Homemade Chocolate Cake

Everyone loves homemade chocolate cake and there's nothing better than a rich, moist homemade cake to serve with coffee or for dessert or just as a treat. You simply can't buy chocolate cake that tastes this good and it's really easy to make.

The following homemade chocolate cake recipe is very rich and is incredibly moist. You can make two larger cakes or this recipe will also make around 35-40 cupcakes if you prefer.

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups cocoa
• 2 1/2 cups strong coffee (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and line 2 cake pans with wax paper.



2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl and leave aside for a moment.



3. Brew a strong pot of coffee and allow to cool down to room temperature. You'll need 2 1/2 cups of strong coffee.



4. Whisk the cocoa into your cooled coffee until there are no lumps of cocoa left.



5. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with a beater for about a minute. Add the oil and beat for another minute.



6. Then add the brown sugar and white sugar and beat for approximately 10 minutes until the sugar begins to dissolve and the butter becomes light and fluffy.



7. Add the eggs and beat them into the mixture well. Mix in the vanilla extract and then you'll need to add small portions of the coffee/cocoa mixture and the flour mixture alternatively until they're gone. After each addition, beat thoroughly and be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl at regular intervals.



8. Pour cake mix into the prepared baking pans and bake for 25 minutes. If you're making cupcakes instead, these only need to bake for 20 minutes. You can check if your cakes are ready by sticking a skewer into the center. If it comes out clean, your cake is cooked properly.



9. Remove from the oven and leave cakes in the pan to cool for a couple of minutes before taking them out of the pans. Leave them to cool on a wire rack.



10. You can spread your homemade chocolate cake with your choice of frosting and serve. Chocolate butter frosting tastes amazing with this rich chocolate cake and peanut butter frosting is a nice complimentary touch to the moist chocolate. We've supplied some other alternatives you might like to try too.

Homemade Chocolate Butter Frosting

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In a small saucepan, heat the butter, cocoa and milk until they begin to boil. Remove from the heat and add the powdered sugar and mix in well. Continue stirring until the sugar is mixed in thoroughly. Spread over your cakes and sprinkle some chopped nuts lightly over the top. Leave the cake aside until the icing sets.

Peanut Butter Frosting

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, heat the butter, milk and sugar until they begin to boil. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and stir until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and spread over the top and sides of your chocolate cake.

Vanilla Frosting

• 1 cup shortening
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons milk

Using an electric mixer, beat together the shortening and vanilla on a medium speed. Continue beating as you add half of the powdered sugar a little bit at a time. Then slowly add half of the milk. When this is beaten together well, add the remaining powdered sugar slowly and then slowly drizzle in more milk until your frosting reaches the thickness and consistency you prefer.

Chocolate Frosting

Using the vanilla frosting recipe above as a base, add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder at the same time as you're adding the powdered sugar.

If you've tried this homemade chocolate cake recipe at home, we'd love to hear what you thought. We'd also love to hear your recipes for chocolate cake if you have an alternative. Please share your homemade cake recipe here.