Chocolate Craving Cake has the most decadent, rich chocolate flavor without a whole lot of fuss. Then, it’s paired with a chocolate frosting that is nothing like I have ever imagined! I wanted a chocolate cake. No, I needed one. But I didn’t want to make a huge cake or get out special cake pans, and this cake fits the bill! Chocolate cravings cannot be ignored, and this perfectly proportioned cake will definitely satisfy every single craving! If you love the chocolate version, don’t miss my White Snack Cake! You may also love my Best Chocolate Cake (sheet cake) and find your favorite recipe on my 50 Best Cake Recipes list!
How to Make a Chocolate Cake
- Room temperature ingredients are important. Cold ingredients are harder to incorporate and can result in flat, lumpy, dense baked goods.
- Sifting dry ingredients is a good thing. When measuring flour, get out your container or bag. Open it and use a fork to stir it, or sift it, loosening it up. Spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup then use the back of a knife to level the cup off. (Or you can measure your ingredients on a scale.)
- Use the proper tools. You can use a hand-held mixer (or even stir by hand) but make sure the ingredients are fully mixed and incorporated before moving on to the next step in the recipe.
- Good quality ingredients. Dutch process cocoa or high-quality cocoa, fresh eggs, and good-quality vanilla make a difference! Feel free to upgrade to all organic ingredients. When it comes to substitutions though, I do recommend making the recipe as-is first, then altering it to make it yours.
Why Warm Water in Chocolate Cake?
This recipe does NOT use coffee. You still need the moisture that coffee would bring, but can achieve the necessary results by using hot water instead. Using warm water when making this chocolate cake recipe will help the baking process. You don’t want to add cold cake batter to a hot oven.
Chocolate Frosting (Read this before making!)
You will notice that there is no added sugar in the frosting. It is meant to complement and contrast the sweet cake! It is NOT very sweet on its own. If you prefer a sweeter frosting I recommend halving this Chocolate Buttercream recipe.
Can I use a 9×13 Baking Dish?
Yes, you absolutely can. No changes need to be made to the recipe, but it will not be as thick as in an 8×8 baking dish. Bake at 350°F for 28-32 minutes. The cake is done when an inserted toothpick is removed with crumbs, but no wet batter.
How to Store Chocolate Cake
As there is sour cream in the frosting, this cake does need to be refrigerated. When in an airtight container or wrapped with plastic wrap, it should last 2-3 days.
How to Freeze Chocolate Cake
I don’t recommend freezing with frosting on. To freeze the cake:
- First, allow the cake to fully cool in the pan.
- Next, place a layer of plastic on top of the cake. Then, place a cutting board or cooling rack on top.
- Flip the cake over. Remove the pan.
- Wrap the plastic up over the edges of the cake and then add another large piece and wrap it again as tightly as possible without crushing the cake. Make sure that none of the cake is exposed in the freezer as this can cause freezer burn.
- Finally, wrap it in a layer of aluminum foil, labeling and dating the cake. The cake will freeze well for 1 month and should be fine for up to 3 months.
More Chocolate Cakes
Chocolate Craving Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (63 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup (100 g) whole milk
- ¼ cup (55 g) vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (118 g) warm water, or warm brewed coffee
Frosting
- 1 cup (168 g) milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish with parchment paper and spray sides and bottom. If using a metal baking pan, heat oven to 325°F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add in egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix on low until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix for 2 additional minutes.
- Add in warm water and gently stir. The batter will be very thin.
- Pour batter into the prepared dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a clean toothpick is inserted and removed with a few crumbs, but no wet batter.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then, continue cooling on a rack until room temperature.
Frosting
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips in the microwave at 50% power in 30-second increments, stirring after each heating, until they are fully melted.
- To the melted chocolate chips, add the sour cream and vanilla. Stir by hand until frosting is well combined and fluffier.
- Spread over cooled cake.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
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Hi there,
I tried this recipe 2 days ago as my little bundle of joy is now 6 months old…
It’s a brilliant recipe…family enjoyed it A LOT (although at first i was nervous with this experiment on such an occasion )…and my granny (who is not a fan of chocolate) helped herself for second serve…
People from workplace wanted the recipe as well…
This cake was SUPER HIT….thanks for sharing.
Can this be made without egg too? Would you mind letting me know the substitute…
Thumbs up
I am going to substitute buttermilk for the whole milk.
Hola!!! Me ha quedado delicioso, gracias por compartir la receta
I keep coming back to this cake. I love it. It’s so simple and incredibly amazing… kudos!
Hi!
Your cake looks amazingly beautiful
I just had a question to ask
Can you please tell me a replacement for sour cream
Plz tell as soon as possible
I want to make it as soon as possible
Please……….
Hi rashi! I myself prefer créme fraiche over sour cream. It is sometimes a specialty item and not all grocers carry it, but you can make your own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAfHVONSy38
Hi. When you say 1/2cup boiling water (i used coffee), what does that mean? I would love to try this. Thanks.
I replaced the water with coffee as I prefer the flavor of coffee over water in my chocolate cakes! 🙂
Sorry for the silly question…how much coffee do you add to the water or do you mean you added half a cup of dry coffee, THANKS.
Instead of boiling water, use hot coffee. Brew a pot and replace the water with it.
Just make a pot of coffee and put one cup of that coffee instead of water. Make the coffee as strong or weak as you wish.
Brew coffee and when it is piping hot get a measuring cup (1/2) and put it in the mixture.
She means instead of 1/2 of water she added 1/2 cup of prepared liquid coffee – like the kind you’d sit down and drink right away. (so, no it’s not dried coffee – like Maxwell House or Folgers, nor is it coffee ground and ready for a coffee machine.)
I made this last night, using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I think the oven temperature is too low — says 300 but you must mean 350. No matter, my family LOVES it! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Nancy, I am SO sorry! I just did a site redesign and you are right, I had the temperature re-entered wrong!! My sincere apologies!!!
It says to bake at 350 and 325 if using metal pan. I don’t see 300 anywhere in the recipe.
The cake itself was delicious and moist – and I, too, used coffee – but the icing definitely was a bit too sour, even after adding 3tbsp of powdered sugar. We wound up scraping most of the icing off before devouring the cake.
Since the frosting has sour cream in it does the cake need to be refrigerated?
Hello, the picture is amazing, I really need this cake now 😉
One question: do you think it is possible to replace the cocoa powder by melted chocolate ? what would be the equivalence then ?
Thanks in advance, I will definitely make it