Hands down best Chocolate Cake and Cupcake recipe!

Chocolate cake. Yum. By and far the flavor I would choose over any other. So, this recipe needs to be awesome, right? Absolutely!

Again, this one has eluded me for awhile. I went to a birthday party over 10 years ago and really enjoyed the chocolate cake my friend made for it. I was surprised to hear that she just followed the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. So, that became my go-to chocolate cake recipe for the next 10 years of my baking. It was ALMOST perfect. Tasted great and had great moisture content, but I found it a little difficult to stack and frost - it was a bit crumbly. 

 I’m also a fan of a nice dome top on my cupcakes and really wanted to find a recipe that gave me that as well. So, I recently went on a hunt for a new recipe. I tried lots of them out there, and as I did, I found that many of them were very similar to the original Hershey's recipe I had been using. Some added sour cream, some added Espresso powder, some used buttermilk instead of milk, some used coffee instead of water, etc. As with any new recipe I am trying to find, I amass a number of recipes, and my daughter and I bake all day. We bake as many of the recipes as we can, and then do a family-wide taste test of all of them side by side that evening and the following day. 

Why both days? It is important to see how the cake/cupcakes taste on day one, and compare that flavor to day two (sometimes they taste better the next day). It’s also important to see if the cupcake liners pull away from the cupcake on day one or two, or if they continue to look nice for days. Who has time to get up at 3 AM to make cupcakes to send to school? I often make and decorate the cupcakes the night before they go to school with my kids or come to work with me.

Anyhow, back to the mission. After testing numerous cakes and cupcakes side by side, I put my favorite ingredients from different recipes together to make this great recipe. It checks ALMOST all the boxes. It has a great deep chocolatey taste, deep brown color, the perfect amount of moisture, and is stable for stacking and frosting. The only thing I feel it lacks is that nice dome top. But, in my research I have learned that the cocoa in the recipe doesn’t have the same density as the flour and therefore doesn’t provide as much lift. Therefore, these cupcakes will SLIGHTLY dip in the center. This is not noticeable once frosted, but should be mentioned. The cakes have a nice flat top, so not much is lost when leveling or torting for stacking. So, credit where credit is due, this is my modification of the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa.

Here we go! First, as always a few special notes about some of the ingredients:

Granulated sugar and brown sugar are used in this recipe. The sweetness of the cake stays the same, but the brown sugar adds more color, flavor and texture to the recipe. Make sure those chunks of brown sugar are broken apart and well incorporated.

Espresso Powder. This deepens the chocolate flavor of the cake and will also help to give it that deep brown color.

Sour Cream: This will add moisture to your cake without thinning out the batter. It also contains some extra fat to make your cake richer as well. Both good reasons!

Boiling water: Can be substituted for fresh brewed coffee to deepen the chocolate flavor even further. The hot water or coffee helps to dissolve and mix the ingredients well.

Finally, Buttermilk. This will give the cake a nice body and great texture. To make a homemade buttermilk, as I often do, mix 1 Tbsp Vinegar and enough milk to make 1 Cup. Let sit for 5 minutes, and it will be ready to go.

Room temperature ingredients. Remember to get all of your refrigerated ingredients to room temperature prior to mixing to ensure they mix well and evenly! So important!

Let’s get started!

First you will want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Also, get those cake pans or cupcake liners in place. I like to not only grease and flour my pans, but I also cut a piece of parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan so that the cake releases well.

Next, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Set this aside for later. Remember when you are measuring your flour to spoon it into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife. You never want to pack the flour down in the measuring cup, as this will lead to a much more dense cake.

Grab your stand mixer or hand held mixer for the next part. With the whisk attachment, beat the oil, eggs, and vanilla on MEDIUM for two minutes.

Add the buttermilk and sour cream, and mix until just incorporated.

Next add your flour mixture to your wet ingredient mixture. Mix until just combined.

Finally, add the boiling water (or fresh brewed coffee if desired). Briefly mix until combined. Grab your spatula and scrape the bowl to make sure everything has mixed well.

Fill cupcake liners ONLY ½ to ⅔ full.

Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I typically start checking my cupcakes at 17 minutes and my cakes at 35 minutes. Cook times will vary based on your oven and how full you fill your cupcake liners or cake pans.

Allow cakes or cupcakes to cool for 10 minutes prior to removing them from the pan. Cool completely prior to frosting.

And finally, ENJOY!

Supplies used in creating these cupcakes and cakes include:

Measuring spoons, Measuring cups, Bowl set, Stand Mixer, Spatula set, Cake pans, Cake Boards, Cupcake pans, Cupcake liners, Ice Cream scooper, Parchment paper, Cooling racks, Frosting Bags, Tips, Ties and Caps, Cake leveler, Turntable, and Cupcake storage. Click here to be taken to my Amazon Cake and Cupcake Baking Supply List. For page transparency: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

See Full Recipe Below: