Dark Chocolate Cake

The most amazing, delicious, moist, and oh-so-dark chocolaty homemade cake recipe you will ever make. If you love the taste of dark chocolate, you must try this recipe.

I haven’t found anything more comforting than chocolate cake. It has to be one of my favorite things to eat. The classic combo of moist dark chocolate cake and rich dark chocolate frosting is the best! I can’t wait until my birthday comes around each year to make this cake for us to enjoy.

I have been a chocoholic for as long as I can remember. But, I’m also a chocolate hog, which means I’m a bit picky about what kind of chocolate I love the eat. My favorite chocolate taste is dark chocolate. Even in candy and candy bars. If I find a recipe with chocolate flavor in it, I will use dark chocolate cocoa powder virtually every time. To me, it seems the dark chocolate flavor will help keep the sweetness down in some recipes. I have been using Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder for many years and it’s easy to find at your local grocery store. 

The most amazing, delicious, moist and oh so dark chocolaty homemade cake recipe you will ever make. If you love the taste of dark chocolate, you must try this recipe.

My mom gave me this 3 layer recipe of chocolate heaven many years ago and I gave it my twist of changing out the unsweetened chocolate cocoa to dark chocolate cocoa powder. It makes a wonderful elegant display and is perfect for a dinner party or gathering.

Making this recipe does take a little time to mix up, bake and let cool before you can put the frosting on. Give yourself a few hours and it will turn out perfectly. Remember to never ice a cake unless it is completely cooled or you will have a cake mess on your hands. 

TIP: Cocoa powder is very fine and when mixing it with the other ingredients, add a little bit at a time and mix on low speed to keep the cocoa powder dust from flying all over the place.

The most amazing, delicious, moist and oh so dark chocolaty homemade cake recipe you will ever make. If you love the taste of dark chocolate, you must try this recipe.

Dark Chocolate Cake

The most amazing, delicious, moist, and oh-so-dark chocolaty homemade cake recipe you will ever make. If you love the taste of dark chocolate, you must try this recipe.
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 14 slices
Author: Tammy

Equipment

  • 3 – 9" cake pans
  • Mixer
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 12/ tsp salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

  • 1 1/2 cups butter softened
  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • 1 12/ cups dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 3 tsp vanilla extract
  • 7 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup milk

Instructions

Dark Chocolate Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour three 9-inch cake round pans.
  • Mix together flour, sugar, dark cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt with hand or stand mixer on low until combined.
  • add eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until smooth.
  • Divide batter among the 3 pans. I will use a cup measure to divide evenly between the pans.
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Don't over bake.
  • Cool on wire racks for about 15 minutes and then turn out the cakes onto the racks to cool completely. Don't hurry this process.

Dark Chocolate Frosting

  • In a large bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until fluffy with a hand or stand mixer.
  • Add in the dark cocoa powder and vanilla extract and beat on low until combined.
  • Beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. You may need to add more powdered sugar if you like the taste sweeter. Add milk a little at a time as needed until the frosting is at spreadable consistency. The frosting should be thick for easy spreading.
Like this recipe? Don’t forget to share!Follow me at @tammymylifeabundant
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18 Comments

  1. Give me a tall glass of milk and a big slice of that chocolate cake and I’m good to go. There’s nothing like a good chocolate cake and yours looks amazing.5 stars

  2. Now that looks like an amazing chocolate cake. I’ve never tried a homemade one but saving this to surprise my husband.5 stars

  3. If it has dark chocolate in it, then it’s my kind of dessert! This one sounds so decadent, I want to eat it all myself!5 stars

  4. When I started baking this was one of my goals to perfect a chocolate cake, up to this day I wasn’t able to do it. Thanks for the recipe, I will try this one, wish me luck. 🙂

  5. It looks positively decadent! My daughter and her wife both love dark chocolate, I’ll try to make this for them the next time they visit!5 stars

  6. This chocolate cake makes my mouth watering. I really love anything with chocolate, yum!

  7. I made this delightful chocolate cake last night and it was devoured by my family. I think the buttermilk is a good secret ingredient to make this cake so moist!5 stars

  8. That is my kind of dessert right there. Anything with chocolate is always a hit over here. And we always prefer it dark too. Yum!

  9. Wow, this dark chocolate cake looks so yummy! I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate and having a homemade cake in the fridge makes me more excited for breakfast every day. 🙂

  10. Oh my goodness! This cake making me so hungrryyyy!!! I bet the taste was really tasty and good! Shocks! My mouth is watering. YUM5 stars

  11. I wish I could reach through the computer and grab a slice! I think I will be trying my hand at making this soon!

  12. This is a beautiful cake! I love chocolate flavor. I am going to make this for my husband’s birthday celebration.5 stars

Comments are closed.