Skip to content

Snack

Chocolate Birthday Layer Cake

A dark, moist one-bowl chocolate cake made with cocoa, oil and hot water. No mixer needed.

⏱ 1 hr 52 min (20 min prep, 32 min cooking, 1 hr waiting) 🍽 Serves 16 · 1 slice (1/16 of the cake), unfrosted make aheadkid friendlyfreezer friendly vegetarian

In our collection Birthday parties: menu and shopping list β†’

πŸ“… Add to my plan

ContainsMilk, Eggs, Wheat. Check the labels on what you buy; brands differ.

Ingredients

Make 16 servings
  • 1ΒΎ cup All-purpose flour
  • 2 cup Granulated sugar
  • ΒΎ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder, unsweetened
  • 1Β½ tsp Baking soda
  • 1Β½ tsp Baking powder
  • 1 tsp Table salt
  • 2 Eggs, large
  • 1 cup Whole milk
  • Β½ cup Vegetable oil (soybean)
  • 2 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 1 cup Water, boiling

Nutrition

Nutrition coming: the USDA numbers for these ingredients are being added.

Steps

You’ll need: two 9-inch round cake pans, parchment paper, large mixing bowl, whisk, kettle, cooling racks.

  1. Heat the oven to 350Β°F. Grease the pans, line the bottoms with parchment circles, and grease the parchment. Flour the sides lightly, tapping out the extra.
  2. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until no lumps of cocoa remain.
  3. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and whisk 2 minutes, until smooth.
  4. A grown-up pours in the boiling water while whisking slowly. The batter will be thin; that’s right. Don’t eat or taste the raw batter, and don’t let kids lick the spoon: raw flour and raw eggs can carry germs (FDA). Bake it first.
  5. Pour into the pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
  6. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto racks and cool completely before frosting.
Make aheadBake up to 2 days ahead, wrap well and keep at room temperature, or freeze.
❄️ FreezerWrap cooled layers in plastic wrap and foil; freeze up to 2 months.
β†Ί LeftoversKeep covered at room temperature up to 2 days, or refrigerated up to 5.
πŸ§’ With kidsKids can whisk the dry ingredients. A grown-up adds the boiling water.
Cupcakes swapMakes about 30 cupcakes; bake 18 to 22 minutes.
Dairy-free swapUse any plant milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar stirred in.
Deeper flavor swapUse hot coffee instead of boiling water.

Goes well with

🍫 Chocolate Buttercream🍦 Vanilla Buttercream

Good to know

All-purpose vs. bread flour (and friends) Baking soda vs. baking powder Table salt vs. kosher salt vs. sea salt Cooking Fats Compared

An original Teddy Rook Book recipe, written for our Birthday parties collection; safety steps follow USDA. Nutrition is estimated from USDA FoodData Central and changes with brands and portions.