Ahh chocolate cake, doesn’t it just make life good? And what makes life really good? A moist, lightly fudgy, perfectly chocolaty, slightly dense, kissed with cinnamon piece of the perfect chocolate cake frosted in a rich, fudge-like frosting. Haha I’m kidding, kind of. I know if someone were to hand me a piece of this cake on “one of those days” it would rapidly change from being “one of those days” into being a fabulous day =).
I got this recipe from my sister, whom got it from allrecipes. I’m quite certain it’s a recipe for chocolate cake that cannot be topped. There’s not outdoing this one. It is simply as it’s named “The Best Chocolate Cake You Ever Ate.” I may call it The Best Chocolate Cake You Will Ever Eat, because it’s likely to be a lifelong favorite. Everything about this cake is divine. I made several of my own adjustments to the recipe, just follow the allrecipes link above to view the original recipe.
I almost forgot to mention the best part of this recipe (after it’s incredible taste of course), you frost it right out of the oven while it’s hot. No waiting an hour for the cake to cool to frost it! Amazing no? Just one more reason this is truly the perfect chocolate cake.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Recipe Chocolate Fudge Frosting, recipe follows
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan then stir in applesauce, cocoa powder and water and bring mixture just to a boil, whisking constantly. Pour hot butter mixture into flour mixture and stir. Add in buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and whisk mixture until well combine. Pour mixture into a buttered 13x9 baking dish and bake 25-28 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, prepare frosting during the last 5 minutes of cake baking. Immediately after removing cake from oven, pour (or dollop frosting by the spoonfuls) over hot cake and gently spread over entire cake.
- In a medium saucepan, combine butter and cocoa powder and bring mixture just to a boil, stirring constantly to break up cocoa powder. Remove from heat and stir in milk, powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until well combine. If mixture is too thick to stir by hand beat it with an electric hand mixer on low speed until well blended. Immediately spread over hot cake before frosting begins to set. (Also, note if you are adding sprinkles the frosting does begin to set quickly so you will want to garnish with sprinkles immediately or they don't stick well).
- Recipe Source: adapted slightly from allrecipes
Lisa: From the look of the cake in your pictures, I totally believe you. May 22, 2012 at 10:53pm
Jaclyn: Lisa – thanks =)! I hope you get a chance to make it, you won’t regret it. May 23, 2012 at 7:48am
Cathleen: Such little ingredients! Yet it looks so good! It really does make life more delicious :p May 24, 2012 at 5:59am
monsterscircus: Very praising word, but if you say it’s the best I’ll ever eat, I believe it! It’s bookmarked. Have a wondeful Day. May 24, 2012 at 12:57pm
Jaclyn: I think you will likely agree =), have a great day and enjoy! May 24, 2012 at 4:21pm
Paradis: OMG…looks Delicious! May 25, 2012 at 8:14pm
Winnie: It sure looks good!
Thanks for sharing this recipe, I’m hoping to try this cake soon May 31, 2012 at 2:23pm
Katie Mar: oh wow this cake looks and sounds so decadent and yummy May 31, 2012 at 5:31pm
Galexi Cupcakes: I saw your recipe on TS and followed it to your blog. You have a gorgeous blog..I love the cake and slow cooker recipes. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Jackie June 1, 2012 at 6:44am
Sarah: Speaking as a person who doesn’t really like cake, that look AMAZING! I am going to make this today for my not-cake-liking friend for us to try out. June 1, 2012 at 6:45pm
Jaclyn: Thanks for your comments! I hope your not-cake-liking friend enjoyed today Sarah! I think if I were a cake hater this cake could turn me into a cake lover =). June 1, 2012 at 9:28pm
Sarah: I had to come back and confirm that this was, indeed, the best cake we not-cake-likers had ever tasted!! It’s going in the cookbook as the go-to cake. P.S. I think the sprinkles are a MUST! June 2, 2012 at 5:00pm
pjaroslawski@shaw.ca: I found this cake on allrecipes a few years ago and make it probablly once a month! It is my go-to chocolate cake recipe for any potluck.
I will have to try your applesauce addition. June 2, 2012 at 6:48pm
Jaclyn: Sarah – I’m so glad you came back to leave a comment! I thought you might like it and I’m so glad to hear you did! A cake so good that non-cake likers love it =). Thanks so much for leaving another comment! Have a great day! June 3, 2012 at 6:55am
Diane: I to had to come back to tell you that this was the BEST chocolate cake – and boy, have I baked alot. I did not have the 4 cups of conf sugar – more like almost 3 1/2 cups for frosting and it was still so good. I had to give it to the babysitter this am or I would have eaten the ENTIRE pan myself! Thanks for sharing! June 4, 2012 at 7:35am
Ameena Shaik Peerla: Thanks for the wonderful recipe…i made it and it was a instant hit…..cant wait to try more of your wonderful recipes :) June 4, 2012 at 8:59pm
Jaclyn: Diane – I’m happy you thought so too =)! I could eat it everyday of my life. I wish I could eat it for breakfast. Thanks for your comment!
Ameena – That’s great to hear it was a hit. I love the simplicity of this recipe and that you don’t have to wait for a the cake to cool, really can it get any better? Thanks for your comment! June 5, 2012 at 7:22am
Tracey Evridge: My son’s 4th Birthday is in 2 weeks and I decided to go outside the box and bake him a cake from scratch…this will be the first time I do this so I’m going to cross my fingers, LOL!!! I found this website on Pinterest and I’m sooo glad I did…I went food shopping today and based my whole grocery list on ingredients from many of your recipes!!! Cant wait to try them out! :-) September 4, 2012 at 1:42pm
Jaclyn: Tracey Evridge – I hope you do make this cake! I seriously wish I had a piece right now. So I’m always trying to get my husband to cook and bake with me, I guess it’s just not his thing, anyway for my birthday I told him I wanted him to make me a cake and I chose this one. He did an awesome job, so I told him he couldn’t use the “I can’t cook” excuse anymore =). This cake is sooo good. It’s fudgy and chocolaty and everything a chocolate cake should be. I hope you fall in love with it as much as I have =). I hope you love all the other recipes you try too! Thanks for your comment! September 5, 2012 at 10:19pm
Sharon: Can you stack and cover this with fondant? September 16, 2012 at 5:19pm
Anonymous: How long would you bake it if you used two round cake pans? I think this recipe will be great for my friend’s birthday. I’m known as the gal that makes the cake for my friend’s birthdays, I really hope this will turn out! October 1, 2012 at 12:46pm
Jaclyn: Anonymous – I’ve done it in two 9″ round cake pans a few times but I couldn’t remember how long I baked it so I look at the reviews for the original recipe on allrecipes.com and someone said it was 20 minutes for the 9″ rounds. I hope that helps and I hope you and your friend enjoy! October 1, 2012 at 7:04pm
gluten free: To get the wax paper to size, you can either trace the bottom of the pan and cut it out, or grease the pan, smooth a sheet of wax paper into the pan, remove the wax paper and cut out along the crease. This is kinda messy though, better to trace the pan then cut it out. October 2, 2012 at 8:48am
Sunz: All your pictures of every single recipe are amazing!! I get hunger pangs just looking at your blog… sigh November 20, 2012 at 1:16pm
Jaclyn: Thanks =)! November 24, 2012 at 12:18am
Anonymous: Just made this cake. It is fabulous. My family loves it and now I know that this cake will be on my go-to list for ever. Thanks for the assist! November 22, 2012 at 9:11pm
Jaclyn: Your welcome =), thanks for your comment! November 24, 2012 at 12:18am
Nisa Homey: I was wondering whether there is any substitute for applesauce??? I badly want to bake this cake… December 4, 2012 at 10:11pm
Jaclyn: Vegetable oil, that’s what the original recipe call for =). I hope you love it. December 4, 2012 at 10:45pm
Brandi: I made this cake for my hubby’s birthday and it was wonderful! Stays really moist too! Thanks for a new “go to” recipe! ;) December 20, 2012 at 8:47pm
TxGal: This is almost the same exact recipe for wonderful Texas Sheet cake … a long-standing tradition for parties, bbqs and potlucks around here !
The only differences I see are, Texas Sheet cake uses all butter and no oil, and it’s usually made in a sheet cake pan (aka jelly roll pan @11 x 15) but great in a 9 x 13 too !
Love your site !! January 9, 2013 at 12:21pm
Jaclyn: Thanks so much! This actually does taste quite similar to a sheet cake so maybe the person that created the original recipe had that in mind =). January 9, 2013 at 10:19pm
Laura Alvarez: can you make this cake for the coca cola tres leches cake? February 14, 2013 at 8:14pm
Jaclyn: I wouldn’t recommend it simply because this is a very moist and almost dense cake and the coca cola tres leches needs more of a light and dry cake to be able to absorb all the liquids that are added after baking. I do need to come up with a made from scratch method someday though =). February 17, 2013 at 11:09am