This is my absolute favourite chocolate cake recipe of all time. It is rich, slightly fudge and it’s topped with the most incredible chocolate fudge frosting. To start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit then grease two 8-inch cake pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Set them aside then sift 210 grams of all-purpose flour in a mixing bowl together with half a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, one teaspoon of baking soda, one and a half teaspoons of baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt.

Using a whisk or fork, give that a good mix until it’s well combined and set it aside for now. Next in a large mixing bowl, you want to add three-quarters of a cup of unsalted butter and 200 grams of good-quality Dutch chocolate. Melt that in the microwave for 30 seconds burst at a time giving it a mix in between each burst until everything is melted and smooth. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate so you want to keep checking on it and as soon as it’s all melted you want to stop there.

You can do this over a stovetop too on low heat if you prefer. Once that is nice and smooth, add in a third cup of cold milk, this is going to lower the temparature of the chocolate. Mix it in with a whisk until it’s well combined. Add 300 grams of white granulated sugar, one and a half tablespoons of instant coffee powder, a third cup of unflavoured vegetable oil, two teaspoons of vanilla extract and three large room temparature eggs.

Using a whisk, mix that until it’s well combined. Once that is well combined, add the dry ingredients from earlier and mix it in until it’s well combined. Avoid overmixing so just mix until it’s nice and smooth. To finish off, add half a cup of very hot water and mix that in until it’s nice and smooth. Evenly distribute the cake batter into the two prepared cake tins then drop the cake tins a few times on the counter to remove any large air bubbles then bake in the preheated oven for 28 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs in it.

Once the cakes are out of the oven, let them cool in the pans for about 20 minutes then free the cae from the tins and turn them over to a wire rack to completely cool While the cakes are cooling, prepare a super delicious chocolate fudge frosting. Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add one cup of whipping or heavy cream then heat that up until you see little bubbles forming around the edges. You dont want the cream to start bubbling. Once it starts to gently bubble, turn down the heat to low and add 400 grams of good-quality Dutch chocolate or any semi-sweet dark chocolate.

Also add one cup of unsalted butter, one and a third cups of powdered sugar, half a teaspoon of instant coffee powder, half a teaspoon of salt, 4 teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and two teaspoons of vanilla essence. Gently stir that until everything is melted and the mixture is nice and smooth. Be patient with the low heat as you dont want to burn the chocolate and you dont want it to be boiling so as soon as everything is melted, take it off the heat immediately. Strain the chocolate using a sieve just to make sure there are no lumps in it then cover the top with a cling wrap making sure the wrap is touching the top of the frosting.

This is going to prevent a layer from forming as it cools. Place it in the fridge to sit for about 2 hours. After chilling, remove the chocolate frosting from the oven and if you run a smooth over it it should be smooth. Place thhe cake over a plate and level it then spread a generous amount of frosting over thhe cake and spread it out then place the next layer and add the frosting on top and sides as well. Smooth out the sides top them with shavings of chcolate and serve. This cake is full of chocolate flavour and would honestly go so far as to say that this is probably the best chocolate you will ever have.

Ingredients;

Chocolate Cake

  • 1¾ cups (210 g) flour – regular all-purpose
  • ½ cup (50 g) cocoa powder – unsweetened, dutch process preferred
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter
  • 1¼ cups (200 g) dark chocolate – I use 50% dark but any good quality semi-sweet chocolate will work
  • ⅓ cup (80 g) milk – cold
  • 1½ cups (300 g) white granulated sugar
  • 1½ tbsp instant coffee powder
  • ⅓ cup (70 g) unflavoured vegetable oil – I use canola oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
  • 3 large eggs – room temperature
  • ½ cup (110 g) hot water

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

  • 1 cup (226 g) cream
  • 4 tsp cocoa powder – unsweetened, dutch process preferred
  • 2½ cups (400 g) dark chocolate – I use 50% dark but any good quality semi-sweet chocolate will work
  • 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter
  • 1⅓ cups (170 g) powdered sugar – also known as icing/confectioners sugar
  • ½ tsp instant coffee powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract