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?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
I’m super excited to try this cake out! A couple of questions before I get started: it calls for baking powder and baking soda but in the video I didn’t see the baking soda added. Also, it says to line the baking dish but it’s not done in the video. So is it necessary to line or can I just spray my baking dish?
Thank you!
The written recipe is correct.
Ok we totally love this cake. At first I wasn’t wowed by the sour cream frosting until I tasted it on day two straight from the fridge. Then, omg PERFECT!
Since it is mostly only hubby and me, for dinner this cake is perfect for a few day’s dessert and a lunch treat.
It’s SO FAST to throw together!! Try it. You will be amazed how simple it is.
Wow my God i m creving 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
can cocoa be substituted for chocolate chips?
Hi Amanda,
I was just wondering if I could sub melted butter for the oil, as I have done with a few other chocolate cake recipes. I know that you have specified using a tasteless oil, but I love the taste of butter in my cakes! Have you tried it with this cake?
I always use 1/2 butter and 1/2 oil and it turns out great!
Excellent! I did use coffee instead of water. I also used plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in the frosting ! My family loved it !! Perfect size !
My question is can I make cupcakes from this recipe? Any suggestions on how to do this ?
Does cake need to be refrigerated when iced
Complete disaster Big disappointment followed the recipe exactly it is a flat, dense pancake nothing like the picture. The icing even worse a liquidity mess . Can’t understand why Not edible!
Hi Peg – this is a tested & perfected recipe. If you had a mishap in your kitchen, that may account for why it didn’t work for you. It sounds like your ingredients may be expired or maybe you used a wrong ingredient. I can assure you that if you follow the recipe and use the correct ingredients it will work perfectly.
What’s the purpose of the parchment paper? It’s in the instructions but not in your video. I am finding that the editing for a lot of cooking blogs isn’t done very well.
You aren’t finding that on my website. And to judge a website harshly for adding extra instructions to a recipe card is hardly fair. The purpose of parchment paper would be to remove the cake easier. It is optional.
Made this today I loved the frosting anything without powder sugar I’m in , we just had 2 huge chunks and oh my so good I used a good cocoa and glad I did thank you for sharing I will definitely be making this again