This from scratch chocolate butter cake is super moist and easy to make. Because it’s actually a chocolate cake with butter recipe, the cake has a really rich flavor to it that’s perfect for birthdays, or any time you feel like a homemade chocolate cake.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
Ok, you might know that vanilla cake is my favorite, especially this one. I feel like most people, except for me, pick chocolate cake as THEIR favorite, so I wanted to give myself a challenge.
The challenge was to create a chocolate cake that I felt was as tasty as my favorite vanilla one. Now, that’s a challenge coming from this vanilla cake enthusiast, but I think I have done it.
This Chocolate Butter Cake is super moist, but it’s not a complete chocolate overload.
I LOVE this chocolate cake. Yep, you heard me right. I actually said I love a chocolate cake. Mark that one down on your calendar.
This cake has a dense crumb, but still light (does that even make sense?). It’s made with real butter with just a bit of oil. I love it because it’s not so overloaded with a super chocolaty flavor and I can still taste the butter flavor coming through. It also doesn’t feel as spongy as some of the oil chocolate cakes do.
LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS IN THE CHOCOLATE BUTTER CAKE:
Butter: Most recipes for chocolate cake that I’ve made, call for all oil and no butter. The oil really makes the cake moist, but I just prefer the denseness and the taste of a butter cake. So, I went about creating a chocolate butter cake that would actually stay moist.
You will be using a bit of oil in this cake to add a bit more moistness to it, but the butter is the shining star.
Brown Sugar: This isn’t normally in a chocolate cake, but I find that brown sugar really gives this cake a deeper flavor and provides extra moisture.
Coffee: For the liquid, I went with coffee. As my mom would always say, “Don’t knock it ’til you try it.” I promise you this cake won’t taste like coffee. In fact, you won’t even taste the coffee at all. It just helps to bring out the other flavors.
Cocoa powder: You’ll want to use unsweetened cocoa powder NOT dutch processed. Why? Because dutch processed cocoa isn’t acidic like regular unsweetened natural cocoa powder is and since you’ll be adding in baking soda, if you use dutch processed, that could mess up the rise and texture of the cake.
MIXING METHOD FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTER CAKE:
The mixing method for this cake is just the classic creaming method, but even easier.
With the creaming method, you basically whip up the butter and sugar until fluffy, then you alternately add in your dry and liquid ingredients.
When I originally wrote this recipe, the instructions went through creaming the butter and sugar for a couple minutes and later adding in the hot water. While I really think it’s important to mix the butter and sugar well, I’ve determined that it’s not necessary to mix it quite as long with this one.
Basically, it’s really not necessary to whip the butter and sugar for several minutes for this cake, because you’ll later add in the hot coffee (or hot water) and that will essentially melt the butter and the sugar.
Tips & FAQs for Making the Chocolate Butter Cake:
If you really can’t stand the idea of adding in coffee (remember, it won’t taste like coffee, it just enhances the flavor of the chocolate), you can actually just use really hot water instead. The cake will still taste great.
Should I use dutch cocoa or regular cocoa powder?
Use regular unsweetened natural cocoa powder. Dutch cocoa powder is made differently and you would need to make adjustments to the baking soda and baking powder if you use dutch processed.
When you say brown sugar, does it matter if it’s dark or light brown sugar?
It doesn’t really matter. Just use what you have. I used light brown, but dark brown is fine too. Also make sure you pack the brown sugar into your measuring cup.
Well this recipe is now my best ‘go to’ chocolate cake. It’s simple to make (no complicated steps) and it’s great for birthdays, or practically any other time you feel like chocolate cake.
I filled and frosted this cake with my double chocolate buttercream.
Video:
Now onto the cake recipe!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Chocolate Butter Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa (I used Hershey’s cocoa – not dutch processed)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup butter (1 stick)
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup hot coffee
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch round pans.
- In a mixing bowl, add the room temp butter and the brown and granulated sugar. Beat on medium until well mixed.
- In another bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, vanilla, milk and eggs. (You’ll add the coffee later.) Set aside.
- Now you'll add in your dry and liquid ingredients alternately. Take a third of the flour mixture and add into the butter and sugar mixture. Beat on low/medium just until combined.
- Add in half the liquid ingredients (not the coffee yet) and beat on medium just until combined.
- Add in the next third of the flour mixture, mix, then the second half of the liquid mixture and mix just until combined. Now add in the last third of the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
- Add in the hot coffee and mix until well combined. Don’t over mix. Once it’s combined, stop mixing. You don’t want to mix for several minutes, that’s too long.
- Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 35 to 40 minutes.
- Set on wire racks to cool for about ten minutes, then turn out the cake layers onto the racks and remove the pans to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!
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Find the webstory at this link: Scratch Chocolate Cake with Butter
Natasha
Hiya,
I’m going to make your chocolate and vanilla bean cakes. Just wondering if the oven temp in Celsius would be with or without the fan? Also roughly how tall would the 3 x 6 inch cakes turn out? Many thanks in advance
Kara Jane
Hi Natasha, not sure about baking with the fan, so I’m just gonna say fan off. If you bake it in 3, 6″ pans, it’ll probably be around 4 1/2 – 5 inches tall without the filling and frosting. If you do decide to bake in the 6″ pans instead of the 8″ pans, start checking for doneness a bit earlier than it says. Hope this helps and let me know how it turns out!
Crystal Chan
Hi Kara
im wondering what exact cake pan size you use for this recipe ?
Thanks
Kara Jane
Crystal, I used two, 8″ round pans that were 2″ deep.
Divya
Hi there… I wanted to make a 3D car cake. Can I use this recipe for it? Is this recommended for carving cake?
Tq
Kara Jane
Hi there, I haven’t used this recipe for a carved cake, so I can’t say for sure whether it would work. I don’t do many carved cakes. This cake is on the dense side, so it may work just fine. It is very moist though, so it would probably be a good idea to keep it chilled to make carving it easier. I hope this helps. 🙂
Stephanie Lip
Hi, Can I use all granulated sugar instead of a mix of brown and granulated sugar as specified in the recipe?
Thanks!
Kara Jane
Yes that should work just fine.
Ravikiran Bantwal
Hello myself Ravikiran from India
If I want to make cupcakes what will be the adjustments…..
Kara Jane
He there, you’ll just fill the cupcake liners about half way to a little more than halfway up. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I’d start checking them for doneness at about 20 minutes although it might take them a bit longer to bake than that.
Ravikiran Bantwal
Thank you for the early reply . I tried and it took 35 minutes in my otg . Thank you so much
Kara Jane
Oh that’s really good to know! Thank you!
Ally
Hello,
I made your recipe in a cupcake form and I ended up with 2 dozen. They were everything and more. The bake time took exactly 20 minutes. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Not a huge fan of chocolate but this is amazing!
Kara Jane
Ally, that’s great to hear! Thanks for that wonderful review and for letting me know how long the cupcakes took to bake…that’ll be really helpful to others as well. Thanks again and I’m so glad you liked the recipe!
Abiola
Hi, thanks for the recipe. Its difficult getting natural cocoa powder where i stay. Can i go ahead with the other cocoa powder i have? And what do you suggest i do to the baking soda and powder? Thanks
Kara Jane
If you are going to use dutch processed cocoa powder then you might want to make some changes. Dutch processed cocoa powder is not acidic like regular cocoa powder is, therefor you may not need the baking soda. Try making this cake with 2 1/2 tsp baking powder instead of one and omit the baking soda. I have not tested that out, but in theory it should work.
Abiola
Ok, would give it a try. Thanks for your reply, i appreciate it.
Anshul
Hi Kara,
I will try this cake today. Being a dense cake it would be good for carving a pyramid and sphinx cake for my son (I hope i am right). The frosting you used looks close enough to the colour of sand i need for my cake. However, it would be perfect if i can lighten its colour a bit. Will adding white chocolate make any difference or would you suggest making the white buttercream frosting and then adding icing colours to get the final sandy colour? Please share your thoughts.
Kara Jane
Yes I think this recipe should be just fine to carve…it’s on the denser side and not too light. As far as the frosting goes, you can use the regular vanilla buttercream recipe and just add in either food coloring a small amount of cocoa powder at first. That way you can build up the color and add more if it needs it. Adding white chocolate won’t really make it whiter though, it would be better to just not add as much cocoa powder. Here’s a link to the vanilla buttercream recipe: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/vanillabeanbuttercreamrecipe/
Arleen
Hi Kara, I made the pink velvet cake and frosting yesterday and it was OMG good. Today I’m making the chocolate butter cake. I’m obsessed. Thank you for this great website, easy to navigate, easy to print. So many great tips! I’m done with Pinterest! So many times the recipes bring you to another site and you can’t print. You are the best! Only regret is I had not found you sooner. Arleen from Garnet Valley.
Kara Jane
Oh Arleen thank you so much for that wonderful comment! ? I’m so glad you’re liking the recipes and that means a lot to me that you find the site easy to navigate and print. Oh and I know what you mean about Pinterest…the same thing happens to me and it drives me crazy. Thanks again for your comment…it brightened my day!
Allison Kalpokas
Hi can this be an 13×9 cake?
Kara Jane
Hey Allison, I think I just answered your question in another comment, but yes, one batch will fill a 13×9 inch pan.
Allison Kalpokas
Hi Kara…
I need to make 1/2 sheet cake..half chocolate half vanilla. Do you have a recipe for that? Tips to make the cake half n half? And can I use your chocolate butter cake and your vanilla bean cake for this task?
Thank you in advance…
Kara Jane
Hi Allison, I think maybe the easiest thing to do is to just make a chocolate cake in a 13×9 inch pan and a vanilla cake in a 13×9 inch pan and then put them together on a large 1/2 sheet pan cake board. I don’t think I’d make them in the same pan…that would be a pain. I think it would be easier to just grab a vanilla cake recipe and a chocolate one, make each in a 13×9 inch pan (because that’s a quarter sheet cake each) and then just stick them side be side and ice over the whole thing like it’s one big cake. You’ll probably want to add a little icing where you stick them together as well, so they don’t move around on you. That’s what I’ve done in the past and it’s worked fine. Yes, you can use both my vanilla bean and the chocolate butter cake recipes for that. One recipe of each will fill a 13×9 inch pan. Let me know how it goes!
Sandrabee
Good morning I was wondering did you ever sift your flour? You just measured it and whisked it in? Also for your vanilla bean recipe can you do half AP flour & cake flour? Lastly what brand of butter do you use for your buttercream? Does the buttercream taste like butter?
Kara Jane
Hi there. I almost never sift my flour unless for some reason it’s lumpy. You can if you want to though. There’s nothing wrong with sifting and it may make a softer cake…I just like to do things quick. Just make sure to measure first, then sift it. Don’t sift and then measure. That will throw your measurements off. As far as using half cake flour and half AP flour goes…I guess that would be fine, but they are not the same thing. You would need to do some measurement adjusting. For the butter I use…I just use whatever the store brand is or Land o Lakes. Just make sure you’re using real butter and not margarine. Sometimes margarine comes in stick form and it looks like it’s real butter, but it’s not. The buttercream has a buttery taste, but it’s sweet, so it doesn’t taste like it’s only butter. The vanilla buttercream will have a sweet vanilla buttery taste and the chocolate buttercream has a sweet chocolate buttery taste. I hope this helps!
Elny
Tried this recipe but the crumbs is too soft.. I even couldn’t cover it with any buttercream as it crumbly falled apart like big sands.
How to make it more solid? Like the taste though but very disappointed of the crumbs.
Kara Jane
Hi there, I’m not sure why it ended up so crumbly. I wonder if it was baked a little too long. Sometimes that will dry out a cake a bit and make it crumbly. This cake shouldn’t be crumbly though…it should be a little more on the moist, dense side. Maybe try baking it for a little less time and make sure that all the liquid ingredients are measured properly and that when you measure out the flour, that you spoon it into the measuring cup and don’t pack it into the measuring cup as that could add in too much flour and make it dry and crumbly. Hope this helps!
Jerry
How come you don’t beat the eggs one at a time into the creamed mixture like other creaming method recipes?
Kara Jane
You don’t always have to do that when mixing cakes. You normally do that so they emulsify better, but it’s okay to just mix the eggs right into the other liquid ingredients for this cake. You’ll be adding the liquid ingredients in two parts, so it will emulsify just fine.
Isabelle
What pan size are you using to make this cake?
Kara Jane
I used two, 8 inch round cake pans.
Priyadarshini Thirumal
Hi..
I plan to bake this in a 7inch cake pan should I just half the recipe if yes should I consider 2eggs
Thanks in advance
Kara Jane
Hi, are you baking in just one 7 inch pan? If so, then yes, you could halve the recipe. To get half of three eggs, just use one whole egg plus the egg white of another egg.
kathy simser
Hi Kara, This might be a long one. I am an experienced baker (43 years). Always used store bought cake mixes (Duncan Hines moist etc.) since they are reliable for cake and cupcake. I recently found an outstanding recipe for choc cupcakes from scratch so I thought I would try a white and choc cake from scratch, that,s when I found yours. The cupcake recipe uses coffee,hot water, cocoa and your method of mixing and combining.. Could it be that after all this time it was as simple as this? I will try them and get back to you. Thanks Kath
Kara Jane
Hi Kathy, I hope it works out!
Jen
This is delightful. Best chocolate cake I’ve ever made! I’ll be trying your French vanilla recipe next!
Kara Jane
Oh thanks Jen! I’m so glad you liked it!