Easy & Moist Chocolate Sheet Cake (video)
This incredible chocolate sheet cake is just as easy to make as a boxed cake mix. It’s crazy moist and super delicious. The luscious chocolate frosting is silky-smooth and creamy. It’s the ultimate chocolate lover’s dream!
Why this recipe is so great:
- Super easy to make – All you have to do is toss together your dry ingredient, then mix in your wet ingredients, and you’ve got this thin luscious cake batter just like a cake mix (but without all the preservatives!)
- Very adaptable – You can use this recipe to make chocolate cupcakes, a layer cake, or even a bundt cake. A quarter sheet cake is my go-to because it’s so easy. All you have to do is pour the whole batter into one baking pan and then slather some frosting on it. There’s no need to evenly divide the batter or get fancy with piping the frosting and it feeds a crowd which is great for the holiday season coming up.
- Simple to serve – Because you can easily cut them into any size piece of cake you want. They’re great for kid parties, office parties, potlucks, or any occasion where there are lots of guests and you want an uncomplicated yet delicious dessert to serve.
- Here are some reviews:
“This recipe is so easy and taste amazing!!!! So moist! Probably one of the best sheet cakes I’ve ever had! Definitely a crowd pleaser!!” – Hollie
“I made this cake last weekend – it is everything you say AND MORE! I will definitely be making it again. Thank you!” – Gina
How to make chocolate sheet cake:
(the ingredient amounts are listed in the printable recipe card further below)
- You start by tossing together all your dry ingredients in a large bowl (a.k.a. cake mix).
- In a separate bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until combined.
- Whisk in one cup of hot water.
- Pour the batter into your baking pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350F.
- For the frosting: you start by beating the butter for about a minute until light and creamy.
- Mix in the powdered sugar and milk/cream.
- Lastly, mix in the unsweetened cocoa powder and vanilla until smooth.
FAQ:
How do you store chocolate sheet cake?
Tightly cover or place in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature or for up to a week in the fridge.
Can you freeze chocolate sheet cake?
Yes, but it’s best to freeze the cake unfrosted. Once the cake is completely cooled, tightly cover in a double layer of saran wrap and a layer of foil. Date and freeze for up to 1 month. When preparing to serve, thaw the cake at room temperature for about 4 hours or overnight in the fridge, and prepare the frosting as instructed.
What is the purpose of the hot water?
The hot water is added at the very end because the flour is effectively coated with fat (the oil and eggs), thereby reducing the amount of gluten that can form (flour + liquid). The reason the water is hot is because hot liquid helps bloom the cocoa powder, creating a deeper, more rich chocolate flavor. (source: Reddit)
You might also like:
- German Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Homemade Black Forest Cake
- Chocolate Lava Cakes
- Triple Chocolate Cake
Did you make this recipe? Please kindly leave a comment with your star rating below.
PrintEasy & Moist Chocolate Sheet Cake
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12-24
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This incredible chocolate cake recipe is just as easy to make as a boxed cake mix. It’s crazy moist and super delicious. The luscious chocolate frosting is silky-smooth and creamy.
Ingredients
Chocolate cake
- 1 3/4 cups (228g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (85g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (240ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) hot water
Chocolate buttercream
- 1 cup (227g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (500g) powdered sugar
- 4–6 tbsp milk or cream
- 1/2 cup (57g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9×13″ baking pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and eggs.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined with a rubber spatula.
- Add in the hot water and whisk until smooth.
- Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Let cool completely before frosting.
To prepare the buttercream:
- Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter for 1 minute until creamy. Mix in 1 cup of powder sugar and with 1 tbsp of milk/cream at a time, mixing well in between.
- Mix in the cocoa powder and vanilla until smooth. Add more milk/cream if necessary for a spreadable consistency.
Notes
Leftovers can be stored tightly covered or placed in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature or for up to a week in the fridge.
Unfrosted cake can be stored in the freezer for up to a month. Once the cake is completely cooled, tightly cover in a double layer of saran wrap and a layer of foil. Date and place in freezer. When preparing to serve, thaw the cake at room temperature for about 4 hours or overnight in the fridge, and prepare the frosting as instructed.
For two 8″ round pans, bake for 30–35 minutes.
For two 9″ round pans, bake for 25–30 minutes.
For cupcakes (makes 24), bake for 15-20 minutes.
For a bundt pan, bake for 40-45 minutes.
Recipe adapted from Life, Love & Sugar
I made this for my brother’s birthday and he loved it sooo much. It was not too sweet but was enough for everybody to enjoy.
I am a lover of Betty Crocker Cake Mixes as they are so moist.
Made this for a birthday cake and have had fantastic comments , including “best cake ever tasted”. Nomore cake mixes for me 😋
Aww, thank you for your kind words, Chris! Happy to hear you like it that much:)
Love this recipe so easy to make delicious and moist, a real crowd pleaser.
Absolutely incredible 😍😍
This is now our favourite birthday cake. It’s so light and moist. Simple to make, even with the kids helping. The second time I made it I even forgot to put the oil in and it still came out edible, lol!
Oh good, I’m so glad it still came out well even without the oil, lol! Thank you for your lovely feedback and have a wonderful weekend:)
I am not a huge chocolate cake (or really even just chocolate) fan, but this is by far the best I think I’ve ever had! Easy but decadent.
Wow, thank you for your lovely review, Erin! Enjoy and happy holidays!
Loved this recipe. Made for my daughter’s birthday six days ago and the leftovers are still moist. She said it was the perfect mudcake on the bottom and I think this was the very first time I’ve tried a buttercream that has actually come together and not been overly sweet! Was dubious as the consistency was very thin before baking, but it came together perfectly. Will definitely make again and again because it was just so easy.
Thank you for your kind words and happy belated birthday to your daughter!
This cake was FABULOUS! The thing I love the most (besides the flavor and texture) is that I was able to put the cake together and sully nothing but my measuring and mixing utensils, 2 bowls and the cake pan. I used a 9×13 (or 22×33 cm since you seem to have some irritable metric users on here lol) I was concerned at the the thinness of the batter. I was totally convinced that it was not going to work. But it did!! To be quite honest, the cake did crack (slightly) and dome (slightly) but when it cooled it was perfectly flat and the cracks even sealed themselves! I belive the cracking and the doming was due to pan selection as mine was a shiny aluminum pan. I feel they tend to “bake hot” so to speak. I was even able to utilize the bowl for the dry ingredients in order to mix the frosting by hand so I didn’t even turn on my mixer. This is honestly the fastest cake I’ve ever baked. In fact, by the time the 30 minute baking time was up…my kitchen was clean! It was less than one hour from preheat to done AND with no dirty kitchen!! Kudos to you! I will never buy another cake mix again. I cant wait to bake it in other forms! Thank you!
You’re very welcome Eric and thank you for your rave review! Much appreciated:)
Thanks for your feedback. When I posted my comments it said they were awaiting moderation and then they disappeared so I assumed that they had been moderated and no approved. I did not see the ‘jump to recipe button’ it isn’t that big and pink so doesn’t ‘jump out at you’. It would be much better is the actual heading linked to the recipe.
You’re welcome and thank you for your opinion. I will let my web designer know and see what we can do about making the jump to recipe button better.
You obviously don’t want comments from the UK. Three have not appeared. The cake incidentally was quite good though i did have to reduce sugar as felt too high. It split though probably my oven. i will reduce the chocolate content next time as I felt it was too chocolatey for my taste. my husband is a chooholic and so I will freeze half because he will eat far too much. A good cake when you have visitors but too much for just 2.
Hi Edwina,
It’s not that I don’t want comments from the UK, but it’s Sunday and I don’t check my comments every hour of every day. I’m glad you still made and enjoyed the cake even with the initial trouble of finding the recipe. Thank you for your honest feedback and have a great day!
This is my third attempt at commenting. I have made the cake and like others it split on top, it may be my oven. It took a lot longer to cook than 35 minutes. In the UK we only have celsius so had to convert the oven temperature which is 180 degrees here. I reduced the sugar and will definitely reduce the cocoa as felt far too much compared with other recipes. It was too rich for my taste, too sweet and too chocolatey though my husband will love it as he likes sweet things. In the UK we call powdered sugar icing sugar and baking soda is bicarbonate of soda. I am glad you used both grams and cups as we do not use cups in the uk and I do not wish to use a recipe which means I have to convert every measurement. I too reduced the sugar and it was still very sweet and rich. I only used a chocolate water icing as I felt it had enough sugar and fat in it and didn’t really need a rich butter cream icing.
I have now found the ingredients right at the end of the article and the method. Please put the ingredients at the beginning instead of loads of pictures and bowls of ingredients without amounts. I do not need a life story first. I will try the recipe but it is more luck that I found it. One good thing, and I haven’t made it yet, is you have both metric and cups. Too many recipes are in cups only and we do not use cups in UK. I am happy with ounces as my scales have both but it does not weigh cups.
There is a JUMP TO RECIPE button in pink up top if you want to skip all the details and it will take you straight to the recipe.
Thanks for your reply. I would check on that and definitely try again because it’s so quick and easy to make. Taste was great 👍.
Hi I made this cake today I did watch the video and followed measurements exactly. But I’m not sure why it came out chewy n more brownie like. Not spongy cake texture. Any ideas as to why. What did I do wrong. Thank you
Hi Chantel,
Sorry to hear it turned out more like a brownie than cake. Sounds like the cake didn’t rise like it was supposed to. So, most likely something went wrong with the baking soda and/or baking powder. Either not enough or they have expired. That would be my best guess based on what you told me. I hope it still tasted good though!
Hey! I love this recipe and how simple it is. I made it for my seven year old today and we loved it. One question though – I felt it was bitter in parts, especially the aftertaste in some cases? Could it be because of longer baking time (my cake’s dome had cracked) or the baking powder/ soda component?
Thanks for such a winner of a recipe!
You’re very welcome, Elle. I’m thrilled you and your 7 year old loved it! The bitter aftertaste is most likely due to the baking soda, so perhaps reduce it to just 2 teaspoons and see if that eliminates the aftertaste for you. Thank you for your kind words and have a great day!
Hi – I am going to use your recipe to make the cake in a 8×8 square pan. Would the measurements be the same as listed above? Not sure if there is a difference in square vs round pan.
If yes, does all the measurement as above will yield 2 of the 8×8 square pans.
How high will the cake be?
Thanks.
Hi Jo,
Yes, this recipe will yield two 8×8″ square pans. I don’t know exactly how high the cake will be, but most squares pans are pretty deep, so you should be fine. Let me know if you have any further questions and I hope you enjoy the cake!
I halved the sugar for the cake and reduced to 2.5 cups of icing sugar for the frosting and everything is as per recipe. My husband loved it. He and my 2 year old daughter – both chocolate lovers ate it all! But the problem is it has a huge cracked dome, even though my thermometer shows 350 F degrees as instructed. I really don’t know what I did wrong?!
Sorry to hear there was a crack in the cake, Hannah. I wonder if reducing the sugar by 1 whole cup changed the consistency of the batter enough to cause the cracked dome? That’s my best guess based on the information above, but I’m glad your husband and your little one still enjoyed it. Thank you for your feedback and have a great day!
I don’t understand the excessive baking soda in this recipe. 1/2 tsp of baking soda is needed per 1 cup of acidic ingredient. All you have is 3/4 of cocoa as an acidic ingredient. Even if the milk in this recipe were buttermilk, you’d still have too much baking soda. Can you please explain your reason for this? I just want to make sure before I give it a go. Thanks
The high level of liquids makes this cake super moist and tender. So, because the batter is quite thin, you need the extra amount of leavening agents to give the cake enough lift. I hope that helps explain things. Please let me know if you have any other questions and if you do give this recipe a go, I promise you won’t be disappointed!
This cake is amazing! Bakes perfectly every time. Thank you!
You’re welcome and thank you for your lovely comment!
This is my go-to birthday cake recipe! I’ve made it as a sheet cake and as a layered round one, even as Easter cupcakes this year with chocolate nests and eggs on top. Got one in the oven now for my littlest’s 2nd birthday tomorrow. Thank you for a fantastic recipe, we love it and I always get comments on how tasty it is!
You’re very welcome, Natalie! I’m so glad you like the recipe so much and happy birthday to your little one:)