The Ultimate Chocolate Cake Recipe

Hey everyone, it's Natasha of natashaskitchen.com and today we are making a decadent and moist chocolate cake with a rich chocolate frosting. Both the cake and the frosting are so easy to make. This recipe is a keeper and always gets rave reviews and it makes for a stunning birthday cake. We'll start with some quick prep. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then butter two nine-inch cake pans on the sides and bottom. Also, line the bottoms with a ring of parchment paper. Now in a large mixing bowl, we'll combine our dry ingredients. That's three cups of all-purpose flour, two cups of sugar, half a cup of unsweetened cocoa, two teaspoons of baking soda, and a teaspoon of salt. Whisk those together, breaking up any large lumps of cocoa. A few tiny lumps are okay. Now in a second bowl, we're going to combine the wet ingredients. That's two cups of warm, not hot coffee, two-thirds cup of light olive oil, two tablespoons of vinegar, and a tablespoon of vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. Now this sounds like a lot of coffee, but you cannot taste the coffee in the finished cake, but it really amplifies the flavor of chocolate. Now pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk just until they come together. Your batter will still be slightly lumpy. And the finished batter is somewhat thin, but don't worry, it rises really well. Divide the batter evenly between your two prepared cake pans. And I love using a digital kitchen scale to make sure I have the same amount of batter in each cake pan. That way they rise evenly and perfectly. Once you have those evenly portioned, bake on the center rack of a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once they come out of the oven, let them rest in the pans for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the cake pans should be cool enough to handle. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the edges to loosen them from the pan. Invert the cakes onto a wire rack. Gently peel back the parchment paper and it should come off easily. Now let the cakes rest until they are completely at room temperature before applying frosting. Once the cakes have reached room temperature, we're gonna make the frosting. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine 12 ounces of softened cream cheese and one cup of unsalted room temperature butter. Beat those together on medium high speed with the whisk attachment for about three minutes. Scrape down the bowl as needed to make sure everything is really well combined. And the mixture should look fluffy and creamy. Next, use a sifter to sift in five cups of powdered sugar and one cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. Sift in batches as needed until you have all of the powdered sugar and cocoa in the bowl. And sifting is important here so you don't get lumps of cocoa in your frosting. Next, add half a teaspoon of salt and do not skip it. The salt cuts the sweetness and balances the frosting. Start the mixer on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the bowl, then increase to medium high speed and beat another minute or until the frosting is smooth and whipped. Finally, add two teaspoons of vanilla extract and continue beating on medium high speed for another minute, scraping down the bowl as needed. The chocolate frosting should be uniform in color without any streaks, smooth, whipped, and fluffy. Our cake layers have completely cooled to room temperature and now we can assemble the cake. Place the first cake layer with the flat side down on a cake platter. Spread the top with a generous one third of your chocolate frosting. And I love a thick layer of frosting in the middle so don't skimp on this step. Add the second layer with the flat side up so you have an even top. Add most of the remaining frosting to the top of the cake and spread it around. Apply the last of the frosting to the sides of the cake and I love this offset spatula. It makes frosting cakes so much easier and I'll leave a link to this in the description. And we're not going for perfection in decorating this cake but we want more of a rustic look because that's exactly what I think of when I think chocolate cake. Wipe off any excess frosting with a damp paper towel from the cake platter. Now use a spatula or the back of a spoon to create swirls and waves in the top of your cake. Okay. Do you know what time it is? It is time for the taste test. And I cannot wait because I have this fierce craving for chocolate cake right now and all this chocolate is just staring me down. I just can't any longer. All right, we're gonna cut right into this. Here we go. And I do like to clean my knife with a paper towel between slices to keep the cake pretty. And a big old honkin' slice for me. Oh yes. Look at those layers. Moist and decadent chocolate cake. This is the stuff my dreams are made of. Oh my goodness. Let's get on with this. I am getting way too impatient. Okay. Okay, here we go. It is really soft and moist. This is the chocolate cake of all chocolate cakes. Come to mama. Like bite after bite. This is decadent and intensely chocolatey, but it's not overly sweet. It's just really enjoyable. Yum. And I love how simple this is. I mean, it's a rustic and pretty decoration, but this comes together fast and it would make just the most stunning birthday cake. This is a winner. Make this and you will be known for your chocolate cake. If you guys enjoyed this video, give me a great big thumbs up below. Make sure to subscribe to our channel and we'll see you next time. All right, who likes chocolate? If you're like me and love chocolate, check out some of our favorite chocolatey recipes right over there and right down there. And before you go, click below to subscribe and when you do, click that little bell icon so you'll get notifications every time we post a new recipe. We'll see you next time.