Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake is a delicious and decadent chocolate cake that is made with the help of a cake mix and a few simple ingredients for a chocolate treat you can enjoy in no time! The thin top layer of delicate chocolate flakiness resting precariously over the ooey-gooey molten cocoa-flavored lava lusciousness is pretty darn amazing. After making my Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, I knew I had to make it in chocolate!
Ingredients & Substitutions
GOOP: I prefer to prepare my cake pans with GOOP, or homemade pan release, but you could also spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper.
Chocolate Cake Mix: There is no shame in using a box of chocolate cake mix! You will still end up with a cake that will satisfy even the biggest chocolate lovers!
Butter: Use unsalted butter for the best results in this cake.
Cream Cheese: Be sure to set out your cream cheese an hour or two before making the cake; when it’s at room temperature, it blends more easily with other ingredients and helps the cake have a better texture after baking.
Cocoa Powder: Look for high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder. You could substitute Dutch-processed cocoa powder if that is what you have on hand.
Can I Use a Different Sized Pan?
I recommend baking this Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake in a 9×3-inch round cake pan or 9×3 springform pan to achieve a cake with a very gooey center and thicker edges, which is how I prefer it. However, if you don’t have these types of pans, you can still use a 9×13-inch pan, but the cake will be thinner than what you see in my pictures. You can also use a 9×9-inch or 8×8-inch square pan. Just ensure that your oven is calibrated correctly to avoid hot spots that could cause uneven baking. (Hint: Use bake strips around your pan!)
‘Magic’ Chocolate Ooey-Gooey Cake
Want to know a trick to make this a ‘Magic’ Ooey Gooey Cake? You simply mix all the ingredients in one bowl, pour the batter into the prepared pan, and then bake. There is no layer separation, but the flavor and texture are still amazing!
Variations to Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake
You are not limited by the flavors in this recipe! Try adapting the Ooey Gooey cake recipe to create any flavor combination. Here are a few of my favorite modifications:
- Use vanilla cake in the base and lemon extract for the cream cheese topping.
- Add coffee extract in the base and cherry flavoring to the cream cheese layer.
- Try lemon in the base and lemon zest in the topping.
- Add fruit to the top to help cut the sweetness.
- Try adding chocolate chips to the base and/or the cream cheese layer.
- Add chopped pecans to the base layer.
How to Store Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake
To store chocolate ooey gooey cake, first, let the cake cool to room temperature. Next, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. It can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days. For a longer shelf-life, store it in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days, letting it come to room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the cake for up to 3 months. If freezing it, let the cake thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving. The texture may change slightly after freezing and thawing, but the cake will still be delicious!
Ooey Gooey Desserts
Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box (15.25 ounces) chocolate cake mix
- 3 large eggs, one egg for bottom cake layer, then two eggs for filling layer, room temperature
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup (31 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 16 ounces confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×3-inch round cake pan; then, line the pan with parchment paper. (You could also use GOOP*, a homemade pan release.)
- In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg (reserving the other 2 eggs for later), and 1 stick of melted butter. Stir until well blended.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, gently patting it down, and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed (or using a hand-held mixer), beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs and the cocoa powder.
- Reducing the mixer to low speed, add the confectioners' sugar. Slowly add the remaining stick of melted butter. Add vanilla and continue to beat the mixture until smooth.
- Pour the filling into the pan, over the cake mixture. Bake for 40-50 minutes, being careful not to overbake the cake. The center should still be a little gooey when finished baking.
- Let the cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting and serving.
Notes
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 want the recipe for Chocolate Gaga cakes.
Hi there! Couple questions, and please forgive my ignorance. 9×3 pan – I’m not seeing this in the store. I see 2.81. Is this the same? Also, if I wanted to use a 9×9 or 8×8, what is my time range for baking? Thank you!
I want the recipe so I can save it in my fb
How is this different than Paula Dean’s Ooey Gooey Chocolate cake? Thanks.
Love this site – and I will volunteer to taste test also – just give me a heads up! Yu must be one happy women to come up with all of this goodness!
< Karen
I’m a member of a square dancing club in Chickasha, Oklahoma. I made your Bailey’s Chocolate Poke Cake last weekend for my club, & they devoured it!!!!! It was soooo delicious, thank you Amanda, keep the recipes coming!!!!!
The recipe was good, but I used a bundt pan as suggested you could. This was a fail because the whole thing went flat and the gooey part leaked everywhere.
ME TOO….. very sad
So sorry! I have not made it in a bundt pan so don’t know what modifications need to be made. I was told by a couple readers that they did use a bundt and enjoyed it.
U’re a super baker
Thanks for sharing your recipes. They’re wonderful and delicious
Love your reciepes