Moist, Dark Chocolate Cake (And Cupcakes!) Recipe

Download the printable recipe from my FB page!

This is one of my newest cake recipes that I developed from a friend's one-bowl quick cake. The recipes I share are those that I make over and over again because they are absolute favourites! After years of experimenting with chocolate cake recipes, I've finally found one that I can safely say is easy and, without fail, incredibly moist. Do give it a try!

Pan: I always use a Hamilton Beach Silicone 9" Bundt Cake Pan, greased slightly with vegetable oil, because it works perfectly for a no-fuss dessert cake that always turns out gorgeous and ready to serve. Besides a bundt pan, you can use two 8x2 or 8x3 round cake tins to make a layer cake. And, as you can see, I've even made cupcakes!

Oven Temperature: 160 degrees Celsius or 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients	Grams	Cups
All Purpose Flour	250gm	2 cups
Granulated Sugar*	200gm	1 cup
Salt	-	1tsp
Baking Soda*	-	2 tsp
Cream of Tartar	-	1/2 tsp
Wet Ingredients
Water, Boiling Hot	236gm	1 cup
Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder*	90gm	3/4 cup + 2 tsp
Instant Coffee	-	1 to 2 tbsp
Pure Vanilla Extract	-	1/2 tbsp*
2 eggs	100 gm	-
Yogurt	240gm	1 cup
Vegetable Oil*	223gm	1 cup

• For a sweeter cake, use 400gm/500ml/2 cups granulated sugar. Otherwise, the cake will have a light bitterness reminiscent of dark chocolate.
•  Sift the baking soda to prevent lumps
•  If using cocoa powder that is not alkalized or Dutch-processed, omit the cream of tartar. For example Hersheys cocoa powder is not alkalized but Van Houten cocoa powder is. 
• 1/2 tbsp is equivalent to 1 1/2 tsp
• Substitute yogurt with same amount of buttermilk or {milk+ 1 tbsp lemon juice/white wine vinegar}
•  I usually use Malaysian-made palm oil

Method

1) Preheat oven and prepare cake pans according to instructions on page 1.

2) Whisk dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined. If necessary, sift to remove any lumps.

3) Whisk (or sift) the Dutch-processed cocoa powder and instant coffee in/into a heat-proof jug. Pour in boiling hot water and whisk until there are no more lumps. Cover and set aside to cool completely.

4) Add vanilla extract, eggs and yogurt to cooled cocoa mixture. Whisk well to incorporate.

5) Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Add all the vegetable oil and half of the cocoa mixture, stirring well for 3 minutes by hand (or 1 1/2 minutes on medium speed in a stand mixer) to develop the structure of the cake batter.

6) Incorporate the rest of the cocoa mixture in two additions, beating (20 seconds on medium speed in a stand mixer) until well mixed between additions.

7) Pour all the cake batter into pan/s and bake for 55 to 60 minutes (20-25 minutes for cupcakes) or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Rotate halfway to ensure even baking.

8) Cool cake on wire racks completely before unmolding from the pan.  

You can embellish your cake in any way, but for the cupcakes pictured above, this is what I did:

• Dip the cupcake in chocolate ganache
• Sprinkle with grated white and dark chocolate
• Top with halved or quartered fresh strawberries
• Drizzle with more ganache!