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.
Would like to try. What kind of cocoa do you use? Sweetened or unsweetened. Any brand preference for cake mix and cocoa?
Unsweetened cocoa powder. Any brand works.
Delicious cake but I need to know how many calories there are in a slice
Hi, Hope! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. If you cut the cake into 12 pieces, there are about 471 calories per serving. Have a great day!
I’ve made these okey gooey cakes at Thanksgiving using spice cake (or yellow if your not a fan of spice cake) and pumpkin with powdered sugar for top part. Rethink pumpkin pie!🎃
My cake feel in the very middle ! It’s for a bd tomorrow don’t know whether to bake another or but don’t know what I did wrong
I was wondering if you can mix it all together as in the original ooey gooey butter cake recipe?
This was amazing! I made in a 9 x 13 pan and it was just perfect! I have been making a version of this recipe for years but I really like the small changes this one uses. Fantastic!!
Hi! I used a 9 inch spring form pan and it worked very well! I did put a sheet pan under the spring form pan for extra stability. I preheated the pan for about 5 minutes to take the chill off. My baking time increased by double! I had to bake it twice! Lol! I’m wondering if you have any info/experience using a sheet pan on baking recipes and finding you need to increase the baking time? Not necessarily for this recipe, but in general? A rule of thumb type thing? And…The cake was absolutely delicious! Fabulous! Thanks so much!
Hi
Can you please tell if you think a gluten free cake mix would work for the bottom layer of the ooey gooey cakes?
Thank you
In terms of different flavors, how much extract or zest should be used for the lemon adaptation?
Could you please supply the ingredients for the cake mix as well? Here in S.A. we do not use box mixes very often and I prefer to make from scratch. Thank you