- Prep time20 mins
- Cook time35 mins
- Servings10
- DifficultyEasy
- CategoryContinental
The moistest chocolate cakes share one trick: hot liquid bloomed into the cocoa. Boiling water (or hot coffee) unlocks cocoa's flavor compounds in a way cold mixing never does, and the thin batter it produces bakes into an unbelievably tender crumb. This is a one-bowl, no-mixer cake — the ganache on top needs only cream, chocolate and patience.
Ingredients
- For the cake: 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 2 cups (400 g) sugar, 3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) neutral oil
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 ml) hot strong coffee (or boiling water)
- For the ganache: 200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate, chopped, 3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream
Method
- Heat the oven to 175 C (350 F). Grease and line two 8-inch round pans.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla; beat 2 minutes until smooth.
- Pour in the hot coffee and whisk — the batter will be very thin. This is correct.
- Divide between the pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.
- Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out and cool completely.
- For the ganache, heat the cream to steaming, pour over the chopped chocolate, rest 2 minutes, then stir smooth. Cool until spreadable.
- Layer, frost and slice. The cake is even better on day two.
Tips for success
- Room-temperature eggs and buttermilk mix into a lump-free batter.
- Do not overbake — pull it when the toothpick shows moist crumbs, not clean.
- Hot coffee intensifies chocolate without making the cake taste like coffee.
Watch video tutorial
Prefer to watch it being made? This from Eats with Pete walkthrough covers the same chocolate cake step by step — the spoken narration doubles as an audio tutorial.