Hershey’s “perfectly chocolate” Chocolate Cake with 5 ingredient chocolate frosting is our favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe! Extra moist, with a perfect rich chocolate flavor and tender, smooth crumb.
Chocolate Cake
This quick and easy chocolate cake recipe has become my all-time favorite over the years, and it’s the base recipe for many of my other favorite chocolate cake recipes.
It’s also one of the very FIRST recipes I ever shared here, way back in 2010! I think I’ve made hundreds of cakes since then, and this is still my favorite recipe. Thank you Hershey’s!
I can confidently say that it’s everything you’d hope for from a homemade chocolate cake, including incredibly moist and tender, with a fantastic homemade chocolate frosting.
And, did I mention how easy it is to make? Let’s me show you:
How to make chocolate cake:
Start by mixing the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls.
Add the wet/buttermilk mixture to the dry flour mixture and mix the batter until well combined. Pour boiling water into the batter and stir until smooth. The batter will be very thin!
Pour the batter into your cake pans and bake the cakes on the middle rack of the oven.
How to make ahead and store the cake and frosting:
The cakes and the chocolate frosting can both be made ahead of time. Allow the cakes to cool completely, and then wrap them really well in plastic wrap and stick each layer in a ziplock freezer bag. Freeze for up to one month. I like to frost the cakes when they are frozen because they’re easier to frost.
The homemade chocolate frosting will keep well in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for up to three months. Remove the frosting from the fridge about an hour before you’re ready to frost your cake to allow it to come to room temperature.
Tips for perfect chocolate cake:
Use room temperature ingredients, particularly eggs.
Eggs at room temperature (as opposed to cold from the fridge) are fluffier and will emulsify in the batter better, which will also help the cake rise properly. A trick for bringing eggs to room temperature quickly is to run hot water over them for one minute, or let them sit in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
Use buttermilk (or easily make your own):
The original Hershey’s recipe does not use buttermilk, but buttermilk is a great ingredient to make cakes like this extra moist. If you don’t have buttermilk, use a simple trick of mixing 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar into 1 cup of milk. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes and you’ll notice it curdle slightly, to form buttermilk.
Line the bottom of your cake pan, before adding the batter.
I learned early on to never skip the step of lining the bottom of my cake pans with parchment or wax paper. Then you never have to stress about the cake sticking to the bottom of the pan. I also spray the bottom of the paper and the sides of the pan lightly with cooking spray.
Consider trying these popular desserts:
- German Chocolate Cake
- Mississippi Mud Brownies
- Snickerdoodles Bars
- Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Tres Leches Cake
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Hershey's "perfectly chocolate" chocolate cake with 5 ingredient chocolate frosting is our favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe.
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup butter (*see note)
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes
Grease 9x13'' pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
Line cupcake pan with paper liners and fill 2/3 full with batter. Bake cupcakes for 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely completely before frosting. Makes 24-30 cupcakes
Combine butter and cocoa powder.
Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
You might also love my German Chocolate Cake!
Recipe Video
*For a richer flavored chocolate frosting, try melting the butter before stirring in the cocoa powder
*Read my tips for making perfect chocolate cake, above in the post.
*I originally shared this recipe June 2010. Updated April 2018.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Recipe adapted from Hershey’s.
Bobby says
Thank you so much I just redused baking powder and baking soda to 1 teaspoon each.
Carol says
I wish I’d seen this comment before baking. My cake went everywhere. What’s left in the pan is like a brownie so I’m hoping to make something from it.
My guess too much baking soda and powder.
Michelle Hill says
Ditto on the wish I’d seen this. ..can’t someone CHANGE that? I don’t hold out high hope for what’s in oven. Great.
bre says
yay
Lx says
This was simply amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
EJ says
I am not a baker by any stretch of the imagination, but I followed the directions/recipe and was very pleased with the result! My daughters thought it was the best thing ever and the youngest said it was so good she wanted to eat the whole cake lol
Bernice says
Thank you for sharing! This cake was so tasty and moist. I made a 9 inch cake with a blackberry mid-layer and covered with ganache. Yum! Shared about my experience here: https://memroars.wordpress.com/2018/10/21/engagement-cake/
Nadia Rahman says
hi ,
Could i please ask the oven temperature for fan assisted would the same ? 350 f will be 180 c in fan assisted or should i decrease to 170/160 ?
I am only asking because i made the cupcakes yesterday they tasted delicious but they did not rise evenly and when i took them out of the oven they shrunk not sure what went wrong . ? oven temp
any ideas ?
Katie says
I would certainly try that amd see if it helps. Possibly try 165°C if you have that option.
Kathy Delisle says
My first scratch cake that was edible. Too many doorstops! It turned out fabulous…. Thanks for sharing .
Karht says
The recipe made 24 delicious cupcakes. They were a huge hit at an adult birthday celebration. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Sarah Lynne Landsaw says
What did you set your heat on for the cupcakes?
Steph Warner says
Hi ,
Whats the time for cupcakes? I’m not a baker, first time I’ll try without ingredients from a box. 🙂
Lauren Allen says
Cupcakes will take about 22-25 minutes to bake. 🙂
Grace says
I’m making my second time cake mix…..this time for our church cake walk …..yes we all love it so must spend the wealth of goodness
FG says
I’ve used this recipe for a long time. I was a baker in Alaska and works great every time. I’ve baked it in a cast iron pan on a fire and it’s great. You’ve got to use the Hershey’s cocoa though.
Penny Dobie says
Absolutely scrumptious! Followed the directions to a “T” and it came out perfect. I made this for my nephews birthday and everyone loved it. I would definitely make it again and again. Thanks so much for sharing. Can’t wait to try the “German Chocolate” variety.
Nadia says
Hi
I was thinking of making this for my daughters birthday
Did you so 3x 8 inch cakes or 2 x 9 inch cakes ?
Would you mind sharing a picture how you decorated it. Thanks
Baker says
Great cake recipe. Whipped it up in no time.
Shama Mubayi says
defintely going to give it a try, but please can you tell me, if I don’t want to make it a double layered cake, can I just use a 13inch x 9 inch rectangular pan? Any difference in baking time or result?
Lauren Allen says
You can find the directions for a 9×13 cake under the “instructions” in the recipe card. (takes 35 to 40 minutes to bake).
Kimberly M Banks says
Hi Lauren Allen,
What if you use a bundt cake pan? What is the cook time for that?
Lauren Allen says
For a bundt pan bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes 🙂
Angelika says
Hi! For the temp. setting, is the 350F with fan assist or without? My oven is fan assisted so wanted to see if the time or temp. would change?
Nadia Rahman says
Hi i recently baked these again using a fan assisted oven at 165 the rise slight uneven but they were certainly better than baking at 180.
I think the next time i bake them i will do 160 , check at 22 mins .
Please do let me know what your experience is ?
I have bake a batch for my daughters birthday.
Nirmala says
Hi, how can I modify this recipe to omit the egg? I am a vegetarian thus should like to substitute the egg with any other ingredient.
Thanks
Lauren Allen says
I have not tried any of these but these are all recommended substitutes for eggs. For each whole egg you could substitute any of the following: 1/2 medium banana mashed or
1/4 cup apple sauce or 1 Tb. ground flax seed and 3 Tbl. water
Best Wishes
Kaitlyn says
This cake recipe seemed delightful at first, I tried it out the first time and the cake was delicious. I attempted a second try but when I tried to cook it, the water kept rising to the top and the cake wasn’t cooking at all. In all, I ended up cooking it for over an hour. I tried every way to fix it, but it just stayed exactly the same.
zelvatko says
Awesome, thank you very much, I hope my dad will love it. However, I definitely do!
Summer Heaton says
Wow this is amazing! I was so scared since the batter was so thin. But it turned out so good. I used 3 pans instead of 2. And make sure to sift all dry ingredients. Nobody tell on me for getting a second piece 😋
Nancy says
I’m not a baker at all but decided to make this chocolate cake for my sister’s birthday. Much to my surprise and everyone else’s it turned out great! If I can make it, ANYONE can! Thanks for sharing!
Rita Vann says
Two things: Every time I bake a cake with cocoa powder, the cake sticks to the pans–they are non-stick pans and I use a baking spray w/flour. This doesn’t happen with any other cake.
Also, I reduced the oven temperature to 325 F., as that is usually recommended for non-stick pans. I increased the baking time for five more minutes, but the centers still didn’t seem quite done. Should I have baked at 350 F. as the recipe instructs, even considering the type pans I used?
Lauren Allen says
My suggestions: Use parchment paper rounds in the bottom of your cake pans. Also spray them with cooking spray.
Then bake at 350.
Grace princy says
Hey!! Lauren this is princy from Coimbatore,India. I tried this delicious cake and output was really amazing that I couldn’t believe, everyone of my family really loved!! But the only difficulty was that my cake was soo soft and it broke when I lifted it from the plate!! What can do to avoid it!!! Only tat was my query other than that everything was perfect!
Lauren Allen says
Hi Grace–nice to meet you! Next time you could try adding some more flour and bake for a few extra minutes.
Megan says
I followed the the recipe, but the cake didn’t set. Only the top was fine and the rest of the cake was still a batter mix
Lauren Allen says
Hi Megan, it sounds like it needed to bake longer. Take it out when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (without batter on it and with a few crumbs), or when you touch the baked cake in the center it should feel spongy.
Lester H says
I made this perfect chocolate chocolate cake and followed the recipe by far the best chocolate cake I have ever made. Rich Moist and delicious frosting also was delicious. Thanks
Kimberly V says
Amazing texture, it was fluffy and moist, but it didn’t taste very chocolate-y. I’m not a very experienced baker so I’m not sure how the recipe could be altered to make it richer, but it definitely needs more sweetness and a fuller flavor.
Karen says
Hi! Thanks for the recipe! The cake was moist and simply delicious. My family finds the frosting a tad bit too sweet though. If I make it again, can I reduce the powdered sugar in the frosting? What do I replace it with to maintain the same consistency though?
Rashae says
wanting to make cupcakes with this recipe, any suggestions? should I not use the water? (I’m not a baker)
Lauren Allen says
You would make the batter exactly as instructed. It will make about 30 cupcakes–bake at 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter and bake them for 22 to 25 minutes.
Ruvi says
Hi. I’m m looking for a good homemade chocolate cake recipe. I found your recipe and wanting to know what kind of butter do I need for this? Thank you
Lauren Allen says
You can use salted or unsalted in the frosting.
sharon says
can I replace the buttermilk for 2% milk?
Aimee says
I used 1 cup of 2% milk, and to substitute it for buttermilk, I put 1 tablespoon of vinegar in the milk and let it sit for 10-15 minutes while I put together the other ingredients.
Judy says
I was reading some comments so I want to verify the exact measurements for the baking soda and baking powder. A couple of readers said they reduced the amount. Would you please let me know? Thank you.
Lauren Allen says
I think readers who did that were trying to compensate for high altitude. I use the recipe as written.
Larina says
I have made this cake for years. I got it on the back of the Hershey’s Coco container. I have read how some people had spill over in the oven & yes this has happened to me before. So what I do now is I divide the cake batter into 3 9″pans. Cook it for 15 minutes then look at the cake if it’s not set cook for 5min more. Take the toothpick & see if it’s set. Keep doing this till there is moist crumbs on your toothpick. Cooking this cake in 3 pans is going to mess with your time so you have to keep your eyes on it. We love this cake. This is my go to cake & everyone asks me for it. You can do a lot with the fillings & frostings. I have had cherry filling & whipped cream frosting also if you like it you can poor rum into a bowl & brush the cake lightly. Then put the cherry filling & whipped cream take chocolate shavings & pat them on the sides of the cake. Also put strawberry filling with whipped cream & fresh strawberries on top or chocolate covered strawberries on top. There’s a lot you can do with this cake. Don’t forget you can do a ganache frosting to. Enjoy
Melissa says
Wonderful recipe… I did take the advise of 1 tsp baking powder/baking soda. Came out perfect, also is becoming my go to now. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Mel says
Hi there I made this recipe exactly I am an experienced baker as well , but I’m confused because every time I make this recipe it sinks a bit in the middle not a whole lot but just a small round dip in the center any clue why?
Teresa says
The best cake and frosting ever! Everyone loved it. I made it exactly like the recipe says and it was perfect
N says
The cake came out well, but the frosting was too runny what did I do wrong? I also found the frosting too sweet with all that powdered sugar.
Anastasia says
Hi! Can I use regular 2% milk instead of buttermilk?
Lauren Allen says
Sure, that would be fine 🙂
Shakira says
Hi
I am surely going to
make this cake
for the Christmas
Party at our house
Elle says
I was wondering if this can be made with an extra dark Hershey’s cocoa powder?
Thanks!
Lauren Allen says
Yes, you could use that 🙂 yum!
Lisa Stautinger says
Thank you for this recipe !!! it made three 6 inch cakes with nothing left to spare! Perfection!! I cut the cake into six layers, then filled with pecan coconut frosting and poured chocolate ganache over it all…it’s my new go to, for chocolate cake. Big hit!
Michael says
Very good cake although I had a couple things which would make me think twice. The only adjustment I made was I added 3/4 chocolate chips to the batter. Used 2 cake pans for a layered cake and even after baking it 10 minutes longer than directed, it sank a bit when I pulled it out of the oven. An extra dose of frosting covered it for the most part. Also, it was salty. I measured all ingredients and one should not taste salt in a cake. It was slight, but I did notice it. Definately cut the salt on half. Overall, a very good cake but a few adjustments needed…maybe a bit more flour and half the salt.
Lauren Allen says
Hi Michael, several factors could lead to your cake sinking or not baking correctly. Here’s a resource that could help you: https://www.chatelaine.com/food/kitchen-tips/rules-for-baking-the-perfect-cake/ Also, I’m curious what type of salt you used because it’s definitely not a salty cake. 1 teaspoon is pretty standard in chocolate cake recipes…
Alvin Bowser says
Just made this cake. Followed directions to a T. Came out perfect. My wife was even impressed!!
Sophia says
Very moist and delicious cake recipe! I highly recommend. Only thing: be sure to cool the cakes in the fridge/freezer before frosting. The cake is moist so it may be too crumbly when warm. Tastes really rich though!
Terri says
Really the best chocolate cake. Very moist and flavorful, very rich. HUGE hit with the family! I followed the recipe exactly, except I used 2% milk instead of buttermilk. It’s better than boxes, better than store-bought, actually better than most bakeries. Sending it to all my sisters!
Jasmine says
I just baked this recipe today and I sifted all of my dry ingredients. Wondering how it will turn out. Anyway I also did the 1 tsp of baking powder and baking soda. What I was really confused on was the frosting. I did the two pan 9in and I don’t feel like the frosting will be enough for both.
Melanie Smith says
I always double the frosting, because I like to decorate the cake a bit. (And you can dip Graham crackers in the extra frosting if you have any 😉 )
Melanie Smith says
This was so good! I’ve made a few different chocolate cake recipes before, but this one held together well and didn’t crumble too much. And the flavor was great, my kids kept asking for more 😉
Chris says
Fantastic chocolate cake! The cake is moist and tender. The frosting is creamy smooth and luscious.
I made with reduced baking powder and soda as I live at 2800 ft elevation. I also melted the butter for the frosting. I will definitely make this again. Thanks!
Kathy Livermore says
I made this for our anniversary and it was great,the only thing I did diferent was used self rising flour…now I’m making it for my son’s birthday..he always wants a chocolate cake, I think he will love this one.He likes caramel so I might drizzle some on top.
Asha says
This is THE BEST cake i ever ate.. Followed your instructions as is.. made a chocolate poke cake with a whipped cream frosting . It is just extra ordinary.. im waiting for next occassion in the family to make it again.. Thank you so much.. <3