Everybody needs a basic chocolate cake recipe, and this, my friends, is just that. This simple moist chocolate cake is a winner, and it’s incredibly easy to make.

Whether you’re making a birthday cake, anniversary cake, wedding cake, cupcakes, or just a cake for a Sunday afternoon, this recipes is just the thing. I’ve made this recipe hundreds of times (and that’s no exaggeration), and it’s always a winner.

In This Post

1. What makes this cake so good
2. Best ways to use this recipe
3. Ingredients
4. Substitutes
5. Other great cake tutorials
6. You will need
7. Simple moist chocolate cake recipe
8. Step-by-step pictures
9. If you like this tutorial, you may also like

What makes this cake so good

Chocolate cake is always delicious, but when you make chocolate cake with sour cream? Mm. That is how you get the most moist, delicious, fudgy cake ever. Also, butter. There are a lot of different types of cakes out there (butter or oil based), but I gotta say… there really is nothing quite like chocolate and butter, am I right? (Anybody who’s tasted a chocolate chip cookie before knows that to be true.)

Best ways to use this recipe

As I mentioned before, this recipe is amazing now matter how you serve it or what occasion it’s for. Personally, I love making this recipe with a good fudgy chocolate buttercream for the ultimate decadent chocolate cake experience.

This recipe also pairs well with some good homemade raspberry filling or cream cheese filling. Delish!

Ingredients

Like every other food out there, getting the right ingredients is key to making sure the recipe comes out right. Here are the ingredients for this simple moist chocolate cake recipe:

All-purpose flour

Yup, just basic white flour. Not cake flour, not self-raising—just regular, white all-purpose flour will make this cake come out just as it should. Regular or unbleached flour work the same for this recipe.

Sugar

Use regular white granulated sugar for this recipe.

Baking soda

Baking soda is the rising agent for this recipe, giving it a fine, moist crumb.

Salt

Salt is used in baking to offset the sweetness of sugar. You don’t need much; in fact, for most recipes, I just add a pinch of salt and call it good enough (especially if you are using salted butter).

Butter

Most baking recipes assume you are using unsalted butter. For this recipe, you can go ahead and use salted or unsalted butter with great results.

Water

The water in this recipe is mixed with fat and cocoa to smooth out the batter.

Cocoa powder

Any type of unsweetened cocoa powder will work well for this recipe.

Eggs

In general, most recipes assume you are using large eggs unless otherwise specified.

Sour cream

Sour cream makes this cake extra rich and moist. My favorite is full-fat sour cream (usually 14% milk fat).

Vanilla extract

Vanilla extract makes your chocolate cake extra smooth and slightly aromatic. Don’t skip this ingredient if you want the cake to turn out great!

Substitutes

For this recipe, I don’t like to make any substitutions, but in a pinch, you can try these for a few select ingredients.

Flour – Flour can be substituted for a gluten-free 1:1 all purpose flour blend with good results.

Sugar – Brown sugar makes a suitable substitute for sugar in this recipe.

Sour cream – Sour cream can be substituted for yogurt, buttermilk or sour milk (1/2 c. milk mixed with 1/2 tsp vinegar).

Other great cake tutorials:

• How to Line Cake Pans with Parchment Paper
• Frosting a Cake
• Assembling Piping Bags with Couplers
• Basic Piping Techniques
• How to Make Chocolate Cake Pops

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Built with Kit

You will need:

• Ingredients (see recipe card)
• Cake pans (for these pictures, I’m using an 8-inch square decorator pan)
• Parchment paper
• Pencil or edible marker
• Medium mixing bowl or large mixing bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Measuring pitcher
• Small-medium saucepan
• Large whisk or electric hand mixer
• Heat-Proof Spatula
• Toothpicks
• Cooling rack
• Chocolate or vanilla frosting, to decorate

Recipe

How to make this cake

Here’s the step-by-step pictures!

1&2 – Line the pan(s) and heat the oven

Grease and line one 8-inch round or square cake pan (with straight sides) with parchment paper. Set aside.

Check out This Tutorial for a complete step-by-step guide for using round cake pans!

3, 4, 5, & 6 – Make the batter

In a medium-large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a small measuring pitcher, mix together the sour cream and eggs; set aside.

In a small-medium saucepan, combine the butter, water, and cocoa powder. Place on the stove over medium heat and cook just until the butter is completely melted.

Pour the hot butter/chocolate mixture into the well of the flour mixture and beat (by hand or with a an electric mixer) until smooth and well combined. Add the sour cream/eggs mixture, and add the vanilla. Beat until smooth.

7 & 8 – Bake & cool the cake

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. For cupcakes, bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack. Make sure the cake or cupcakes are cooled completely before decorating.

If you like this recipe, you may also like:

• Easy Dark Chocolate Truffles
• Chocolate Hazelnut Thumbprint Cookies
• Soft and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Dark Chocolate Buttercream

And there you have it! I hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know in the comments how you plan to serve this cake, or tag me in your gorgeous cake pictures on Instagram to let me know; I’d love to see what you created!

Bye for now,

Naomi

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