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–+ servings
Slice of a chocolate cake of a stack of 3 plates.

Best One Bowl Chocolate Cake

This decadent one bowl chocolate cake is made by making two simple cake layers with the easiest and most chocolaty chocolate frosting.
5 from 32 votes
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 slices
Calories 662 kcal

Equipment

  • Cake strips to make perfect baked cakes with even tops.
  • 8-inch cake pans to bake the cakes in.
  • Mixing bowls best glass mixing bowls.
  • Whisk set our favorite copper whisk set.

Ingredients
 
 

For the cake:

  • 3 cups Flour
  • ½ cup Cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoon Baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon Baking soda
  • 2 cups Granulated sugar
  • 3 Eggs
  • ¾ cup Vegetable oil
  • 1 cup Buttermilk
  • 1 cup Hot coffee
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

For the chocolate frosting:

  • 340 g Butter
  • 2 cups Powder sugar
  • ½ cup Cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • 100 g Semisweet chocolate melted and cooled

Instructions
 

For the cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 180 (350f) and prep two 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper.
  • Into a big bowl, add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well with a whisk until combined.
  • Add the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and buttermilk. Mix well until combined.
  • Add the kosher salt and the hot coffee, mix well until the batter is smooth.
  • Divide the mixture into two 8-inch baking pans, we suggest using cake strips for even baking. (weight the batter for better results) and bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

  • Make the chocolate frosting: into a large bowl add room temperature butter and mix with a hand mixer or a stand mixer until the butter is light and fluffy.
  • Add half of the powder sugar and the cocoa powder and carefully mix until combined.
  • Add the other half of the powder sugar and mix until smooth.
  • Melt dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate and let it cool completely to room temperature.
  • Add the melted chocolate to the mixture and mix until well combined and smooth.

For the assembly:

  • Pipe a small dollop of the frosting on the surface that you will frost on. Lay the first cake layer over the frosting dot.
  • Pipe ⅓ of the frosting on top of the cake layer and spread an even layer.
  • Top with the second cake layer and frost the cake.
  • For decoration, smooth the sides of the cake (it shouldn’t look perfect) and make wave motions on the top of the cake for a rustic look.

Notes

Don’t skip the coffee in the cake, you can’t taste the coffee, it simply enhances the chocolate flavor.
Don’t overmix the batter, mix the batter until just combined, you don’t want the cake batter to develop gluten from the flour.
Use cake strips! Cake strips give you even and perfectly baked cake layers. Click here for the amazon link.
Make sure you use room temperature butter for the chocolate frosting. This step is a must to get a smooth chocolate frosting.
Cool the melted chocolate before adding it to the chocolate frosting! This step is a must, if the melted chocolate will be hot, it will melt the butter and the chocolate frosting will be ruined.

Nutrition

Calories: 662kcalCarbohydrates: 88gProtein: 7gFat: 43gSaturated Fat: 20gPolyunsaturated Fat: 9gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 105mgSodium: 481mgPotassium: 241mgFiber: 4gSugar: 38gVitamin A: 805IUCalcium: 95mgIron: 3mg
Keyword best ever chocolate cake, easy one bowl chocolate cake
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