My go-to chocolate sponge cake that tastes even better on day two and three.
Ingredients
Chocolate cake
- 315 grams (2 and 1/4 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour, sifted
- 80 grams (1 cup) cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 180 ml (3/4 cup) grapeseed oil or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk
- 60 ml (1/4 cup full fat sour cream
- 240 ml (1 cup) hot water or hot coffee (see notes)
Frosting
1 x batch of my Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, sugars and salt. Briefly whisk or stir using a spatula.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add oil, vanilla, eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. Whisk with a fork just to break up the egg yolks.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Start stirring, while slowly adding in the hot water or hot coffee (see notes). Continue to mix until all the ingredients are incorporated.
- Divide the mixture evenly into prepared cake pans and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.
- Leave for 10 minutes before gently removing the cakes, and placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Cocoa powder: You can use either natural unsweetened cocoa powder OR Dutch processed cocoa powder in this recipe. Just don’t use drinking chocolate or any sweetened cocoa powder.
Oil: You will need to choose a flavourless oil or neutral-tasting oil for this cake. I prefer to use grapeseed oil as it leaves no aftertaste, but vegetable oil or even a mild olive oil will work too.
Buttermilk: If you don’t have access to buttermilk, you can use a DIY buttermilk substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice to 240 ml (1 cup) of full fat or whole milk. Leave it to curdle for 5 minutes and then use as per recipe.
Sour cream: If you don’t have access to sour cream, you can leave it out in this recipe. I’ve tested it and the cake is still great – it’s just better with sour cream. Alternatively, you can add full fat Greek yogurt or natural yogurt.
Hot water or coffee: You can use either hot water or hot coffee in this recipe. You won’t be able to taste the coffee but it does help to enhance the chocolate flavour. You can simply add 1 teaspoon of instant or espresso powder to the hot water before adding it to the cake batter.
Size and shape: You can use this recipe to make two 8-inch cake layers as pictured OR three 6-inch cakes, a large 9 by 13 inch sheet cake, or approximately 30 cupcakes.
Storage: This cake will keep well for days at room temperature. Once cooled, you can wrap it in plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature for two, three or even four days. Beyond that, consider freezing the layers to maximise freshness. Once decorated, you can also store this cake in the fridge and it won’t go dry.
Frosting: I used my easy Chocolate Ganache Frosting to decorate the cake as pictured.
