In our house, we celebrate birthdays with this rich and decadent Chocolate Swoon Cake, made from scratch. Pair it with chocolate buttercream frosting and transport your tastebuds to another dimension.
I eat about 90 percent good-for-you food, and even found a way to make chocolate muffins healthy! But when it comes to the occasional dessert, I typically throw caution to the wind. The richer, the better, and this chocolate cake, served to celebrate a birthday or to take to a gathering, is no exception.
I have been making from scratch cakes for years and I admit to becoming a bit of a snob when it comes to box cakes. Yes, it takes more time to make a homemade cake, but they taste so much better and you don’t have to worry about eating all that extra chemical crap that exists in cake mixes.
Since Matt is celebrating a milestone birthday tomorrow, what better time to reveal this winner of a cake recipe? He’ll be thrilled since I honestly think he considers his four food groups as cake, pie, cookies, and ice cream. At his height and considering he’s on his feet most of the day, he can get away with eating desserts more often than most of us.
What Sets This Cake Apart
As far as cake goes, if you want to get into a heated battle, start talking about chocolate cake. Everyone claims to have the best recipe. Rather than getting into all of that, all I will tell you is that I have had many a chocolate cake and this one is my favorite for a few reasons:
- You can make it in one bowl.
- It is really rich and chocolatey. Ever have a chocolate cake that was a little bland? I have. This one is not!
- The addition of espresso powder knocks the taste out of the ballpark.
- You could eat the cake on its own and be perfectly happy, but if you frost it with chocolate buttercream, it’s like you’ve died and gone to heaven.
- There are plenty of variations to tweak it or make it gluten-free and it will still come out great.
Chocolate Swoon Cake Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 cup milk (buttermilk or regular)
- 1/2 cup canola, vegetable or melted coconut oil
- 2 eggs or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup boiling water
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Ingredients
- 2 sticks softened butter
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
How to Make Chocolate Swoon Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour 2 cake pans.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder.
- Stir the dry ingredients together until they’re a uniform, light brown color.
- Add the milk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and boiling water and beat with a mixer or whisk until completely combined. The batter will be on the runny side.
- Pour the cake batter evenly into the two cake pans and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack completely before removing from the pans.
To take this cake from sensational to swoon-worthy, top it with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Make the frosting by beating all ingredients together, adding the powdered sugar one cup at a time.
Baking Tips
- Don’t skip flouring the cake pans. Because this cake batter contains lots of liquid ingredients, it is gooier than other cakes. It will stick to the pan if you don’t flour the cake pans.
- Frost the cake when it is completely cool.
- I like to refrigerate the cake after frosting it to keep the frosting intact and not too runny.
- Leftover frosting can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
- Want just a little cake? Make cupcakes instead!
Chocolate Swoon Cake
This rich and decadent chocolate cake is a delicious alternative to a cake mix. Made from scratch with lots of ingredient variations that work, it's the perfect cake for a birthday or any gathering.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 cup milk (buttermilk or regular)
- 1/2 cup canola, vegetable or melted coconut oil
- 2 eggs or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour 2 cake pans.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder.
- Stir the dry ingredients together until they're a uniform, light brown color.
- Add the milk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and boiling water and beat with a mixer or whisk until completely combined. The batter will be on the runny side.
- Pour the cake batter evenly into the two cake pans and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack completely before removing from the pans.
Notes
- Don't skip flouring the cake pans. Because this cake batter contains lots of liquid ingredients, it is gooier than other cakes. It will stick to the pan if you don't flour the cake pans.
- Frost the cake when it is completely cool.
- I like to refrigerate the cake after frosting it to keep the frosting intact and not too runny.
- Leftover frosting can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
- Want just a little cake? Make cupcakes instead!
Paula
Yum! Thank you for sharing this Angie!
angieash6254
You’re welcome, Paula. Since we’re missing out on book club food gatherings, I thought I would share this as one I would typically bring!