Easy Chocolate Cake
Published on February 08, 2023
Quick Summary
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Pin ItChocolate cake is the ULTIMATE dessert for any occasion and this is the BEST Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe. The cake only takes 25-30 minutes to bake, depending on your oven and the chocolate sour cream frosting is easy to whip up!
It is made in a basic 9×13-inch pan and that means no chilling cake layers or decorating cake layers. You don’t need to do a crumb coat of frosting, you pour the cake batter in the sheet pan, bake, and top with chocolate frosting. It is SO simple!
It is easy to take to parties, picnics, and potlucks. The cake is easy to cut into squares and serve, and it feeds a crowd!
It’s the perfect dessert for birthdays, holidays, or just because you are craving chocolate!
Table of Contents
Cake Ingredients
- Butter– use unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Water– if you want to intensify the chocolate flavor, you can use coffee instead of water.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Kosher salt
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking soda
- Eggs– at room temperature
- Sour Cream– the sour cream makes the cake super rich and super moist! Use full-fat sour cream for best results.
- Vanilla extract
Chocolate Frosting Ingredients
This is the BEST chocolate frosting. I use sour cream in the cake AND the frosting.
The addition of sour cream to chocolate frosting makes the frosting super silky and smooth and it’s not overly sweet, making it the perfect frosting for the chocolate cake. It’s perfection!
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Unsalted butter
- Sour Cream
- Vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
How to Make Easy Chocolate Cake
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- Preheat oven and grease a 9×13-inch pan. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter, water, cocoa powder, and salt and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring with a spatula, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add half of the melted butter cocoa mixture and whisk until completely blended. The mixture will be thick. Add the remaining butter mixture and stir until combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
- While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a large bowl, sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sifted powdered sugar and cocoa, sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat until frosting is smooth, about 3 minutes. If you need to scrape down the sides, do so, and mix again.
- Frost the cooled chocolate cake with the chocolate sour cream frosting. Cut cake into squares and serve.
How to Store
Because of the sour cream in the cake and frosting, I store the cake in the refrigerator. Cover tightly and store for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before serving. Although, I do love a cold slice right out of the fridge:)
You can make the cake in advance and freeze the cake. Let it cool completely. Carefully wrap the cake in plastic wrap and foil. Place in the freezer and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and frost with chocolate buttercream.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
- Strawberry Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Chocolate Pudding Cake
Easy Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the chocolate sour cream frosting:
- 3 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, or Dutch process cocoa
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter, water, cocoa powder, and salt and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring with a spatula, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add half of the melted butter cocoa mixture and whisk until completely blended. The mixture will be thick. Add the remaining butter mixture and stir until combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting: In a large bowl, sift together the confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the confectioner's sugar and cocoa, sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat until frosting is smooth, about 3 minutes. If you need to scrape down the sides, do so, and mix again.
- Frost the cooled chocolate cake with the chocolate sour cream frosting. Cut cake into squares and serve.