Hello, Sweet Readers! It’s February and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. So, it’s the perfect time to share our Homestyle Chocolate Cake from Scratch. This cake is super moist, has rich chocolate flavors, and it looks impressive but is easily decorated with a homemade creamy chocolate frosting and a spoon. It’s an explosion of chocolate decadence for sure and the BEST chocolate cake you may ever make from scratch!
My cousin, Tricia asked me if we had a chocolate cake recipe from scratch on our blog. I thought for a moment, checked our cake recipes and was surprised that we didn’t. Now, we have quite a few delicious cakes from scratch, like my one and only carrot cake, or our incredibly moist banana cake and our dreamy chocolate surprise that’s to die for, just to name a few.
I immediately thought of this recipe because we love it so much and have shared it as tasty cupcakes a few years back. We thought we’d make this chocolate cake recipe as a layered cake with a simple but pretty design for Valentine’s Day. So, thank you, Tricia, for bringing this to our attention and Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!
So, let’s get baking!
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Generously grease (2) 9″ round pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper, then lightly grease the bottom of the pans again.
- In a large bowl add; 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup slightly melted butter.
- Mix on low speed for a minute, scraping occasionally. Then beat on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping occasionally again.
- Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and smooth.
Pro Tips:
- Place the pans on parchment paper and trace around the bottom of the pans, cut out the circles and place them in the greased pans, lightly grease again. This will help your cakes come out of the pans perfectly every time.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh the batter filled cake pans. It’s a great way to ensure your cakes are the same weight and your layers will be even. I LOVE my WeighMax kitchen scale and use it all the time because it’s compact and very accurate. The weight shown above is including the pan, but you can tare items too, to get the exact weight of your batter.
- Bake in a preheated 350º F oven 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out a little sticky, but not wet or dry.
- Cool cakes 20-30 minutes. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely on cooling racks. *Leave the papers on the bottoms for easier handling.
Pro Tip:
- I don’t recommend baking cakes until a toothpick comes out clean because they will be over-baked and dry. There should be little sticky pieces of cake on the toothpick when it’s done. But, not wet batter on the toothpick, because your cakes will sink in the middle if under-baked.
- For the frosting: In a large bowl add 3/4 cup softened butter, sift 4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar and 1 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder over the bowl, then add 3/4 cup milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Mix on low speed until blended, scraping occasionally. Then mix on medium speed a minute, scraping occasionally. Beat on high speed approximately 3 minutes, or until extra smooth and creamy, scraping occasionally again.
- Decorating: Place one cooled cake on a platter and put small pieces of wax or parchment paper just under the edges. This will keep your platter nice and clean.
- Top with approximately 1/3 of the frosting and evenly smooth.
- Put the second cooled cake on top of the frosting, remove the paper and add another 1/3 of the frosting, smoothing across the top again.
- Next, place spoonfuls of frosting around the outer edge of the top of the cake and work it down the sides, smoothing the sides as you go.
- Create pretty swirls on top with the back of a large spoon. Carefully remove the wax or parchment papers under the edge of the cake by gently lifting the cake with a large knife while pulling out the papers.
You could use a chocolate cake mix for your Valentine again this year. But why? When we promise this cake recipe is quite easy to make and SO worth the little bit of extra effort!
We hope you try our Homestyle Chocolate Cake from Scratch and enjoy it as much as we do. If you make it, please snap a picture and tag us on social media @MySweetMission. We’d love to see it!
- 2 cups unbleached or all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup butter, slightly melted
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Put all the cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed for a minute, scraping occasionally. Then beat on high speed for 3 minutes, scraping occasionally again.
- Evenly divide the batter between the two prepared pans and smooth.
Bake in a preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out a little sticky, but not wet or dry.
- Cool cakes 20-30 minutes. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely on cooling racks. *Leave the papers on the bottoms for easier handling.
In a large bowl add the softened butter, sift the confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder over the bowl, then add the remaining ingredients.
- Mix on low speed until blended, scraping occasionally. Then mix on medium speed a minute, scraping occasionally. Beat on high speed approximately 3 minutes, or until extra smooth and creamy, scraping occasionally again.
Place one cooled cake on a platter and put small pieces of wax or parchment paper just under the edges. This will keep your platter nice and clean.
- Top with approximately 1/3 of the frosting and evenly smooth.
- Put the second cooled cake on top of the frosting, remove the paper and add another 1/3 of the frosting, smoothing across the top again.
- Next, place spoonfuls of frosting around the outer edge of the top of the cake and work it down the sides, smoothing all the sides of the cake.
- Create pretty swirls on top with the back of a large spoon. Carefully remove the wax or parchment papers under the edge of the cake by gently lifting the cake with a large knife while pulling out the papers.
Place the pans on parchment paper and trace around the bottom of the pans, cut out the circles and place them in the greased pans, lightly grease again. This will help your cakes come out of the pans perfectly every time.
Use a kitchen scale to weigh the batter filled cake pans. It's a great way to ensure your cakes are the same weight and your layers will be even. I LOVE my WeighMax kitchen scale and use it all the time because it's compact and very accurate. The weight shown in this post is including the pan, but you can tare items too.
Take a peek at Savory ~ Sweet ~ Repeat. It’s our delicious recipe book full of tried & true family favorite recipes: 25 savory & 25 sweet. All of them are from this blog and some our family has enjoyed for 50 & even 60 years, with a few newer favorites as well! Our recipe book downloads beautifully and is only $4.99. Plus, it comes with a 100% happiness guarantee! So, get yours today.
Looking for more delicious cake recipes?
Here are a few you might also enjoy!
Incredibly Moist Banana Cake
Super Simple Texas Sheet Cake
My ‘One and Only’ Carrot Cake
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It sure looks very moist. My husband loved him some chocolate. HA!
Hi Charlotte. Yes, our Homestyle Chocolate Cake is very moist. I bet your husband would have loved this cake! 😉 ~Heather
Hi there, this fits perfectly with the themes for Food on Friday: February. Please bring it on over to share it with everyone. Cheers from Carole’s Chatter
Hi Carole. Thanks for the invite, I shared our Homestyle Chocolate Cake from Scratch on your Food on Friday. Have a sweet day, Heather