Introduction: Easy Moist Chocolate Cake

About: Hello and Welcome to In the Kitchen With Matt. I am your host Matt Taylor. My goal for the show is to teach you how to cook really good food at home for cheap. Eating out everyday can get expensive, but it doe…

In this instructable I will show you how to make a chocolate cake. This amazing homemade moist chocolate cake is really easy to make, top it off with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting and you are left with a chocolate cake that is to die for. If I can make it you can make it, let's get baking!

Don't forget to take a look at my other instructables!

If you have any questions or comments put them down below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Follow the steps below or watch the video tutorial or do both! :)

Step 1: Ingredients/Tools

You can print the chocolate cake recipe on my website.

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (256g)
  • 2 cups white granulated sugar (450g)
  • 3/4 cup unsweeted cocoa powder (75g)
  • 2 tsp. baking powder (8g)
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda (7g)
  • 1 tsp. salt (5g)
  • 1 cup milk (whole, 2%, 1%, Almond, etc.) (250mL)
  • 1/2 cup oil (canola, vegetable, coconut, etc.) (118mL)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract (10mL)
  • 1 cup very hot water (236mL)

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

  • 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened (340g)
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (100g)
  • 5 cups powdered sugar (confectioner's, icing) (625g)
  • 1/2 cup milk (whole, 2%, 1%, skim, etc.) (125mL)
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract (10mL)

Tools:

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Step 2: Mix Dry Ingredients

First let's preheat our oven to 350 degrees F. or 176 C. Then let's mix together our dry ingredients with a whisk or a sifter. We want to make sure to break up any cocoa clumps that might be in there.

Step 3: Add and Mix Wet Ingredients

Now let's add our milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. At this point we want to switch to a wooden spoon or a hand mixer to mix the ingredients. The batter will be very thick at this point.

Step 4: Add Water

Lastly we will at our very hot water slowly, while the mixer is on low, until it is all incorporated, your batter will be kind of runny which is good. Use a spatula to scrape the sides.

Step 5: Prepare Pans

Now let's take a couple of 9 inch cake pans and we want to use some butter or shortening and using our fingers push it all around the pan coating it, then take about a tablespoon of flour and place that in the pan, move and tap your pan around until the flour coats the pan, then tap our the excess flour. The pans are ready to go. We don't want our cakes to stick, so don't skip this step, even if you have a nice non-stick pan like I have here, it is still a good idea to prep the pans. Next using a cup evenly distribute the cake batter between both pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350 F (176 C) until when you poke the center with a toothpick it comes out clean..

Step 6: Cake Release

Now we want to let our cakes cool for about 10 minutes. Then using your cake spatula, move around the edges of the cake, to help release it. Then turn the pan over and let the cake come out. Let the cake cool on the racks for another 20 to 30 minutes.

Step 7: Make That Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Now time to make the yummy chocolate buttercream frosting. First in a large bowl cream together your softened butter with your cocoa powder, using a mixer. Then add your vanilla extract, next add about 1 cup of your powdered sugar at a time, then mix, then add the sugar, etc. until it is all incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Now add about 1/3 of the milk, and see what kind of consistency you want. If you want the frosting thicker, leave it like this, if you want it a bit thinner, add another 1/3 of the milk. You may not need all of the milk. Just depends on how you want your frosting. :) All right our frosting is ready to go.

Step 8: Frost That Cake!

Let's frost the cake now using a cake spatula, or butter knife, etc. A little trick I learned on how to keep your cake board or cake pedestal from getting messy near the base of the cake is you add four strips of parchment paper, set in them in such a away that you have an open square in the middle. Then place a dollop of frosting there, this will act like glue and hold your bottom layer of cake in place. Add the first layer of cake, then frost the top, add the next layer and cover the whole thing. :)

Step 9: Serve It Up

Now we want to remove the parchment paper by gently pulling them away. At this point you may want to chill the cake in the fridge, to let the frosting set, but it isn't necessary, you can serve right away if you want. Enjoy!

Step 10: Video Tutorial

You can print the chocolate cake recipe on my website.

Now watch those steps in action by viewing the video tutorial.