Here’s a classic, easy chocolate cake—soft, moist, and perfect on its own or with frosting 🍫
Simple Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot water (or hot coffee for deeper flavor)
Optional chocolate frosting:
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9-inch round or square pan.
- Mix dry ingredients
- In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add wet ingredients
- Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
- Add hot water
- Slowly stir in hot water. Batter will be thin—this is normal.
- Bake
- Pour batter into pan.
- Bake 30–35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool
- Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.
Quick Frosting (Optional)
- Beat butter and cocoa until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.
- Beat until creamy, then spread on cooled cake.
Tips
- Don’t overmix—keeps the cake soft
- Hot coffee makes the chocolate flavor richer (no coffee taste)
- Great with ice cream or whipped cream
If you want, I can also give you a super fudgy version, a microwave mug cake, or a no-egg chocolate cake. Just tell me! 🍰