This chocolate fudge cake is the most amazing chocolaty, rich, moist, and tender, and is the perfect dessert to satisfy your chocolate cravings!
This chocolate cake comes together in one bowl and is frosted with the most decadent chocolate ganache frosting that I can eat with a spoon!
This indulgent cake features a moist and dense chocolate cake base, topped with a luscious layer of fudge frosting. The simplicity of having just one layer allows the flavors to shine through, making it a perfect treat for chocolate lovers.
This cake will be your new go-to cake to make when you need an easy one-bowl chocolaty dessert that takes little effort but look luxurious and bakery-style!
If you like chocolate recipes as we do, you should check out our double chocolate banana bread, chewy and fudgy brownies, best ever chocolate cake, chewy double chocolate cookies, and our easy chocolate cupcakes!
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Why this recipe works
- This cake is fudgy and chocolaty and is loaded with chocolate flavor!
- This cake is topped with the most delicious and simple 2 ingredient chocolate ganache frosting.
- One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it comes together in one bowl!
- This cake is perfect for chocolate lovers who love to make easy and decadent desserts!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Dutch cocoa powder– we like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder for our cake because we like the deep and rich chocolate taste, but the natural cocoa powder will work great as well!
Baking powder– baking powder allows the cake to rise. Make sure that your baking powder is not expired.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Espresso powder- you can use your favorite espresso powder.
Vegetable oil – we used vegetable oil for this recipe. canola oil will work great for this recipe.
Eggs– To give the cake a good structure. Make sure you’re using room-temperature eggs.
Buttermilk– gives the cake extra moisture. You can make your own buttermilk if you don’t have one on hand. Simply mix a cup of milk with a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
Hot water- will melt all the ingredients together and make this cake extra moist.
Vanilla extract– Vanilla extract Is an essential ingredient for baking.
Salt– We used kosher salt for this recipe. Salt doesn’t give the cake a salty taste, it helps to enhance the chocolate flavor.
For the chocolate ganache
Chocolate- use the best quality semisweet or dark chocolate bars for the best flavor. using the best quality dark chocolate is very important in this recipe.
Heavy cream- use full-fat heavy cream for this recipe. the heavy cream makes this french hot chocolate extra creamy and silky.
Instructions
Into a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, espresso powder, kosher salt, and granulated sugar, sift the cocoa powder, and mix with a whisk until combined.
Add the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract, and mix until almost combined.
Add the hot water and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible! Do not overmix.
Pour the cake batter into an 8-inch cake pan. Smooth it out with a spatula and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Make the chocolate ganache
Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until the chocolate ganache is smooth and silky.
Place the chocolate ganache in the fridge for about 40 minutes or until it hardens and has a frosting-like texture.
Frost the cake with the chocolate ganache and smooth it out with a spatula. Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and milk. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cake and not dense and dry cake.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat and frost this cake as it's pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least an hour so it will be firmer and won’t crumble up. This step ensures that the frosting won’t melt off the cake. You never want to frost warm cupcakes or cakes.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cake will release easily from the pan.
Faq's
Yes. You can skip the espresso powder in this recipe if you don't consume coffee or use a caffeine-free coffee powder or espresso powder.
We like to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder because it gives the cake a deeper rich chocolate taste. We highly recommend not replacing the Dutch cocoa powder with natural cocoa powder.
No! you can’t taste the coffee. Adding the coffee simply enhances the chocolate flavor. So, don’t skip the coffee on the cake!
Yes! If you want to add more chocolate, you can add 1 cup of chocolate chips to the cake mixture. To prevent the chocolate chips from sinking, coat them with a little bit of flour before adding them to the batter.
Storing
This cake will last up to 4 days stored at room temperature. Cover the cake with plastic wrap or foil to prevent it from drying out.
Freezing
Freeze this cake after it cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months, some people find the cake tastes better after freezing it.
Make ahead instructions
You can make this cake ahead by freezing the baked cake ahead of time. Wrap the cake layer with a few layers of plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature for 1-2 hours or in the fridge overnight.
When you are ready to frost the cake, make the chocolate ganache, and assemble the cake!
Substitutions
Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
Dairy-free- you can make this cake dairy-free by replacing the butter with vegan butter or using your favorite dairy-free chocolate ganache.
Variations
Frosting- Use your favorite chocolate frosting like dark chocolate frosting, chocolate fudge frosting, chocolate whipped cream frosting, stabilized chocolate whipped cream frosting, chocolate cream cheese frosting, etc.
Equipment
- Mixing bowl (set of 3)
- Whisk Set (pack of 3) to whisk the ingredients together
- 8-inch cake pans.
More chocolate cake recipes
Small chocolate cake- This small chocolate cake is perfect when you're craving a chocolate cake but don't want to make a big cake. We made this cake in an 8x8 inch baking pan.
Ferrero rocher cake- This Ferrero rocher cake is made with three chocolate hazelnut cake layers, topped and frosted with hazelnut buttercream, and topped with chocolate ganache, and Ferrero rocher candy.
Chocolate sour cream pound cake- This chocolate sour cream pound cake is moist, chocolaty, and easy to make. It's topped with a silky smooth chocolate ganache that makes this cake irresistible.
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📖 Recipe
Chocolate Fudge Cake (One Bowl)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Flour AP or cake flour
- ½ cup Cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ cups Granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Espresso powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 Eggs
- ⅓ cup Vegetable oil
- ¾ cup Buttermilk
- ¾ cup Hot water
Chocolate ganache
- 230 g Dark chocolate
- 230 g Heavy cream
Instructions
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, espresso powder, kosher salt, and granulated sugar, sift the cocoa powder, and mix with a whisk until combined.
- Add the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract, and mix until almost combined.
- Add the hot water and mix until just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible! Do not overmix.
- Pour the cake batter into an 8-inch cake pan. Smooth it out with a spatula and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Make the chocolate ganache
- Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
- Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until the chocolate ganache is smooth and silky.
- Place the chocolate ganache in the fridge for about 40 minutes or until it hardens and has a frosting-like texture.
- Frost the cake with the chocolate ganache and smooth it out with a spatula. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and milk. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have moist cake and not dense and dry cake.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to eat and frost this cake as it's pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least an hour so it will be firmer and won’t crumble up. This step ensures that the frosting won’t melt off the cake. You never want to frost warm cupcakes or cakes.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your cake will release easily from the pan.
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