Homemade Chocolate Cake from Scratch

A slice of a chocolate cake on a white plate.

5 from 7 votes

Homemade Chocolate Cake from Scratch

Let's make a homemade Chocolate Cake from Scratch! This is the best easy recipe to make moist and light cake with perfect crumb and rich chocolate flavor, covered with incredibly delicious whipped chocolate ganache!

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Total Time4

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Calories: 637kcal

Author: Veronika's Kitchen

Ingredients

Ingredients for Chocolate Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs room temperature
1 cup buttermilk room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup strongly brewed coffee hot

Ingredients for Whipped Chocolate Ganache:

18 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

Instructions

How to make Chocolate Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 2 9-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together 2 cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 ½ cup granulated sugar and whisk. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk ½ cup vegetable oil and 2 large eggs. Add 1 cup buttermilk and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and whisk again.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ones. Whisk until combined. Pour in 1 cup hot coffee and whisk again. The batter should be thin.
Divide the batter evenly between 2 pre-greased cake pans lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
When done, take the cakes out of the oven and let cool off for 5-10minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool off completely.

How to make Whipped Chocolate Ganache:

Add 18 ounces chocolate chips in a bowl.
Pour 1 ½ cup heavy cream in a sauce pan and heat up until starts to simmer. Then pour it over the chocolate chips.
Allow it to sit for about 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Let it cool off completely, then refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
When ready, whip the ganache with a stand or a hand mixer until stiff peaks, but don’t overmix.

How to assemble:

When the cake is completely cooled off and chocolate ganache is whipped, we can start to assemble.
Place the 1^st cake layer on a platter with the top down. Evenly cover the top with ⅓ of whipped ganache. Place the second layer top down. Use the rest of the ganache to evenly cover the cake on the top and the sides.

Video

Notes

Sifting. I prefer to sift flour and cocoa powder for this recipe, so it will be light and without any clumps.
Cocoa Powder. Do not use Dutch-process cocoa powder in this recipe but unsweetened natural cocoa powder.
Coffee. For hot coffee, you can use regular or decaf coffee. It won’t taste like coffee but will helps to enrich the chocolate flavor. If you don’t have coffee, you can just use hot water.
Buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make it at home yourself. Just add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of milk, stir and let it sit for about 5 minutes. The mixture should curdle a bit when ready.
Cake Pan. Make sure you use a leakproof cake pan for this recipe. Because the batter is very thin, it may leak out.
Parchment Paper. It’s important to use parchment paper on the bottom of the pan, so it will be easier to take the cake out of the form. If you skip this step, most likely your cake will stick to the bottom of the pan.

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