Moist Chocolate Cream Cake

This super Moist Chocolate Cream Cake has a rich, deep chocolate flavor and is incredibly easy to make with just a few simple ingredients.

This is the perfect recipe for you whether you are making it for a special occasion or an afternoon tea party!

Jump to:

• Secret For the Most Amazing Chocolate Cake
• What Type of Oil to Use?
• Can I Make This Cake With Coffee?
• Why This Recipe Works?
• Ingredients You'll Need
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Top Tips From the Chef
• Storage Instructions
• Recipe FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Moist Chocolate Cream Cake

A perfectly moist chocolate cake recipe is so hard to come by, just like the amazingly fudgy Brownie recipe.

This is my favorite homemade Chocolate Cake from scratch recipe I make for special occasions, celebrations, or birthdays.

If you love simple dessert recipes for special occasions, you might want to check out my Basque Burnt Cheesecake (San Sebastian Cheesecake), Chocolate Nutella Babka Bread, and Easy Sticky Toffee Pudding recipes.

Secret For the Most Amazing Chocolate Cake

Oil is the secret ingredient for making a moist cake. It's an absolute must for this recipe, and shouldn't be replaced with butter.

As the oil is liquid and can stay liquid at room temperature, the cake is going to stay moist for longer.

However, melted butter solidifies at room temperature, and the cake gets crumbly. 

If you want to have a moist cake for longer, don't replace the oil with melted butter as it will totally change the texture.

Adding cold milk when the cake is still hot also makes this cake extra moist and delicious.

What Type of Oil to Use?

Use fresh, newly opened vegetable oil that doesn’t have any off flavors. You can substitute it with sunflower or rapeseed oil.

Olive oil can also be used for this recipe, however, remember that olive oil has a distinctive flavor and might affect the taste of the cake.

Can I Make This Cake With Coffee?

Coffee brings out and amplifies the chocolate flavor in baked goods like cake and cupcakes.

Adding a little bit of it will make this dark chocolate cake taste more “chocolatey” without giving a coffee flavor.

You can substitute the milk with hot coffee for a more intense and rich chocolate flavor.

Why This Recipe Works?

• Fuss-free yet perfectly moist chocolate cake for birthday celebrations, Christmas, Valentine's Day, or any other special occasion.

• This Moist Chocolate Cream Cake has very little oil in its batter which makes it reasonably low in calories. Only 359 calories per portion which makes it the perfect cake recipe to indulge yourself without feeling guilty!

• Same as my other delicious chocolatey recipe Lazy Cake (Chocolate Biscuit Cake), it is very quick and incredibly easy to make with just a few ingredients.

• This is the best Chocolate Cake recipe with a rich chocolate flavor, a moist crumb, and it's drizzled with chocolate sauce for an extra dose of chocolate!

Ingredients You'll Need

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

Chocolate Cake

• Eggs - They make the chocolate cake rich and fudgy. Bring your eggs to room temperature before using them for a smooth batter that rises easily.

• Self-raising flour - You can use plain/all-purpose flour with the addition of 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

• Vegetable oil - Oil plays a crucial role in making cakes moist, so it's best not to substitute it with melted butter. Make sure to use fresh vegetable oil that doesn't have any off-flavors. You can also substitute it with sunflower or rapeseed oil. When it comes to cakes like Moist Chocolate Cream Cake, Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake, and Carrot Cake, where other ingredients provide the flavor, I find that using a flavorless oil works best.

• Cacao Powder - Same as when I am making Classic Italian Tiramisu recipe, I prefer using good quality unsweetened cocoa powder for a rich & bitter chocolate taste.

• Vanilla paste - I use organic vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract for a deep and delicious vanilla flavor. Avoid using artificial vanilla for this recipe.

Chocolate Sauce and Cream Chantilly

• Cream - You can use double cream/heavy cream or whipping cream to make the creme Chantilly. Make sure it is cold before whisking and keep it refrigerated until you need it.

• Dark Chocolate - I used a mixture of 70% dark chocolate and milk chocolate, but you can use any of your preferred chocolate as long as they are cooking chocolate.

• Sugar - I use caster sugar, but you can also use granulated sugar or powdered sugar, and they would work perfectly fine as well.

Step-by-Step Instructions

It is very easy to make this delicious Chocolate Cake with whipped cream and to achieve the best results, you need to follow a few simple steps:

Bake the Cake

Heat the oven to 170° C - 340° F (fan oven).

Lightly grease or line with parchment paper the base and the sides of a 9-inch cake pan.

Beat the eggs and the sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until it doubles the size and is light & fluffy.

Make sure your eggs are at room temperature.

Alternatively, you can use a hand-held mixer and a large bowl. 

Add the vanilla paste, milk, and oil to egg mixture, and mix at low speed until combined.

Add the flour, cacao powder, and salt to the bowl and gently mix the dry ingredients with wet ingredients until all is combined.

Pour the cake batter into the cake tin (round, 23 cm/9" dia) and bake it in a preheated oven for 25 to 27 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool down for 5 minutes and make a few holes in the cake with a toothpick.

Pour the 350 ml milk slowly over the cake using a spoon. 

Cover the cake with cling film and allow it to cool and absorb the milk in the fridge.

Prepare the Chocolate Sauce

Mix the cacao, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Put ½ cup of water in a small saucepan and add the cacao mixture.

Bring it to a boil, whisking occasionally.

Let it simmer for a minute and remove the pan from heat. 

Add the vanilla paste, stir well, and let it cool down in the fridge.

The chocolate sauce should have a thick syrup consistency when cooled down.

It shouldn't be set like a frosting!

Make the Creme Chantilly

Place the cold double cream or whipping cream, vanilla paste, and sugar in a bowl.

Beat them until stiff peaks form and they hold their shape nicely.

Avoid over-whisking it or the cream will turn into butter.

Keep it in the fridge until the cake and the chocolate sauce are cooled down.

Decorate the Cake

When the cake and the chocolate sauce are cooled down, take the cake out of the fridge and place it on a serving plate.

Pipe the creme Chantilly on the cake, or put it straight on the cake and smooth it out with a palette knife.

Pour the chocolate sauce into the center of the cake and let it drizzle gently all over it.

Decorate the cake with chocolate shavings and nuts.

Top Tips From the Chef

• Don't put too much flour in the cake mixture. The cake batter is slightly runny so don't be tempted to add more flour. Always use a scale to weigh the right amount of flour.

• Take the cake out of the oven when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Your cake will be dry when over-baked.

• Creme chantilly melts and loses its structure with heat. Therefore, make sure the cake is cooled down in the fridge before spreading the creme Chantilly on top. Also, the chocolate sauce needs to be cold before pouring on creme chantilly.

• To avoid the cake sinking in the middle, do not open the oven in the first 25 minutes while the cake is baking.

• Use the right amount of sugar stated in the recipe. Sugar makes the cake moist as it binds water to keep it tightly in the batter and avoid it evaporating excessively during baking.

Storage Instructions

You can keep your chocolate cake in an airtight container for up to four days when refrigerated.

When ready to eat, take it out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature for half an hour.

Do not keep it at room temperature for longer than an hour as it contains eggs and dairy!

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more delicious chocolate-filled recipes why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this rich and moist Chocolate Cream Cake as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂 

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