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This chocolate cake recipe is soft, moist, fluffy and richly chocolatey. This has become our go-to chocolate cake. It is always a big hit with everyone who tries it – grown ups and children.
The Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting is lighter in sweetness compared to traditional American buttercream which makes the cake really shine with intense chocolate flavor.
Wait until you see the next picture. CRAVINGS BIG TIME!!
If you have never tried Swiss Meringue Buttercream, learn how to make it here. It pipes beautifully and it sure tastes amazing! I call it wedding cake frosting – it’s just THAT good!
Ingredients for Chocolate Cake Recipe:
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup canola or extra light olive oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (190 grams) all-purpose flour, *measured correctly
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 Tbsp baking soda
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup very warm/hot water
1 Recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
Semi-sweet or milk chocolate bar to grate for decor
How to Make Chocolate Cake Recipe:
Prep: Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Grease 2 (9″ round) cake pans. Grease the sides with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.
1. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together 2 eggs, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup oil and 2 tsp vanilla until smooth.
2. In a second mixing bowl, sift in 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 cup cocoa powder. Add 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 Tbsp baking soda, 1/2 Tbsp baking powdered and 1 tsp salt and whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk until smooth without any lumps, then gradually add 3/4 cup hot water while beating and stir until well combined and smooth.
3. Divide batter evenly between 2 prepared cake pans and bake at 350˚F for 20-25 minutes (mine was perfect at 23 minutes) or until tops are set and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into center. Cool cakes in pan for 15-20 minutes then run a thin spatula or knife around the edges to loosen from the pan and gently invert onto cooling rack and let cool completely to room temperature before frosting.
Cooks Tip: The cake layers have a very soft crumb so it is important to let them rest in the baking pans and let them firm up slightly before transferring to prevent broken cake layers.
5. While cakes cool, make your frosting. We used this Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. Reserve about 1 cup of frosting to pipe roses or poofs over the top.
How to Assemble Chocolate Cake:
1. Carefully place your first layer onto the cake platter and cover with a generous layer of frosting. Gently transfer the next cake layer over the top and frost the top and sides.
2. Finely grate a bar of chocolate and pat the crumbs halfway up the side of the cake and sprinkle around the top rim of the cake. Pipe roses or puffs around the top rim of the cake.
Make-Ahead Tip: Cake can be covered and stored at room temperature for about 24 hours. If storing longer, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving to soften the buttercream.
Chocolate Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup canola or extra light olive oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, *measured correctly
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp baking soda
- 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup very warm/hot water
- 1 Recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
- Semi-sweet or milk chocolate bar to grate for decor
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Grease two (9" round) cake pans. Grease sides with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.
How to Make Chocolate Cake Recipe:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine: 2 eggs, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup oil and 2 tsp vanilla and beat with an electric mixeruntil smooth.
- In a second mixing bowl, sift in 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 cup cocoa powder. Add 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 Tbsp baking soda, 1/2 Tbsp baking powdered and 1 tsp salt. Whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk until smooth without lumps, then gradually add 3/4 cup hot water while beating until well combined and smooth.
- Divide batter between 2 prepared cake pans and bake at 350˚F for 20-25 min (mine was perfect at 23 min) or until tops are set and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into center. Cool cakes in pan for 15-20 min** then run a thin spatula or knife around the edges to loosen from the pan and gently invert onto cooling rack and let cool completely to room temperature before frosting.
- While cakes cool, make your frosting. We used Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. Reserve about 1 cup frosting to decorate the top.
How to Assemble Chocolate Cake:
- Carefully place first cake layer onto platter and cover the top with a generous layer of frosting. Gently transfer the next cake layer over the top and frost top and sides.
- Finely grate a bar of chocolate and pat the crumbs halfway up side of cake and sprinkle around the top rim of the cake. Use reserved frosting to pipe roses or puffs around top rim of cake.
Notes
**Giving the layers time to rest will make cake layers most stable for transfering.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
If you are a chocolate lover, this chocolate cake recipe is for you! I hope you have a delicious week, my friends!
Made this for my son’s 18th birthday and it turned out amazing. The cake was moist with great flavor and the Swiss Meringue frosting complemented it perfectly.
That’s great! So glad it worked out well for you. I love this frosting.
Hi Natasha,
How is this chocolate cake different from your other chocolate cake recipe that is eggless. I see a huge difference in the ingredients but want to understand if the texture/firmness/flavor are different. I have tried the other one several times but want to give this one a try
Hi Kruti, these are 2 different chocolate cakes. The biggest difference is that the classic chocolate cake has coffee and this one does not and then of course the frosting is unique.
Could you please tell me how much ml is the 1 cup of sour cream? Thank you!!!!
Hi Natalia. 1 cup is about 236 ml however, I would recommend measuring the sour cream in grams not ml. It is 230 g for 1 cup. In the future, you can use the conversion tool that I have available in the recipe card to do this for you. Click on “metric”. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha, is this the same type of frosting used in “korzinochki” desserts?
Hi Yana, no it is not. In my Meringue and Raspberry Korzinki recipe, it is only a meringue, which does not include butter.
Hi Natasha. I LOVE your recipes. Can you make cupcakes with this recipe? I need to make for my daughters soccer team. Thanks!
Also – how does Swiss meringue icing do with gel colors? Have you ever tried coloring it?
Hi Summer, yes, use gel food color for best results. I have not made this recipe in cupcakes. I think it would work. I also have this CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE RECIPE you could try.
Hi Natasha! If I’m using two 6″ pans do I need to adjust the SMBC? Thanks!
Hi Chit, It depends on how much frosting you like to have and how elaborate your decorating will be. I would make the full batch and if I had any leftover, I would store it for another project.
If it were possible to give this recipe 20 stars I would! This is easily the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. My husband made it for my birthday a day ahead of time. It was rich, moist, and very chocolate-y. The Swiss meringue buttercream was the perfect frosting for this cake—rich, smooth, and thick but not too sweet. I can’t wait to make it for friends and family! Thanks for the recipe.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Laura! Thank you for your excellent review!
Keep trying but sugar stay grainy, any idea what I am doing wrong. Thanks
HI Mary, are you possibly using coarse grain sugar?
Hi Natasha,
Can you put chocolate ganche over the Swiss Meringue. Will try this today. How long will it keep making it today, they’re eating it on Saturday. Since it will be travelling on Thursday
Thanks
Sandy
Hi Sandy, I would probably refrigerate if it will be traveling and not eaten for several days. It will keep refrigerated for up to 5 days but will seem more dry after 2-3 days. Make sure to let it come to room temperature again before serving to soften the layers and frosting.
I’m 12 and I’ve never cooked a cake, but I followed this recipe and it turned out great! thank you for sharing! I baked it with my younger siblings for my dads birthday present!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Josiah! Happy Birthday to your Dad!
Hi Natasha, thanks for this recipe. I’m planning to make this cake this weekend. Can I put fondant decorations on top of this and on the sides? Let me know if it works.
Hi Mary, I haven’t tried fondant with this myself to advise.
could you replace the water with hot brewed coffee instead ?
Hi Britney, I suggest using this Chocolate Cake recipe which was tested to work best with coffee.
Hi Natasha,
I have to make a few 6″ cakes and I’d like to use this recipe. How should adjust the bake time?
Thank you so much in advance!
Hi Lynn, I haven’t tested it that way so I can’t say for sure but the bake time with be slightly less.
Hi Natasha , can i use 15″by 10″ pan and double the recipe? how long should i bake it for then ?
thanks
Hi Mira, I haven’t tested that yet to advise. I imagine that will work but I cannot advise on the time and measurements. Please share with us how it goes if you do an experiment!
Is the frosting in a box or can
Hi Peggy, we made it fresh using this recipe HERE.
Hi Natasha!
I have a question, can I use a bundt pan for this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Christine, I haven’t tested that so I can’t say for sure.
I made this cake for New Year’s Eve and it was devine!!!!! So delicious!!
Hi Cristina! I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Hi Natasha
I just wanted to check back in with you and say that I successfully used this chocolate cake and Swiss meringue buttercream recipe to make a 3 tier wedding cake (6, 9 and 12 inch with 3 layers per tier). I used 1.5 portions of the recipe for a single inch high layer of the 6 and 12 inch cakes at a time – times 3, and then just used the single recipe portion to make 2 x inch high 9 inch layers at a time – times 3, because they had a 9 inch kitchen cake in addition to the 3 tier cake. The outside frosting was just the plain vanilla SMBC, and the filling was SMBC whipped with melted dark chocolate and sprinkled with crushed honeycomb. The wedding planners said to me that they try wedding cakes at every single wedding they plan and attend and that this cake was hands down the best they have tasted. So thank you so very much for this recipe! It is a masterpiece. I am not on the social medias but I would love to email you some pics!
Wow, thanks for sharing that with us. I would have loved to see some photos of your masterpiece! You can share it on my email at hello @ natashaskitchen.com (no spaces). Thanks for your awesome feedback!
Hi Natasha,
Can I use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
Yes, that would work!
After mastering the Swiss Meringue Buttercream, I did a test run on the chocolate cake by halving the recipe and making one layer.
Simply put, this cake is DEVINE!
Natasha, you are right – it doesn’t need to be enhanced by coffee. And the combination with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream is perfection in itself! Thank you! I will make the complete cake for my son’s birthday next week. You have made my son very happy and me a happy mom!
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles
Hi Natasha, I just mate the cake and Swiss Meringue Buttercream and I will assemble cake tomorrow. I left Buttercream in the fridge overnight as It did not worked out quit well- it is not as thick and fluffy – I don’t know why. I only used hand mixer..not sure if that makes a difference? But look forward to assemble cake tomorrow.
HI Daniela, once the buttercream is refrigerated, it’s best to let it come to room temperature to re-whip since it will harden with refrigeration.