/4 tsp. of salt. Add a whole tsp. if you like.The cake came out just right.
I've made this cake over and over and we love it. The key is to add the hot coffee last (I use instant). The batter seems really runny but it comes out great. I use a basic chocolate icing and serve with ice cream. Yummy!
You can't go wrong when you have a really easy recipe with great results. I followed the recipe exactly and was extremely happy with it - no extra salt was required. I used the "Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting" recipe from this site along with a raspberry filling between layers and on top. Everyone commented on how moist the cake was. I thought I would need less time due to putting it in rounds - but it was in for 32 minutes. This is a great recipe. I am trying to figure out the next time I can make it!
Absolutely perfect! One of the best chocolate cake recipes I have tried. Moist but still light and not overly dense. Super chocolate flavor. I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa for the first time in this recipe and loved the results. We had a smaller group for dinner and needed a smaller dessert so I halved the recipe (scaled down to 12 servings) and baked in one 8" round. Everyone loved it and I will use this recipe often. Thanks for sharing!
I made this cake to take to our block party this evening, and it was a hit! I did add a little something to it, only because I made a bundt cake...this cake is awesome just as is. I added a cream cheese and chocolate chip filling to the center of the bundt cake. People kept commenting on how moist this cake was. I drizzled the cake with milk chocolate and white chocolate. Made a beautiful cake! Thanks for sharing.
This is probably the best scratch cake I have ever made. Usually the scratch ones end up very dense and heavy. This one is light and fluffy and I used a butter and powdered sugar frosting which was very delicious. I baked it for 30 minutes which was perfect. Don't worry if the batter seems a little runny.....that's fine!
This cake was extremely MOIST and very good! Everyone loved it. I thought for taste it was a 4 out of 5. It was a simple, light taste. But my Family LOVED it!!!!! couldn't stop eating them (cupcakes). Now my sister has asked me to make 100 of them for my nieces Birthday Party (2 years old) Can't wait! If anyone says this is dry, you did something wrong, because that's one thing that it's not! Also, by mistake I added the coffee before mixing (not as a last step as it says) and it still came out perfect. Yes, it looks a little watery, but bakes beautifully! UPDATE: So I made these for the party (24 chocolate and then another recipe), these were even better this time. I don't know if ut was because I followed the recipe 100%, put coffee in last or the coffee I used or what, but wow so delicious! Try this recipe! It is so good!
I dare not make anything different for my hubby. Best chocolate cake ever. Very moist and don't let the thinnest of the batter fool you. That makes it the best. I like to use just a vanilla frosting on it as that is what DH likes. Its hard not to eat this if you are dieting. The best ever.
i love to bake more than cooking and i'm sure i made this right. it didn't have so much flavor and it tasted watery. i'm not a great baker so i can't recommend what to do to make it better. dx
Great recipe! My friend asked me if I make my own cocoa, as in pick the cocoa pods and dry them and grind them...you get the point! To those who found this bland, remember that your chocolate cake is only as good as your chocolate is. So if you're using low quality powder cocoa your cake'll most likely be bland.
Simply wonderful! Easy to make I just threw everything in the electric mixer. I followed the directions as written and got rave reviews from everyone. I made frosting to go on top (powdered sugar, cocoa, butter, vanilla). Will make again. Thanks!
The cake turned out like a stone... It is really dense... and not very flavorful at all... Skip this one.
This cake was very good, moist and chocolaty, very good with chocolate frosting III.
My Family loved these! Made them into cupcakes and they came out fantastic! This has become my new chocolate cake recipe!
Baking made easy!!! Most times I find recipes whose ingredients I can't find locally or I don't have some equipment. This recipe is GREAT. The ingredients are basic, the mixing can be done by hand and it turns out really perfect. As said before, add the hot coffee last and u could add a tsp of cinnamon.
Delicious! Not too sweet, and very moist. Also, MUCH better after a day or two .. and especially cold! On the day I made and frosted it, it was kind of bland, and I would have given it about 3 1/2 stars, but the next day ... WOW! Great! So be patient. It keeps very well, and benefits from "ripening." (p.s. I used the Special Buttercream Frosting from this site ... great combo!)
This is a great cake really ! I didn't have a right proportions pan deep enough, so i baked it in a round pan. The cake got so so big and i had to bake it for an hour because the dish was too deep. Anyway, it didn't get overbaked or anything, but it lasted a lot longer. Have that in mind when picking a dish to bake it in. More shallow is easier :)
I have made this several times now since my original search for a yummy but simple recipe to bake. I can't tell you the compliments I get when I bring this to an event. I usually do a cup of a flavored coffee from the Keurig and bake in two nine inch layer pans for about thirty two minutes as others had suggested. It comes out beautifully and is very moist and flavorful. I have used regular Hershey's as well as the special dark cocoa. Sometimes, I use a frosting recipe from the Hershey site but you can really do whatever suits you and even vary what's in the middle such as using a jam filling. If you're a novice cake baker such as myself or a seasoned pro, you can't go wrong with this recipe, always a winner!
Excellent cake!!! I have now made this cake 2 times for different friends birthdays and I have only gotten great reviews and everyone loved it. Followed the recipe exactly and did not change a single thing. Thanks, this is my go to chocolate cake :)
I've made this several times, changing several ingredients and it's spectacular every time. Once I was out of oil so I used mayo. PERFECT! Again I was asked for a lower-fat version so I used 1/4 of the oil, a 1/2 cup of applesauce and a sploosh of sour cream. Again lovely. You really can't mess this one up!
Good, not great. I have a couple other recipes that defintely beat this one out, in terms of taste and moistness and texture. I loved how quickly this one came together though. Very easy!
I found this recipe 11 years ago and have used it ever since. My whole family loves this cake. I didn't make any changes and it comes out great every time! Thank you Nanci for sharing it with us.The trick is not to overbake it! It's a 5 star cake!
Made this for my boyfriend's 18th...Came out perfect! I subsituted butter for the oil (120 grams did the trick), I added half a teaspoon of salt, an extra teaspoon of vanilla, an extra teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/4cup chocolate shavings. Covered it in my homemade frosting and chocolate-dipped strawberries. All the guests raved about it - I have none left because everyone took extras home!!
I haven't purchased a box of cake mix in YEARS!!! This is the recipe I have made for my kids' birthdays every year and they LOVE IT!! I've sometimes used regular cocoa, dark cocoa, and a mix of both... It always comes out great! I find this recipe just as easy as a box mix and I almost always have every ingredient on hand at any given day. So anything can be celebrated with cake! Today is the last Wednesday of the month..let's have cake!
I made this cake to use in a black forest trifle and it was amazing!!! Got rave reviews from everyone who ate it :)
Wonderfully rich tasting. I turned this recipe into cup cakes by baking for less time. I added semi-sweet chocolate morsels to each cup cake after pouring the batter into the cups. Adds a very nice touch without icing. Wonderful!
Nothing great..i think salt would have upped the flavour factor that was sorely lacking. My mother wasn't even sure what flavour it was! Sorry, but this did not work for me. But it was SO easy to put together so it gets points for that :)
I really liked the texture of this cake it was almost like a mud cake. I turned this into a dairy free cake by using coconut milk instead of normal milk. I did find that it was lacking in flavor - I miss the butter flavor that is in my standard recipe, or some salt would've helped.
I made this cake for a co-workers birthday and got rave reviews. Everyone commented on how moist it was. In fact, 4 people asked if I would share the recipe with them! I topped with peanut butter frosting because sometimes a cake just needs to be fun, but I think it would work with chocolate or vanilla as well.
I made this for my wife at the end of lent (she gave up pastries), and she loved it, as did everyone else at our family gathering. Despite several dessert choices, not a scrap of my cake was left when dinner was over. Absolutely delicious. Possibly the best chocolate cake I've ever had, and so easy to make. Like other reviewers, the thinness of the batter made me nervous, but it cooked up beautifully. The only change I made was following the suggestion of adding 1.5 tsp of salt. I iced it with the "chocolate butter-creme frosting" recipe from this site, and it was also delicious.
This cake was easy to make and absolutely delicious. I was expecting to taste the coffee more but it was perfectly chocolately and delectable! My aunt loved it for her birthday. Note: It is scary when you pore it in and its so watery but it comes out so moist and yummy so don't worry!
I made this for my 9 and 12 year-old sons. They loved it. Easy to make and very moist. I subsituted natural applesauce for the oil and it came out great. I will never use a box cake mix again.
Very easy recipe. Im always looking for cakes that use oil instead of butter as I dont always have it. The batter looks so runny you think its not going to work but it did. It would make a lovely Black forest cake.
Pretty good, I kind of screwed it up (not adding enough sugar) but that was my fault. Even so, it was pretty good because the frosting was WAY too sweet so it worked out! It was very moist and fluffy! I added a little salt b/c of a review, but I really wish I didn't I don't think you need it, especially if you add less sugar and a good strong espresso coffee. I used 2, 8 inch rounds and 25 minutes was the perfect time!
This is a good chocolate cake and low fat. It surprised all that tried it when they found out that nutritional info. I even subsituted the oil for baby prune puree and used 1 full egg and 1 egg white only. Turned out very good and so moist. Was even better for you too, yummy.
Thanks sooo much for this excellent recipe. I made some minor changes. I used half whole wheat and half white wheat flour. I added 1/2 cup of mint syrup with the hot coffee and decreased the sugar by 1 cup. That made the flavor mint chocolate but not overly sugary:) I only baked it for 25 minutes and it came out PERFECTLY!!!! I will be making this cake again and again for sure! Oh,also it rose quite a bit more than I expected from the runny mix that was first poured in. Five stars all the way!
just baked it yesterday for a friend on her birthday. Instead of baking it in a 13x9 pan i used the 12x8 inch pan coz i want it to bake a little bit higher. It turned out great! I used my favorite chocolate fudge icing (will share it to you guys next time...promise!)and i topped it with white and bittersweet chocolate shavings and some sprinkles. Hmmmmmm... so yummy and so attractive. My husband is so proud of me :)
I served this cake at my birthday... everyone loved it! Drizzled with marsala, filled with strawberry jam and topped with fresh cream... mmm mmm! It was easy to whip up, but it took 3 times as long as instructed to be baked. That was disappointing.
this was tasty, a little drier than I had hoped but that should be really easy to fix next time I make it and I will certainly make it again.
This cake is absolutely delicious! This was my very first attempt at chocolate cake from scratch, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Only change I made was adding 1/8 tsp salt, as most recipes I've seen for chocolate cake (or chocolate anything) calls for salt. I loved the idea of using coffee in place of water. Easy & quick prep, using ingredients most already have on hand. My family has put me in charge of all birthday cakes and the likes ;). Fantastic recipe, will definitely be making again!
I have made this recipe twice and it is always a hit! People love how moist it is and when I tell them there's coffee in it, they like it even more. Will definitely keep making it.
This cake is a family favorite I've been making for years. Chocolate frosting is a good choice but my family prefers peanut butter.
It is a big success for me!!!! I used to feel not confident when it comes making cakes, I used to have either dry cakes or flat cakes. But this one turned out moist and spongy.Thanks for sharing.
I usually make Sandy's Chocolate Cake, which you can find on this website. However, I didn't have all the ingredients so I looked for one I could make with what I had on hand. I made this as is except for adding a little salt. It was VERY moist, which was terrific, but really lacked in chocolate flavor.
Very moist and easy to bake. Based on another review, I also topped it off with the whipped cream cheese frosting- a perfect combination
This cake is amazing! I've made it about 6 times and every time I have had terrific feedback. I've passed the recipe on each time too. It's super easy to make, I've done cupcakes, a sheet cake and a sandwich and all have turned out perfectly. Tastes good with vanilla butter cream icing or (my personal favourite) a mix of cream cheese and Nutella!
This cake is wonderful! So moist! I am officially declaring this one my fave chocolate cake!
This is a good starter recipe for me. I did change the vegetable oil to applesauce and I think next time instead of the coffee I am going to try some hot chocolate or something. I can really taste the coffee in my cake and as I am not a coffee drinker this is not so desirable, however, once you put cream cheese icing on top it really mellows out the coffee taste. Just want it to have more of a chocolate kick. Again though awesome starter recipe for a scratch chocolate cake, nice and fluffy. :)
It's awesome. Very moist, I cant complain at all. Thank you for sharing this recipe. This is one of my favourites to bake now. Not to mention, very easy to do.
Baked this cake for my daughter's birthday and I was a little disappointed. Too dry for my taste. Needed a package of chocolate chips in the batter.
My family absolutely loves this cake!!! In fact, I have had to write it down for many people. I use the Texas chocolate frosting recipe but add some cinnamon and a bit of coffee. Love this with homemade vanilla ice cream!! Must try!! :)
OMG this cake is fabulous. I love chocolate. I mean love, love, love chocolate. I followed the recipe, in addition I added a box of instant chocolate pudding and a full cup of semi sweet chocolate chips. The cake was very sweet, moist and absolutely delicious. I will for sure make this again and again and again. If you love chocolate, you will find this cake irrisitable.
This cake was truly fabulous! I recently made it for my mom's birthday party, and I have never received so many compliments. I think the coffee really adds the right amount of moisutre to put this cake over the top!
This was delicious, I was really dubious because of the coffee as I hate coffee, but it has such a chocolatey flavour that I couldn't taste the coffee. I madei t for my son's birthday party as a mudslide cake with bugs on it, and it was a hit! Definately will make this again.
I have been cooking this recipe for years. It's very easy to make and comes out very nice. A winner all the time/
This chocolate cake was very delicious. When it came to deciding which coffee to put in, I chose Starbucks Pike’s Place, because I always drink it every morning before I go to work. It came out great, except my kid was bouncing off the walls. I don’t recommend this cake for people with children. ESPECIALLY not at night, but other than that I give it 5 stars.
This cake was soo good, i could not stop eat it. moist and not too sweet. I added nuts to it to give it a little texture and it came out really good.
WOW!! This was INCREDIBLE! I made one substitution using flax seed for eggs as I had none. I see some reviews saying it was dry - I cannot imagine that - mine was ridiculously moist! I topped it with a peanut butter frosting. YUM.
Delicious cake! I didn't even get a taste...sent with my hubbie to work and it was devoured quickly and with great pleasure! LOL used the frosting recipe on Hershey's unsweetened cocoa box and it too was excellent!
This cake is so good!!! I am not much of a baker but I absolutely loved this recipe and will be making it again!! Dense, moist goodness! I made my own cream cheese frosting as well. Delicious!
Very black, rich and moist cake ! My boyfriend loves it! It's easy to make too.Just mix everything and stir.As simple as that. But it's not really a sweet tasting cake, next time i'll add a bit more sweetness to it. I highly recommend this recipie to all of you ! Very good quality cake. You dont even need a glaze for this cake.
Yup, needs salt. Also, I put a squirt of dark chocolate Hershey's syrup. Tasted wonderful. Very light and airy. Very good. I made cupcakes. Surprisingly, they didn't rise very much, which worked out very well for my decorations/frosting. They were flat on the top. I got 30 cupcakes out of this recipe.
Fantastic! I kept mine non-dairy and used unflavored rice milk in place of regular milk, and it worked out perfectly. So moist. I brought this to a potluck and the reviews were outstanding. Just decorated with powdered sugar - this doesn't need anything else. Do use a dash of salt.
This cake is blummin gorgeous!
This cake is pretty good for a homemade cake. I used half all-purpose flour and half cake flour, which gave it a finer texture. My son liked the cake better than the frosting, but I liked them together a lot.
The consistencies was shocking at first and I thought it will be in the chute! Seriously. But I continued with the baking process anyway and WOW! No regrets. Wonderful and will be doing again definitely. Agree though that a little salt is needed. Thanks Nanci
I did not change a thing and did not use my mixer. It was absolutely delicious. I made a peanut butter Icing and whipped up some heavy cream. I will use this for all my chocolate loving friends.
This is easy to make with items on hand. It has a great texture, is moist and tasted better the second day. That said, I found the flavor flat. As a vehicle for homemade frosting the cake was "fine," but alone it tasted pretty bland. I think the addition of some salt would really help it along. Also, is it possible that vinegar is a missing ingredient here. Most baking soda cakes have a bit of vinegar and THAT may be what's missing.
I've made this cake twice now, and I think it's the only chocolate cake recipe I'm ever going to use. The coffee makes it so dark and rich. It's so easy too!
So my family and I tried this last night. It was wonderful. Then the men working on my house today ate like half of it. It's a delicious cake. I will be making it again...especially when I want people to think I can bake ;)
Needs salt. Added a half tsp and made the best cupcakes ever. They freeze great - ready after 20 seconds (or less) in the microwave. Used leftover cold coffee and mixed all wet and all dry seperately before mixing together. Easier for two kids or parent and kid to work on together. Thanks. Great recipe.
was not at all sure about this cake when making it,made it in a ceramic 9x9 dish which made it take longer to cook, 50 mins! iced with mocha icing from this site and wow its lovely!!
I'm glad I tried this recipe. Very easy and it came out perfect. Don't let the runny batter freak you out. I made buttercream vanilla frosting and we all loved it!
My mom began using this recipe in the 1940s and I still use it. She always put the cocoa in the hot water/butter and stirred well. She used hot coffee as the liquid in the frosting. This gave the cake fudgy flavor and delicious frosting.
Very good. Disappeared almost instantly. Moist. Made into cupcakes and didnt even need icing! Coffee gave nice, rich taste, but without being coffee-tasting.
Great cake! Very moist and easy to make. It reminded my husband of the homemade chocolate cake from when he was a kid. I'll definitely be using this recipe again.
I have never been successful making a cake from scratch. THIS IS AMAZING, chocolatey not to sweet, and so so moist. I split between 2 8 inch pans. It was such a huge hit
I have been using this recipe for years. It never disappoints. I usually use brewed coffee with a little instant coffee granules disolved in it. (I brew my coffee a lot weaker than Starbucks and the recipe works best with a strong robust coffee). It's great with any frosting. The batter is very runny and it makes you think you made a mistake, but it will turn out moist and tasty. Makes great cupcakes.
I have made this cake twice and even reduced the sugar a bit since I love throwing a thick buttercream.. chocolate of course icing on top! I love this recipe and it is my go-to chocolate cake!
Perfectly moist cake! No need to ever buy a cake box again! Made a nice whipped cream icing to go with it and sprinkled cocoa powder on top. My husband was more than happy to receive it for his birthday. Will make it once again!
My son used this recipe for cupcakes and won first place with it!
This recipe is terrific. Made cupcakes and they were moist and delicious..I didn't change anything and found it very taste. Highly recommend it as a easy chocolate cake that is fully homemade.
