My one bowl Chocolate cake recipe is a delicious, moist and easy chocolate cake recipe that anyone can make. You will love the rich chocolate flavor too! Save this recipe to Pinterest now so you can always find it.
When it comes to baking, I have a secret. I do not absolutely love it. However, I do absolutely love homemade baked goods and so does my family. So, I do it and I work at it. And some times the recipes I make are complicated. But whenever I make a simple recipes like this one bowl Chocolate Cake, which is delicious and moist and something my family loves, I really feel like I’ve won the lottery. Not only is this easy chocolate cake rich, decadent and full of chocolatey flavor, but it is good enough to have people believing you are a
Inspiration for my one bowl Chocolate Cake recipe
In Chicago there is a restaurant called Portillos. It is a rather famous restaurant in the area and something most Chicagoians love. Whenever we go back to Illinois to visit family, it includes a stop at Portillos for hot dogs, Italian beef and French fries. However, Portillo’s is also known for their “famous chocolate cake” too. It has a secret ingredient in it that makes it moist and delicious. That ingredient is mayonnaise, and that cake was the inspiration for this easy chocolate cake recipe. So like their famous cake, my one bowl chocolate cake also has mayonnaise in it and it has certainly made me famous with my chocolate lover son.
Mixing the dry ingredients
When I decided I wanted to make this, I really really wanted it to be easy. After a holiday season of delicious desserts that have parts or take little more time, I wanted something simple. So I decided to make my easy chocolate cake in own bowl and it worked! First you sift or whisk together the flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make sure these and nice and well combined before adding the additional ingredients.
The correct cocoa powder
Do not use Dutched processed cocoa powder in the one bowl chocolate cake. Just use regular unsweetened cocoa powder. The Dutched processed cocoa powder does not always react well with baking soda, which is in this recipe, and could hinder the rise. My favorite unsweetened cocoa powder to use is Ghirardelli, which you can find in most grocery stores and in a 6 bag bundle {HERE}.
Adding in the rest and creating the chocolate flavor
The next ingredients I add in my one bowl chocolate cake are the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and the sugar. I whisk these altogether well before adding in the vanilla and the mayonnaise. The vanilla will help round out the chocolate flavor and the mayonnaise helps to give the cake a lovely texture and keeps it nice and moist.
Hot water in chocolate cake
Lastly, I add in one cup of boiling water. This will really thin out the cake batter, but it is really important because it helps the unsweetened cocoa powder to release more of the chocolatey flavor.
Making the frosting
Once the cake has cooled, you can make the frosting. You start the process by combining unsweetened baking chocolate in the bar form, butter and more unsweetened cocoa powder over a very low flame on the stove. You can also use a double boiler. I do not recommend using the microwave.
Once that has melted and nicely combined, let it cool. The chocolate mix gets incorporated to a combination of confectioners sugar and milk in a large bowl (I use the same one the cake was in.). It is all gently whisked together and then a little vanilla and additional milk it added to the frosting to smooth it out.
Tips for making the one bowl chocolate cake
- When it comes to making easy chocolate cake, just remember to use the correct kind of chocolate as noted above.
- Make sure to grease the round cake pans and line the bottom of them with parchment paper cut to size. This makes it easier to get the cakes out of the pan when they are done.
- Both my cakes will fit in the oven side by side at once. If you cannot fit them side by side, cook them one at a time.
- Frosting the cake is most easily done with a cake spatula. If you love to bake but do not have one, I suggest this one {HERE}.
To save the leftovers
If you have leftovers for the one bowl chocolate cake, save them in an airtight container on the counter. You can also put it in the refrigerator if you enjoy cold cake. I use a cupcake carrier to store our’s on the counter like this {HERE} and just remove the cupcake containers. Mine is about 15 years old from Crate and Barrel and it looks like they do not sell it anymore but the linked one looks like the exact same one I use to store all my cakes.
Looking for more easy dessert recipes?
If you love my easy chocolate cake recipe, find more simple dessert recipes below!
- Mini No Bake Strawberry Cheesecakes {HERE}
- Homemade Chocolate Brownies recipe {HERE}
- Homemade Cherry Cobbler {HERE}
- No Bake Chocolate Lasagna {HERE}
- Baileys Sheet Pan Chocolate Cake {HERE}
- Strawberry and Cream Cheese Pie {HERE}
- Triple Berry Trifle {HERE}
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Thank you so much for visiting today, friends! I hope that you enjoy my one bowl Chocolate Cake recipe. You can find the full, printable for my easy chocolate cake recipe below!
One Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 2, 9-inch round baking pans, lined with parchment paper and greased
- parcment paper
Ingredients
Ingredients for the one bowl Chocolate Cake
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup 100 percent, unsweetened coco powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup hot water
Ingredients for the Chocolate Frosting
- 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate in bar form
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 8 tbsp butter
- 3 cups confectioners sugar
- 1/3 cup of milk + 5 tsp of milk, divided
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Next add in the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and sugar. Using a hand blender or just a whisk, mix everything together until it is well combined. Then add in the vanilla and the mayonnaise and mix again until well combined.
- Lastly, mix in the hot water. Do this carefully so none splashes out of the bowl and mix until it is well combined. The batter will be thin. That is okay.
- Split the batter between two parchment lined and greased 9-inch round cake pans. The parchment paper on the bottom of the pans is very important as is the greasing of the entire pan to ensure they can be easily removed. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Then turn them out of the pans onto the wire racks to cool completely. If you are having any issues, run a thin knife around the edge of the cakes.
- To make the frosting, heat together the unsweetened bar chocolate, butter and the powdered cocoa powder over a low flame. You can also do this in a double boiler if you are worried about over cooking it. I do not recommend using the microwave.
- Whisk the mixture together over the heat continuously and when it has fully melted and been whisked together remove it from the heat and set it aside to cool for a few minutes. (About 5-7 minutes)
- Add the confectioners sugar to a large bowl and then add in the 1/3 cup of milk. Whisk gently and well until the sugar has started to combine with the milk. Then pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the bowl and combine everything well.
- Once it has all been combined, add in the vanilla extract and additional teaspoons of milk to smooth out the frosting.
- When the cake has fully cooled, add a layer of frosting to the top of the bottom layer. Spread it around and then stack the second cake on top of it. Frost the whole cake with a spatula. A frosting spatula will work the best. Slice and serve.
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