Chocolate cake without butter is the way to go. And also, stop making your cakes with butter. If you want to read more about this, and how it works, check out this Bon Appetit article. That's compared to oil, which is pure, pure fat. Water + flour = gluten, meaning that you're cake is going to be relatively tough. When the dry ingredients interact with the butter then, they're mixing with both fat and water. Second: butter is actually 80% fat and 20% liquid (water). Because butter solidifies at room temperature, the cake, as it cools, tends to get more crumbly. This means, because science, that the cake is going to have a more moist sensation, and remains moist for longer. First, oil is liquid, and is liquid at room temperature, unlike butter. It's an absolute must for this recipe, and here's why. To me, making the best moist cake comes down to one ingredient: oil. At this point they're ready to be frosted, and eaten. After that the cool in the pans for 15, and then we CAREFULLY take them out and let them cool the rest of the way on wire racks. Once we get our cake batter in the pans, the go into the oven for about 35 minutes. We're not taking any chances and using both cooking spray and parchment paper. I have thrown literal tantrums over a perfectly baked cake tearing itself apart because it was stuck to the bottom of the pan FOR NO REASON, omg FINE it was because I didn't use parchment paper even after my mom told me too), and there's nothing worse. Next, we need to prepare our baking rounds (and this is key. After everything's nice and combined, we add the hot, rich coffee which is going to take the flavour of this cake to another level (more on that later). We're going to measure our dry ingredients, whisk them, and then add our wet ingredients (except the coffee) and combine. While our family traditionally uses this chocolate cake for birthdays, it's also perfect to bring out at Christmas. Like the best moist chocolate cake is only ever going to be homemade. And those cakes are just so much better from scratch. If you're cake is more than one layer high (this one is two), then we're officially in special occasion cake territory. There is definitely a time and a place for cake mixes, but this isn't one of them. The only time your saving yourself is measuring the dry ingredients.

Making most types of cake from scratch really isn't that much harder than in a mix. And: Yay! You don't have to destroy your entire kitchen with dishes because this comes together in one bowl. You can use a stand mixer if you want, but mixing by hand also works.

This cake is simple, easy and produces results every time. The icing is different, and the water is swapped out for coffee, but clearly - the inspiration came from this recipe! One-Bowl Wonder *EDIT: I've recently discovered that this recipe is very similar to the Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Cake recipe. Because I could not live without this cake in my life. The first time I had it, I knew I was going to have to marry her son. She's the one who has been making this cake for, I kid you not, decades. This recipe belongs to my mother-in-law, Liz, who has generously agreed to let me post it here. Don't you just want to grab a bite? And then the slice? And then maybe lick the plate? Jump to: And by the way, I'm going to be using the word 'moist' many, many times in this recipe. Every single family birthday this cake gets whipped out, and it's the highlight of the day. It's a family recipe from my in-laws*, and it's been made literally hundreds of time. I'm not kidding around when I say this is the best moist chocolate cake ever. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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