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!

Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake
Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!

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.

Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake

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!

Chocolate Ooey Gooey Butter Cake #chocolate #cake

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!

Amazing Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake!

Ooey Gooey Desserts

Amazing Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake!
5 from 23 votes

Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
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!

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
  • ยผ cup (31 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 16 ounces confectioners' sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350ยฐF. 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

*Here is my GOOP (Homemade Pan Release) recipe.

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.

Share with your friends!

Categorized in: , ,

Related Recipes

Meet Amanda Rettke

Amanda Rettke is the creator of I Am Baker, and the bestselling author of Surprise Inside Cakes: Amazing Cakes for Every Occasion โ€“ With a Little Something Extra Inside.Over the course of her 15+ year blogging adventure, she has been featured in and collaborated with the Food Network, New York Times, LA Times, Country Living Magazine, People Magazine, Epicurious, Brides, Romantic Homes, life:beautiful, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Mail, Star Tribune, The Globe and Mail, DailyCandy, YumSugar, The Knot, The Kitchn, and Parade, to name a few.

Reader Comments

    1. This is just one recipe out of thousands. If you do not want to use a cake mix, feel free to google “ooey goey cake from scratch” and locate a recipe that would be better suited to your tastes! ๐Ÿ™‚

  1. Since Gooey Butter Cake is a St. Louis tradition, we’ve been making them for years, but a while back I made a chocolate version and added Nutella to filling part and OMG!! its now our favorite gooey butter cake!

    FIY – gooey butter cake is at it’s best on day 2 or 3 ๐Ÿ˜‰ I dont know why, but we all enjoy it most after it’s sat for a few days.

  2. Hi! I just tried to make it this and it never baked in the middle. It was just liquid. Any thoughts?

  3. We love the pumpkin gooey bars in our house! It is a staple for Thanksgiving and Christmas! I tweak mine a smidge, with homemade ingredients, but still amazing!

  4. Oooeey Goooey is ALWAYS a good thing. You rock and loved seeing how funny you are. It was so nice meeting you at Blog Her Food!

  5. Hi Amanda,
    This looks insanely delicious! Will try this out soon!

    Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

  6. Sounds yummy, but I was dismayed once I noticed the base was a cake mix. It’s not hard to make brownies and cake from scratch. I am not a food snob, but cake mixes often contain artificial flavor and other junk in them. I will pass on this recipe.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.