Chocolate Layer Cake

 Hands down the best chocolate layer cake you will ever bake! Two layers of moist chocolate cake with a rich and creamy chocolate buttercream that hits all the right dessert notes. Try this cake for your next birthday party – it’s a show-stopper! 

For when you get a chocolate craving that simply can’t be solved by anything but cake…consider this recipe the answer to your prayers!

This is the only chocolate cake you will ever need in your life. I guarantee there is no better chocolate cake on the planet. My entire family concurs.

I’m talking layers on layers of rich chocolate both inside and out! Truly a chocolate-lovers dream right here.

If you’ve never tried your hand at baking chocolate cake at home, this is definitely the recipe for you! The batter comes together so quickly and you don’t even need a stand mixer.

There’s no messing around with cutting multiple cake layers either. Just two simple layers of chocolate cake and a whoooole lot of frosting in every space in between.

This Chocolate Cake features…

• Two layers of moist, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake
• Rich and creamy chocolate buttercream
• An easy recipe that any home baker can nail

Making the Chocolate Cake

(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Vegetable oil
• Granulated sugar
• Brown sugar
• Eggs
• Buttermilk
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Cocoa powder
• Instant espresso
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Kosher salt
• Unsalted butter
• Powdered sugar
• Heavy whipping cream

Tips for Perfect Chocolate Cake

1. Measure flour correctly – I use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
2. Gently fold batter – use a light hand when mixing batter and gently fold so as not to overmix.
3. Test cake with a toothpick – insert a toothpick in the center of cakes to test for doneness. The cakes are done when a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs sticking to it.
4. Bring butter and heavy cream to room temperature – allow the butter and heavy cream to warm to room temperature before mixing into the frosting for a smooth and creamy texture.
5. Allow cake to cool before frosting – if you try to frost the cakes while they’re still warm the frosting will melt off.
6. Refrigerate cake 30 minutes after frosting – this short chill time will help the cake layers set up a bit which will make for clean slices.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on this cake.

• Use another frosting – try a vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting
• Garnish cake – try a garnish of chocolate chips, fresh berries, or nuts.
• Add fruit – add a handful of fresh raspberries or strawberries to the filling and garnish with more on top.

Storing and Serving Cake

This cake stores well in refrigerator up to 4 days. For best results I recommend removing cake from refrigerator about 30 minutes before you plan to serve it to allow the buttercream to soften slightly.

To store leftover cut cake slices, place slices in an airtight container and store in refrigerator up to 4 days.

Literally the most perfect cake there ever was, folks. A knife slides easily through the fudgy layers for nice, clean cuts and boy, you’d better be cutting those slices thick!

The cake base is so dark and fudgy, it almost reminds me of devils food cake. A glass of milk is absolutely necessary with a large slice!

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

More keeper cake recipes to bake next!

• Banana Pound Cake
• Hummingbird Cake
• Vanilla Pound Cake

This post was updated with new recipe adjustments and photos on 8/28/25.