Dark Chocolate Cake I

I am a pastry chef, and this is the only chocolate cake that I will make from now on. I separated the eggs and whipped the whites separately with some of the sugar, then folded it all together to make is extra airy. This recipe could easily be flavored with coffee, juice, or buttermilk in place of the water. FANTASTIC!

This recipe makes a very pure, clean-tasting chocolate cake with a fine crumb and a texture that can be moist or dry depending on how long you bake it and how long you let it air-dry. I followed other reviewer's suggestions: substituting butter-flavor Crisco for butter; creaming with the sugar for over 2 minutes; and baking in a single 10-inch springform Bundt pan. It came out quite well on the first try. I also tried whipping the egg whites separately, but that made little difference, as this is a pretty solid, moderately dense cake, so I wouldn't bother with that in the future. The flavor is such a pure, moderate chocolate cake that it would be perfect as a base for a wide range of desserts using added flavors. Vanilla whipped cream would be a great accompaniment. Unaccompanied, it's nice but a little too plain. Caution: grease the pan quite well, as the cake is clingy when hot and you don't want to tear it.

I get tired of my usual choc. cake recipes so am always looking for something new. This is a very good cake. I made it in a 12 cup bundt pan but other than that followed the recipe exactly and found it to be sweet enough with a good chocolate flavor and I had no problem with the cake falling apart. For those who thought it was dry: make sure the cocoa-boiling water mixture has cooled thoroughly before proceeding with the recipe otherwise the cake may turn out heavy and dry.

I have made this cake recipe for every family birthday for the last 4 or 5 years. I have 4 children, so I know this recipe off by heart now! It is a little crumbly, but I make it the day before and put it in the fridge. This seams to change it into a very moist cake. I consider this a good thing, because then I always have the cake ready ahead of time. It does stick in your pans terribly, so be sure to line your pans with baking paper (or parchment) and not just butter or butter and flour them. This is a really delicious cake. I would make something different for each birthday, but my husband and kids ask for this chocolate cake every time. Now if they would only learn the recipe and make it on my birthday.....ha ha.

Thanks so much for the recipe! I've made this cake twice to rave reviews. I almost didn't try it because of the warnings about its dryness from other users. If you are getting a dry cake from this recipe, I believe it could be a technical issue. Insufficient creaming of the butter and sugar could cause the cake to be dry. I allow at least 2 minutes of moderate-speed blending. I also used butter-flavored Crisco (1c butter = 1c Crisco + 6t water), which can also make it moister. You could also be overbaking, either by giving it too much time in the oven or by having an oven that's too hot. If you enjoy baking, do yourself a favor and invest $6.00 in an oven thermometer. You won't regret it!

Quite disappointing after all the excellent reviews. Like many, I've been searching for 'the' chocolate cake recipe and this is not it. I'm going to stick to oil as my search continues -- the butter-based chocolate cake recipes I've tried resulted to rubbery textures, and oil-based ones consistently give better results. (If anyone knows the explanation, or better yet the solution, to this, it will be much appreciated!)

One of the few chocolate cake recipes truely from scratch. Thank you. I used strong coffee instead of water. Topped it with cream cheese frosting (8 oz + 1 c powdered sugar, milk and Vanilla). Very good. Made it in a 9 x 13, baked it for about 35 minutes. It was a very thick cake, but not too dense and went over very well. Not as chocolate as I would have hoped for tho but a nice alternative from scratch.

Some cakes, like the Black Magic Cake or the One Bowl Chocolate Cake III, are VERY moist, and have a relatively dense, compact crumb. This cake, being a butter cake, (meaning that the fat and sugar are creamed together to incorporate air), is light, tender and fluffy. Neither type is better than the other, it's either a matter of personal preference or what you want for a particular project. As a butter cake, this recipe is very good, and I know it wil improve by the following day. I halved the recipe, which yielded 12 cupcakes and one small loaf cake. Other than using freshly brewed coffee for the water, I followed the recipe as written and was quite satisfied with it.

I made this cake for the first time yesterday and it came out really moist and delicious. I used coffee instead of water as suggested and I cooked the cake in 2 pans and cut each cake into 2 layers. I used whipped ganache with rum as filling and i decorated the cake with fresh berries. It was a huge success!

Moist and elegant, yet a bit homey! A winning combination. I made no alterations, none were needed! Here IS a tip, though: Use a simple frosting. The cake is rich enough by its self. I used a mocha frosting. Delicious, if you don't mind the fact you proably won't be able to hold down a big piece!

Here are a few tips that you can apply to most cakes. 1) Grease your pans and then line with parchment paper, grease parchment paper 2) Use 1 cup coffee and 1 cup milk 3) You don't have to sift the dry ingredients, just take a whisk after you combine them and whisk well 4) Use a LARGE Tablespoon of Mayo when you add the eggs 5) Add 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil with eggs 6) Replace vanilla extract with vanilla bean paste 7) Replace all-purpose flour with cake flour Also, if you plan on frosting this, let the cake cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap (make sure no cake is exposed to air), then stick in the freezer over night. Take it out and put it on your cake board pulling off the parchment paper ONLY when you are ready to add the next layer..this will keep your cake from falling apart on you. "Crumb" coat it with a thin layer of frosting and stick in the fridge to harden up. This will prevent crumbs from getting into decorating frosting. Hope this helps! This will add moistness for those of you who were finding this cake to be dry!

Wow Wow!! This cake is awesome! I bake just about every day and have tried dozens of chocolate cake recipes. This cake is easy to put together, has deep chocolate flavor, is moist and is just sweet enough. The recipe calls for 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. I used about 1/2 cup regular unsweetened cocoa powder and the other 1/2 cup was King Arthur Flours BLACK cocoa powder which is just about black in color and is SUPER dark chocolate. As you can see from my photo - my cake is VERY dark chocolate. I can't believe some folks say theirs is dry - mine is very moist and fine crumbed. I used my 3 layers for a tuxedo cake. Filled and frosted with the white marshmallowy type of frosting and then spread chocolate glaze on top and down the sides. It's honestly one of the best cakes I've ever made. Completely delicious. This recipe fills 3 pans nicely. The cake does not dome very much and upon cooling - actually flattens out. I recommend this recipe. Superb and easy.

Some reviewers found this dry, but mine turned out really moist. I used half coffee and half plain boiled water, because I was afraid the taste would be too strong for kids if I used two whole cups of coffee. This was perfect. I used a dark chocolate glaze on top, and it was so delicious!

Excellent chocolate cake! Very chocolatey and moist and not overly sweet which makes it great for frosting and filling! I made this cake for my husband’s birthday and he said it was the best chocolate cake he’s ever had. I made a semi-sweet chocolate mousse for the filling and covered the whole thing with a bittersweet ganache. The only thing I did different from the recipe was dividing it into two cakes so I would have two thick layers and with a little extra cooking time they turned out beautifully. I used greased parchment paper on the bottom of my pans and the cakes came right out without a problem. I will be using this cake recipe for years to come! UPDATE: I made it this year with peanut butter mousse(Melt 1cup pb chips with 1/2 cup cream, add 1 tsp vanilla and 2 Tbsp pb. Beat 1+ 1/4cup cream with 2 Tbsp sugar until very stiff. Fold everything together (I added extra pb chips too) Put in between layers, chill overnight. Frost as usual. To DIE for!

I tried a half dozen chocolate recipes before this, and none after. I use this recipe for cupcakes, and people will pay whatever I ask for them! Everyone who rates this recipe poorly has done something wrong. Ive made this cake at least a dozen times in the last 6 months, and I've found temperature is key. Keeping the butter on the cool side, not warm will thicken the batter and make it fluffier in the end, reducing cooking time. Mixing the cocoa with water to disolve, and then allowing to cool while you do the rest helps too. Light brown, fluffy batter Used for cupcakes will take about 14-15 minutes. Darker brown, runnier batter will take closer to 17-19 minutes. I measure my cupcakes with a 1/4 cup measuring cup and get about 30-32 cupcakes from a full recipe. So beware! It makes a ton! Combined with a cream cheese, whipping cream frosting flavored with cocoa and coffee or cherry jam, this is a sure thing. It's a good thing it makes so much, you'll need extras!

This is absolutely the best chocolate cake ever. If you follow the directions it is fool proof. My customers devour it every time I make it. I make it with a White Chocolate Butter Cream Icing and it is the perfect mixture. Icing: One cup of butter (cold) approximately a half of bag of white chocolate melted in 2 (tbls)of whipping cream,beat together.Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 1/2 cups of powder sugar or enough until thick.

This was the first cake I have ever made and it came out great! I used cake flour instead of regular flour and unsweetend Hershey's chocolate bar instead of cocoa. I used this as the base for Chocolate Torte on this site. Next time I will be sure to let the cake cool completely before starting to assemble it. I thought it was cool - turns out it was on the outside I don't think it was cooled all the way through.

What a delicious cake! It's my first time baking a cake from scratch and I was a little intimidated, but was worried for nothing. It was an easy recipe to follow and the only thing I cut down was the sugar (only used 2 cups vs 2 1/4 cups). I also poured the entire batter into a bunt cake pan instead of 3 cake round cake pans. I baked it for 55 minutes on 350 and it turned out perfect. It was really moist and since the recipe didn't include a frosting recipe, I just paired the cake with store bought whipped cream. A nice lite addition for the moist cake. Unlike the other reviews, I had no issues with the cake sticking to the pan. All I did was spray the bunt cake pan with some baking spray.

I took the reviews into consideration when I made this cake, especially since I've had a hard time finding a really good chocolate cake. I scaled the recipe to 1.5x (18 servings instead of 12) and baked in two 10" pans @ 300F for 40 minutes (rotating halfway through). Once stacked, these two 10" layers ended up becoming a cake a little more than 2.5" high. If torted and filled, the cake would probably be 3" high. I replaced 2/3 of the water with milk and used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa. It's important to let the boiled cocoa cool down to get the right texture. Also, I beat the butter/sugar for 5 minutes to make an airy cake. The final product was perfect for me. It was NOT overly sweet (after I reduced the sugar by 20%) which is great since I wanted to cover in ganache and fondant. I also filled with thinned strawberry preserves. Oh yeah, since everyone was talking about these cakes falling apart, I generously sprayed nonstick spray into the pans and let them cool in the pan for ~30 minutes before moving them. UPDATE: I saved the cake scraps and turns out the cake actually got sweeter the next day. I don't know if everyone else had this same experience, but I will make note of this next time. Absolutely the best chocolate cake I've ever had!

Looking nice..today i am making this...let's see how it will come out :)

Okay! Here's my scoop on this cake! I read the reviews on this cake and as most, I tweeked it to my liking. I made the cake as directed and as some others did, I whipped the whites and then folded them in at the end. I used hot 4% milk instead of water. I baked it for 30 minutes as directed. After the cake cooled I filled it with a pack and a half of softened creem cheese and about a cup of strawberry preserves mixed. You can add or take away the strawberry preserves to taste. After I added the strawberry filling a covered it and chilled it until it cooled and the filling was firm. Then I topped it with the "One minute icing" recipe on this site. I wanted to use a chocolate ganache but I didn't have heavy cream, so I oppted for is icing but I didn't whip it. Instead, I cooked it as directed and then let it cool for about 5 minutes and poured it on top. This not only is a beautiful cake but it is very delicious and it has just the right balance of sweetness. I can't wait to make this for company. I use my neighbors as my taste testers on a daily basis for so many kinds of foods and they said it was very good and beautiful!!! A KEEPER!!!

This recipe is great, I now use it everytime I make chocolate cake, the only thing I added was a half cup of sour cream, it turns out incredibly moist each time I make it.

i used margarine, but it came out fine. and halved the recipe and still ended with two not-too-thin 9 inch cakes. filled it with whipped chocolate ganache and frosted it with a mint frosting. yum. my cake decorating teacher liked it!

OHMYGOODNESS! This is the BEST chocolate cake recipe I have ever encountered! I did the exact recipe and the cake came out moist and delicious! I will definitely be using this in the future...

Perfect! I heard that it turns out more moist when crisco is used. So I used 1 cup of butter flavored Crisco plus 6 Tbsp of water in place of butter. It turned out so moist and yummy! Also, I read comments that the cake stuck to the pan really bad. I made cupcakes with this recipe using the paper liners sprayed with cooking spray. They didn't stick at all. This made 36 regular sized cupcakes. I used the muffin pan of 12 count, and baked at 22 minutes.

I just made this cake & it's absolutely delicious! It has a very fine crumb, which is perfect as I am going to use it tomorrow to make a batch of cake pops. I noticed that some people changed the recipe, thought that the butter made it rubbery, etc. I made the recipe "as is" but I changed the servings from 12 to 9. I think that creaming the sugar & butter REALLY well made a hug difference in the end product. Also, when alternating the flour & cocoa mixture, start with the flour and end with the flour. I baked the 9 serving recipe in a metal 9 x 13 pan (buttered with the wrappers from my butter sticks - no sticking problems) for 30 minutes. This is my new go-to chocolate cake recipe!

Amazing cake! I made a few changes due to personal preference. First, I used cake flour rather than all purpose flour, margarine in place of butter, and added two teaspoons of International House suisse mocha drink mix. I also beat the egg white separately until it started to form peaks, though not to the point that it was as stiff as meringue and added to the batter just before pouring into the pan. I made a single bunt cake rather than three round and had to bake it an additional twenty-five minutes. There was just a little too much batter for the bunt pan and I had to remove about an inch off the top when it was finished before turning it over. This is the best chocolate scratch cake I have ever had. It has just the right amount of chocolate flavor and is irresistably moist; so much better than box mix.

I made this cake for a birthday lunch at work. They loved it. I followed the recipe exactly and it was perfect.

WOW!!! I halved this recipe because I was making a 6 inch round layered cake. For frosting I mixed 1/4 c. softened butter with 1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar, about 1/4 cup Bailey's, and a tiny bit of milk as needed to get the right consistency. POW what a great combination!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Definitely the greatest cake I've ever made, and I've made quite a few :)

I used Ghiradelli cocoa powder. The quality really does make a difference. If your cake tastes bland, it may be the type of cocoa. The cake was moist and had a great flavor, but it was a little challenging to handle. It is delicate (light & airy) so taking it out of the pan and cutting it into 4 thin layers was difficult. To avoid losing the bottom half in the pan, butter and flour pan well, use parchment if possible, allow cake to cool slightly before removing, and be gentle.

I made this cake for a birthday party and although it does taste very yummy, it is a cake decorators nightmare! The cake itself is VERY soft and CRUMBLY! If you want a yummy cake to enjoy at home, make this one, but if you are looking to stack and decorate, NO WAY!

I have made this recipe twice now and both times it has come out perfect. First time I baked in a bundt pan the second time was in a large square pan. I followed the directions to a T. Cake was super moist and to die for. I made sure that the cocoa and boiling water mixture was completely cooled before I started to incorporate it with the flour. Both times I made it for friends parties and everyone loved it! Tastes really good with cream cheese icing. This is my permanent chocolate cake recipe!

I thought this was an average tasting cake. I followed the directions as written and thought it came out dry. I did not have any problem with sticking to the pan.

I found this to be VERY DRY. I greased some small heart shaped cake pans and baked them. When I couldn't get them out of the pan, they broke up, and I tasted one. It was incredibly dry. So, I added some applesauce to the rest of the batter and baked that. That was the only thing that saved this cake. Sorry, but I won't make this ever again.

I've made this recipe twice, once i halved it and made it in a bundt pan, and the other time i added mini chocolate chips and made cupcakes. Both times they came out beautifully. I don't know what other people are talking about, it being too dry. My cake/cupcakes came out deliciously moist. So if you follow the recipe exactly like I did, you should have a georgous result.

I edited this recipe just a little. Made it in 13*9 added one cup of chocolate morsals. I frosted with cream cheese frosting and shaved coffee flavored chocolate on the top. Increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes as needed. Smelled so good I could not get a picture before the office guys tore into it!

i've been making this cake since 2006. the first couple times i followed it exactly. then.. i got lazy about boiling the water and instead i added the cocoa powder to the flour (sifted it all together of course) and used milk instead of water. wow! moist and yummy!

Perfect recipe, I made it exactly as the recipe follows. I was able to bake a 9X13 and a square 8X8 cake from the batter. I made the chocolate ganache icing for the larger cake and I dusted the other with powdered sugar, tastes just like this cake that I buy for $6.00 a slice at a nearby chocolatier.

Subbed applesauce for the butter and also a cup of splenda for one cup of the sugar. Turned out fine. Used two 9" pans

FABULOUS!! This cake is moist and rich. Very chocolately, but not super-sweet. My boyfriend & I love it, and we just made it for a big family dinner and everyone raved about it. We don't ice the cake - we just spread seedless raspberry jam between the layers, and garnish with a bit of whipped cream and some fresh raspberries. Perfect dessert! We'll definitely make it again!

Great cake! I followed it to a T. The only thing I would do differently is flour the baking pans after greasing them. The cake is very moist.

Oh...my...god...is all I can think of to say. That was the best cake I have ever tasted. If you make it with the Chocolate Frosting I (on this website), you will really, truly, honestly, think you have died and gone to heaven. I swear. Except, here's a tip for the people who decide to make the Chocolate Frosting I, you have to double the recipe for frosting! But oh...my...god, YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS RECIPE! IT IS TO die FOR!!! *dies on the spot* =P

This really is a great cake recipie. I get raves everytime I make one. It crumbs more like a brownie than cake and is very dense and moist. The only tip I have to add is to use 1/2 the boiling water than called for when disolving the chocolate. After it is disolved and smooth add the remaining water very cold. This way you dont have to wait for the mixture to cool or risk melting the butter if you dont wait long enough. Cheers!

THE BEST and easiest "from scratch" chocolate cake recipe ever. Also makes yummy cupcakes! Just bake for about 20-22 min instead, till a toothpick comes out clean. Top with "Cream Cheese Frosting II" by Janni. Yummy Chocolatinessssssss.

This was super. Very easy and was nice and moist dark chocolate but still had a nice fluffy texture. I made a White Chocolate Mousse frosting and served it with a raspberry sauce over the slices. I also made it again with a regular chocolate buttercream. This is a keeper. Very easy to dress up or just serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and its a hit.

Good cake. I had to bake it in a 9x13 pan, which made it a little too dense. I frosted with peanut butter icing.

Brilliant cake to make. Completely moist and tasty. The problem people have with this is that making a cake is an art and you really have to watch the directions carefully. Several tips: Let the cocoa mix with hot water be completely cool before using it. Actually SIFT the flour, soda, powder and salt (if you don't have a sifter, use a tablespoon and sift over and over again. Make sure that the mixture is light and fluffy when mixing (such as the sugar with the butter) and it should be fluffy throughout until the end, when it becomes a batter at the end. I took the advice as well that the cake sticks - use the old method of buttering pans liberally and then sprinkle plain flour on the bottom so it comes out clean. Beautiful recipe. A real joy to make.

I have never been able to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe. I love a moist, rich, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake and other recipes always tend to be on the dry side. I tried this recipe yesterday out of desperation after another recipe I tried turned out disastrous and it was for my daughter's 10th birthday. For extra chocolatey taste I added 1/2 cup Hershey Chocolate Flavour syrup to the batter, baked in a 9x13 pan for about 50-55 minutes and hoped for the best. Well the cake sold out in seconds! I got to taste the crumbs and I must say I will definitely try this recipe again. It was the BEST!!! Everyone loved it.

Awesome! This cake is very moist and chocolately. I made exactly AS IS. I sprayed my pans well, but 2/3 the cake stuck at the bottom so parchment is a MUST! In case anyone is wanting to use a differnt sized pan...this batter measures aprox. 9 cups of batter. It worked perfectly in my 11x15x2 sheet cake pan.

A wonderful cake. Made it for a friends birthday and she loved it. I filled two 8" cake pans and used the left over batter for muffins. When the cakes had cooled, I stacked them with a raspberry filling of 8 oz fresh raspberries and 6 Tbs raspberry preserves. I also made a double recipe for Buttercream Icing (By Sharon Gerstman) with vanilla bourbon since I ran out of vanilla extract. The cake looked so professional and it tasted amazing.

I made this cake 2 weeks ago. I am a pretty good baker. I've been lucky enough to spent time in France AND learn a few things. Still, I could not make a decent chocolate cake until now. We just had the last piece and it was just as moist as the 1st day. It was very well covered. My advice is use the best chocolate you can get your hands on, melt the bars well into the boiling water. The better the chocolate and vanilla, the better the cake. Do not add the vanilla into the hot water, mix it with the eggs and then add it to the wet ingredients. Makes great muffins and cupcakes for bake sales too

Very good and rich chocolate cake! Great chocolate flavor, wonderful airy, light texture... I added a couple of things to my second batch to spice it up a notch; 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 package of chocolate pudding. It turned out phenomenal! Also, you can easily halve this recipe with no problem if you don't need to make that much cake. All in all, excellent scratch-cake recipe!

Everyone loved this. I would cut the cooking time down if I use the budnt pan again.

I made this cake for a birthday party and it was a big hit! I accidently used 11-inch pans, but it worked out fine, just cut a few minutes off the cook time. This is a great substitute for the trans-fatty box cakes (as long as you don't add trans-fat margarine). For the frosting, I used the "Chocolate Frosting I" from this site. UPDATE: I made this recipe vegan by substituting the butter for trans-fat free vegan margarine (Nucoa or Smart Balance Light) and using 3 tbsp applesauce for each egg. It turned out even better than the original recipe because the applesauce made it VERY moist!

Really decadent cake. Not too difficult. I made this cake in a 9x13 pan. It was hefty, but came out perfectly. I will say that it got better the next couple days as it added even more moisture. So. Good.

Hands down the best chocolate cake ever (and I bake ALOT). Deserves 10 stars for sure. I dont know what all those other crazy people were talking about when they said this cake was dry and crumbly. They must have over-baked it or under-creamed the butter/sugar. This was the moistest, softest, tastiest cake. It did not stick as mentioned previously, although I use silicone bakeware so that may have helped. Nothing ever sticks to that. Fantastic cake. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this cake. Many thanks to whomever posted this recipe.

I only have 2 words for this cake--De Lish!! I frequently bake this cake for friends, family and catering clients and usually frost it with Carol's Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Incredibly moist with strong flavor. For fun, I decorate the cake with chocolate covered strawberries. Sometimes, I split the layers and use a raspberry filling (filling between 2 layers and chocolate frosting between the other). I haven't had problems with the cake releasing from the pan. I always spray pans with Baker's Joy and the flour from the spray doesn't affect the chocolate color when the cake is released from the pan. Also, I line cake pans with parchment paper circles or liners. YOu can cut the circles yourself or order pan liners in bulk from www.sugarcraft.com. I bake so many cakes (and I am so lazy) that it is worth it to order. Thanks for a great recipe.

Struggled to get the cakes out of the pan. Maybe flour the pans first....three layers is too big.....try two bigger layers. One layer had a funny consistency....

made the receipe into cupcakes, baked for 20 minuters and frosted it with cream cheese frosting II. Absolutely delish!!!! I wll use this receipe again and again.

Lovely tasting cake, I've made it twice already in the same week. First time I used the three pans as suggested and everything was right on the mark. The second time I decided to use a bundt pan but I wasn't prepared for the amount of baking time. Jeez Louise, it seemed like 2 hours before that thing was done. It still came out alright but a little too moist for me (how did THAT happen?). Nice recipe, I like it alot and it went over very well with the fam and friends. Thanks, Carol.

This is a great recipe, but if you're a beginning cook, be careful not to overbeat the batter. Overbeating makes the texture of the cake drier which is far more noticeable in a dark chocolate flavored recipe. Greasing and flouring the cake pan, as well as removing the cake from the pan before it fully cools, will prevent tearing when removing the cake.

I made this as cupcakes and I used freshly brewed coffee instead of water, and i seperated the eggs and brought the whites to a stiff peak before folding them in at the end, and oh my lord these cupcakes are incredible. I changed it to 15 servings and got 3 dozen cupcakes. I filled them to almost the top and they have perfect little domes. I baked them at 180C for 20 min. make sure you have some milk in the house!

Perfect. Baked in bundt - perfect!

Dry D-Dry Dry Dry. I was expecting this recipe to be the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted,well it wasn't. I was kind of put off by the overload of chocolate, which I felt was too much. I also like my cakes sweet, and this one even with the 2+ cups of sugar, wasn't sweet enough. If you do make this recipe, follow the advise of another reviewer and have a glass of milk with it.

OH MY GOSH! I made this for my cousins birthday and it was AMAZING! I was very surprised with this. I did have to cook the cake for about 1 hr, which isn't what the recipe stated. Also, remember to grease and flour the pan, cause I didn't do so....

I followed this recipe exactly and ended up with a wonderful, moist, delicious cake. I buttered the textured pan well, and sprinkled it with cocoa powder - the cake fell right out. I mis-chose the frosting - using a cocoa buttercream. I think this cake would go best with a mildly sweet frosting - something sour cream-based or even a whipped cream topping. It is really so nummy on its own. I wonder if some of the negative reviews were from those using Dutch-processed cocoa. The baking soda will not leaven properly with this kind of alkylized cocoa See Joy of Baking for details.

I used this recipe to make my wedding cake! I LOVE this recipe! I use strong fresh brewed coffee in place of the hot water to give it a fuller flavor. I also add a 1/4 cup more cocoa mixed with oil until it makes the consistency of melted chocolate this gives it not only more of a chocolaty taste but also adds to the moisture of the cake.

So good! Made them as cupcakes and they turned out nice and moist. Would probably make an even better cake. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for the recipe!

I will never use a box cake mix again!! This cake is rich and moist and dense. I made it as a Bundt cake which increased the cooking time to an hour or so, but it was worth the wait! I didn't even frost it, just drizzled a little glaze of vanilla and powdered sugar. I followed others' advice about letting the cocoa mixture cool. I also really creamed the butter to let it get light and fluffy...probably 8-10 minutes. The only ingredient change I made was to use Mexican vanilla because that is the only vanilla I buy. Also my children who don't have baking experience helped and found the recipe easy to understand and follow!! YUMMY!!! I printed this recipe and put it in my recipe book labeled "Mom's Birthday Cake" so they can make this same cake for me next year!!

Everyone who has eaten this cake says it is perfect. I used 1 1/4 cup cake flour instead of all purpose flour to lighten the cake a bit I also baked it in three 8 inch round aluminum foil pans as three individual cakes. The foil pans are very good coz I didn't have to remove the cake from the pan before giving it to people. (There's a nice plastic cover for each pan, so I can just frost the cake in the pan and pop the cover over--very convenient and also a nice presentation) I toasted almon slices and generously sprinkle on the frosted cake. The end product is sooo beautiful and obviously delicious.

Thos was good, nothing special. I don't think I'd call it "elegant". Actually, I was thinking a cold glass of milk would go well with it.

This cake tasted amazing. I was making cake pops with it, and I tried the cake pop recipe, which did not turn out whatsoever. The balls fell apart and didn't work. So, since I had the other cake, I frosted it with some buttercream frosting, threw on some sprinkles, and took a slice. It tasted great, was easy to bake and frost, and had just the right amount of chocolate. Not too sweet, but not lacking any flavour. I did not find the cake dry at all; I found it to be very moist. A quick tip: let the cocoa powder/boiling water mixture cool thoroughly. I waited an hour before mixing in the other ingredients. I also added a special little twist to the cocoa powder/water mixture that made the cake fudgy and a little more chocolatey: 1 square of unsweetened chocolate. I melted it, no butter with it, just completely by itself, and added it into the mixture. I also kept the exact 1 cup of cocoa, and it turned out great. I will definitely be baking this again. (I also made mini muffins that are just about the best muffins I've ever tasted!) I'll be recommending this recipe to anyone who wants to bake an amazing chocolate cake, that's super easy to bake.

I made it a day before Thanksgiving Dinner and kept it in the fridge, which kept it moist. I only made one change which was to substitute the boiling water for coffee; it gave it a nice flavor. I baked it in a Bundt pan for just over 50 minutes. Frosted it with cream cheese and cocoa frosting. Everyone loved it.

Good but not great! The original recipe is not very moist but it's much better with 1 cup of sour cream added to the batter. Added coffee to the hot water/cocoa mixure.

WOW! I am an amateur baker who needed a recipe to try out my new bundt pan and this recipe is all that and a bag of chips! The chocolate of the cake was not overly sweet, so it allowed me to drown it with chocolate ganache to the rave reviews of my dinner guests. So for a newbie like me, I will forgo ever buying a bakery cake or even bothering with a box cake, this cake is AMAZING! My husband who used to be a professional baker (which = him abstaining from almost all cakes and pies) gobbled this up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. So when you are having company and I mean the kind of company who are "cake snobs" (like my sister-in-law who has the nerve to spit a bite of cake into a napkin if it not as perfect as she makes it!) let them eat cake and let it be this cake, they will be begging for the recipe! And of course being the fabulous baker you are, be selective who gets the recipe (definitely not the sister-in-law with the napkin, I mean really, who does that?!!) My secret weapon ganache: bring 3/4 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup heavy cream to a frothy boil while whisking regularly, then add 1/2 stick butter sliced into cubes, 5 ounces unsweetend chocolate and 1 tsp vanilla, whisk until melted. Allow to stand until it is the consistency you need, (it can also be refrigerated until it stiffens up) and voila! Perfect for this cake, enjoy!

Very good liked by all, made with a sunbutter mousse filling! MMmm, thank you.

This is a very easy, elegant, and great tasting cake. Definitely a keeper!!

So disappointed!!! After much recipe research, made last night for Valentine's Day and ended up throwing it out! The cake completely fell apart after being cooled for two hours and was a mess when I cut and frosted it. The texture is not firm enough for a solid layer cake. I gave it two stars because it really does taste good, but as far as being easy, it just doesn't hold together well for a presentable cake. Still on the search and looking for the ultimate chocolate cake recipe to keep in my recipe box!

I was really disappointed by this recipe after reading all the positive reviews for it. I made the cake as written, and I found it lacking in flavor and dry. This was not the fudgy, dark, rich, moist cake I thought it would be. Very bland - the Betty Crocker cake mixes I've made were much better.

Warning: This is NOT a rich chocolaty cake. Do not be fooled by descriptions and reviews. It is very moist and fluffy and lovely, but it is not richly chocolaty. If you are looking to make a rich chocolate cake and you make this one, you will be disappointed. It is, however, a lovely moist cake.

If I could I'd give this cake a 10 star rating, it was moist and so chocolaty, the only problem I had it took a little longer to bake 35 - 40 mintues. I didn't have 9inch pans I used 3 8 inch pans. For icing for this cake I used the Icing from this site Extreme Chocolate Cake that has the BEST BUTTERCREME ICING. My husband said, it was the best chocolate cake I have ever made and I only made 2 from scratch. ha ha, he said the BUTTER CREME ICING WAS DA BOMB. he rates this cake 10+ as well and the icing he said is 20+ stars. I think next time I make another chocolate cake I am going to use the one from the icing recipe... Extreme Chocolate Cake.

This is a really delicious chocolate cake. I cut the recipe in half in order to make 16 cupcakes. I followed other reviewers' suggestions and used hot milk instead of water. I also whipped the egg whites and folded them into the batter. The result was an incredibly rich, fluffy cake. I will definitely make this again.

I've made this cake a few times, and I've learned something very important! The hotter the cocoa mixture is when you finish the recipe, the more dense the cake will be. You can literally decide how dense or how fluffy you want the cake by waiting or (usually in my case) being impatient!!

I used this recipe for a birthday cake - turned out quite well. I used a store bought frosting, and it tasted quite nice. I only made two layers so made some cup cakes with the extra batter - have to say they tasted better after a few days. This cake is very light because of the water so I think it's a little delicate when first made. Didn't taste as chocolately as I would have liked though.

Great Recipe!!! Will be making this my go to chocolate cake recipe.

This cake turned out great! I had small eggs, so I used 6 insead of 4 and also ran out of coco. I used about 3/4c (or less) coco and it still tasted great, very chocolate (w/ chocolate frosting). I don't have round cake pans, so I baked it in 13x9 inch pan for about 25 extra minutes. My husband loved it - definately a keeper!!

This cake is so light and moist. The only thing I change is to use 1/2 cup of espresso and 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk in place of the boiling water. Even people who don't like chocolate cake love this cake.

This cake was good, but I've certainly had better. I cut the recipe in half and made cupcakes (approx. a dozen) and used the 'buttercream icing' recipe from this site. The key is to use a high quality/great tasting cocoa. I only had Nestle on hand, so when I make again in the future I will be sure to purchase a specialty powder. The texture seems to change after the first day. Initially mine were moist and perfectly dense, then day two the density increased; all the while still very edible!

This was easy to make and the end result was one of the most tender, fluffy chocolate cakes I've eaten. I'll definitely use this recipe again.

I just would liket to say thank you for such a good chocolate cake recipe!!! It came out moist just as it was supposed to and it did not stick to the pan. I made it yesterday and will make one againg today. Boy oh Boy what a moist delicious cake. I recommend everyone out there to try it and if it does not come out right for you then you must have did something worng but try again. it is worth it

I followed the recipe exactly (except (I used a 10x14 inch pan, which worked great). The texture was perfect, and it might have been the most evenly shaped cake I've ever baked. LOTS of compliments on the flavor of this excellent cake!

Awesome. I used the chef's suggestion and beat the egg whites extra foamy and a little of the sugar (1/4th cup) before mixing it with the yolks. The butter and rest of the sugar i beat really fluffy on the kitchen aid for about 4 minutes or so. I used Starbuck's Casi Cielo coffee instead of water. after mixing everything together, I then beat at low speed for about 30 seconds in the kitchen aid and then on medium high for another 1ish minute to mix out the flour chunks and add a little more air to it. Cooked it for 25 minutes. Most of it in a 13x9 glass pan, and the remainder in a 9 inch. but you could just pour all of it in the 13x9 for a higher cake. just cook a few more minutes. amazingly moist and super without frosting.

This is the best chocolate cake recipe that I have ever made. It's not cloyingly sweet, it's moist but holds up to icing. My chocoholic boyfriend loved it! This is my "go to" recipe for chocolate cake from now on.

About the dryness issue some may have: Boiling water: You may be getting a dryer crumb as you measure the water and THEN boil it. Doing it this way, one gets loss of water via evaporation. Always go over some on the boiling water, and then you don't have to worry about losing a significant of water. Creaming butter/sugar: I recommend folding the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mix (pretty much a buttercream really) in three segments. Each segment, use a third of the flour and add in the next amount once the first is all incorporated. This ensures a well mixed flour with little or no lumps. Also, it helps keep the fluffy texture you created by whipping the buttercream together. This fluffiness wil help the crumb seem more "moist" as it won't be as dense(as opposed to just stirring it all together).

Make ABSOLUTELY SURE you allow the chocolate mixture to cool completely before mixing it with the other ingredients, or else the cake won't rise much. I made this mistake, and my layers turned out to be dense, and not very tall. It still tasted great, just wasn't as tall and impressive as it should've been.

This cake is very dense and rich. If you happen to run out of unsweetened cocoa powder and have to use half a cup of Dutch process cocoa, it's okay.

The taste and texture of this cake was lovely, however...it is the first time EVER for me that I have not been able to get the cake out of the pans. I will def use parchment to line the pans next time.

OMG this is a great cake. I made it tonight as a test run before I make my daughters birthday cake next weekend :) My only complaint is that it was a little too crumbly for my liking so I am going to add a cup of sour cream to the next batch! Thanks for the recipe :)

This is a very good recipe after I made several changes. 1 cup of cocoa seemed like too much; and I am glad I reduced it to 3/4 cup otherwise the cocoa flavor wouldve been too overpowering. I also increased the baking powder, elimated the baking soda, using 1 tsp. of salt. used milk instead of water and added a box of instant ( chocolate fudge flavor) pudding. It came out great! very moist and rich chocolate flavor :)