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May 1, 2015

My Easy One Bowl Chocolate Cake

Quick & Easy Chocolate Cake

Looking for an easy chocolate cake from scratch? This is it. Oh… and looking for a healthier chocolate cake recipe? This is it too. It’s not a fancy cake but it’s really moist and rich tasting even thought it’s made without eggs or butter. I make it with extra-light olive oil but my frosting does have two tablespoons of butter. If you use my frosting, that means each slice would have 3/4 teaspoon of butter. I can manage that. But you can also skip the frosting, make it a vegan chocolate cake, and just dust it with some powdered sugar.

For baking with chocolate I always use Dutch-processed cocoa for a beautiful dark color and it’s also less bitter than the regular one. It can be hard to find but World Market carries my brand (Droste), which I used in this recipe. This is the perfect cake to make last minute since there is no butter to soften and no eggs to warm up to room temperature. I often put it together before dinner and by the time we eat, the cake is cooled and then I whip up some frosting and… we have dessert.

This easy chocolate cake from scratch is perfect for Sunday family dinner… everyone does have a Sunday family dinner, don’t they? For the frosted version, click here for the recipe. For my chocolate cake with no butter recipe, click here. – Jenny Jones

45 Comments on "My Easy One Bowl Chocolate Cake"

  1. L

    These are the best recipes Jenny! My husband uses them now to since he’s learning how to cook (I’ve cooked for 50 years, now it’s his turn>

  2. Jill Herman

    Help! Can I double this cake and use a 9 x 13 baking pan? I need to serve a group of people and I’m afraid that 9 inch cake will not be enough. Thanks! Jill.

  3. Marykay

    Love all your recipes

  4. Jo

    This is a good and very easy cake to make. I bake it a little less time and have great brownie squares! Love your recipes and videos, Jenny.

  5. Lisa

    I have made this several times and love it. Could I leave out the cocoa and make it a white or vanilla cake instead? I don’t know if that would mess up how it turns out. Thanks!

  6. Smiley Sue

    Made this at the beginning of lockdown and it lifted our spirits so! It is so delicious and so easy to make. Loved no eggs since I didn’t have any at the time!! Thanks for the keeper, Jenny, have made it 4 times already. I used dark cocoa and my husband loves it!!!

  7. Bill

    I made this cake & it was as easy as Jenny said it was. One problem though, after the specified bake time & checking that the cake was done, the middle just sunk down. An area of about 4 inches in diameter right in the middle of the cake had dropped. The cake was done & delicious in spite of the drop-down.
    I live at 5000 ft. elevation in Colorado. I’m wondering if I need to adjust the cooking temperature and/or time and if so, which way?
    I’d really like to perfect this cake since it is so easy & soooo good. Any help will be appreciated.

    • Pat in CO

      Colorado is the high altitude baking center for adjustments…so according to CSU Food and Nutrition Department the following adjustments are suggested,’

      3500-6500 ft For each tsp baking powder decrease by 1/8 tsp
      For each cup sugar decrease by 0-1 Tbsp
      For each cup liquid, add 1-2 Tbsp
      For each cup of flour, increase by 0-2 Tbsp

      I live at 6000 ft and followed these with a decrease of 1/8 tsp for Baking soda, decrease of 1 Tbsp of sugar, an increase of 1 TBSP liquid and another increase of 1 Tbsp flour. Also increased the cooking temp to 365 degrees and cook time 5 minutes less.
      The cake came out perfectly, no sinking..Tastes great too You can get more details about this if you check out high altitudes cooking a Colo tate University. Hope it helps!

  8. Rena

    A delightful show! Thank you; so easy to follow! Love your delicious recipes! Especially the baking, they’re my favorites!

  9. rjellis28

    I have never been a fan of chocolate cake, nor chocolate icing. But it was the pandemic and we needed something sweet, and the cupboard was relatively bare. I saw this recipe and thought, why not.

    Omg. This is wonderful. The cake is so much more flavorful than any box cake or any cake I’ve had in a restaurant. Truly, omg. The cake recipe is wickedly easy, and the icing is even easier. I am a convert to chocolate cake – at least, THIS chocolate cake.

  10. Carol

    This cake and icing is amazingly easy to make and is absolutely delicious !!! Will definitely make again. Am going to try your other recipes very soon.
    Thank- you Jenny

  11. Glenda

    As with ALL of your recipes, I’d like to see the nutritional facts for them if possible…Being pre diabetic it would help a lot! Thanks.

    • cynthia

      Would love nutrition facts for Jenny’s wonderful recipes

  12. Elle

    Jenny, great tasting cake. Very easy. During this time with this virus pandemic, it was the right time to give my husband and I a special treat. We all need to be conserving eggs and butter.
    Thanks so much for this recipe. FYI, I used
    Organic unsweetened chocolate baking bar that I had in our deep freeze. I used my scale and measured about 1 1/8 oz in lieu of the Dutch cocoa powder. It is so fluffy and yummy. Please stay healthy, happy and safe. April 3, 2020?

  13. Barbara L

    My family has been baking this cake since the 1950s! The recipe came from a neighbor.
    It’s so easy and delicious. A family favorite!

  14. Jennie

    My mom used to make something she called Eggless Fudge Cake. This sounds very similar. We lost that wonderful recipe years ago so I am eager to try this one!
    Thanks Jenny from Jennie

  15. Frankie

    I love this cake!! My grandson is allergic to eggs and we have tried several years (4 … lol ) to find a cake that he can eat that’s GOOD. It’s always a problem at birthdays. He can have icing – but not cake. I have been using unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil and it turns out fudgey and great. I made it in a square Corning Ware dish that might be about 10 inches and baked in 28 minutes. I used this dish because I had to take it somewhere and the dish has a glass lid.

    • Colleen B

      How much applesauce did you use in place of the oil?

      • Terri Lynn Laughlin

        I used 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce to replace the oil. It was delicious.

  16. Lisa

    I wish this cake wasn’t so easy to make and delicious to eat. It’s my go to now. It lasts maybe a day. I love it! I love all your recipes I’ve tried so far. My son especially loves the wheat bread. I also am jealous of your spatula collection!

  17. Lennie

    the easy chocolate cake Can I us GF flour in this recipe? Can I use Splenda instead of sugar?

    • Jenny Can Cook

      Sorry, I have no experience with either one.

      • Valerie

        I tried Spenda and made one with sugar. They tasted the same. 🙂

    • Miss Anna

      Bob’s Red Mill makes a wonderful GF flour called, 1 to 1 that you can use instead of AP flour. About sugar, using a sugar substitute could change the recipe’s texture. I use an organic sugar I get it from Costco. When I’m not baking I use liquid Stevia. I do not use the powdered Stevia, the process to make it white instead of its natural color of green, how it grows, is chemicals, so I do not use it. Not sure about Splenda but if it were me I would use the organic sugar.

  18. Werner

    Hello, my question is, could you use Buttermilk instead of the lemon/vinegar and water combination?
    Thank you for sharing those great recipes, always seem to make sense and work well.

  19. Celia

    I made this cake and he is so good and you’re other recipies also! Whe are real fans of you en eat a lot of you’re recipies here in Belgium!
    Hope that you knever stopped!!!

    Thanx!!!

  20. Debbie

    I baked your yellow cake 2 days ago with your chocolate frosting recipe on top. It was delicious and all gone! I’m making your chocolate cake today with the chocolate icing. Just right for two people. It would be nice if you could put the date when you come up with new recipes so we would know if it was old or a new and if we’ve already got it or not. thanks for such greatThanks for such great recipes what

    • Jenny

      It might help to know that with any category of recipes, the newest one is always first at the top left.

      • NaNa

        Quarantine recipes..obviously new! Keep on bringing us your best. Keep safe while helping us stay in..Thanks for that too

  21. nellie

    Just made this cake, it turned out great! I used a 8″ cake pan and used vinegar not lemon. Left it in the oven a little over 35 mins. moist and delish.

  22. Francine

    Hi!Jenny I’ve been trying this recipie over & over again,thank you.

  23. Lis K

    I tried this recipe today, and it turned out great. Thanks for sharing, Jenny!
    I’d like to share my experience, and hopefully it’ll be useful for others.
    1. I didn’t modify the recipe.
    2. I baked for 25 mins, 350 F (175C). The taste of the cake was great, but the center part was not done. There was a cracked in the upper part of my cake, that’s why I decided to bake only 25 mins). I used spring-form pan.
    3. I think every oven does have slightly difference, so we need to decide whether to follow exactly what the recipe says or to modify it.

    • Jenny

      Using a springform pan and reducing the baking time is a bit of a modification and sometimes that’s all it takes for things not to turn out perfectly, especially if the springform pan is not 9 inches. I make this cake often and I can guarantee that if you follow this recipe exactly, with no changes at all, you will have a good result and the cake will never crack.

      • Lis K

        Thanks for the reply Jenny. This maybe out off topic, but may I ask you (not particularly for this cake) about what might be the reason for the crack in the cake? I am new in baking, so I would really appreciate if you could share your experience 🙂

        • Jenny

          There are several reasons why a cake can crack on the top. 1) The oven is too hot. 2) Using a smaller pan than indicated. 3) Too much rising agent. 4) Over-mixing the batter, which incorporates too much air in the batter.

    • Lisa

      I use a red silicone heart shaped pan and it turns out good everytime. It is the equivalent to a 9 inch round pan. If you lessen the time its gonna be raw. Was your pan not 9 inches? And is your oven temp correct. To my way of thinking it was a too small pan or the temp was wrong. ?‍♀️

  24. cerine

    hi the cake was very successful and delicious but there was a little problem which is a bitter taste maybe due to the baking soda

    • Jenny

      Baking soda is used in lots of baking and I doubt if that’s causing the bitterness. It might be from the cocoa you are using. Can you let me know the brand of cocoa and if you made any changes, even the slightest change, to my recipe. I’ve been making this cake for years and it’s never bitter. Please let me know, thanks.

  25. Bernadette

    Jenny,
    I just made your chocolate cake. Waiting for it to cool…..smells HEAVENLY! !
    Do you suppose I could make a white version of this cake if I omit the cocoa and add flour?
    I truly appreciate all of your recipes!

  26. sskhoo

    Can I substitute the vinegar with something else like lemon?

    • Jenny

      I have only made it with vinegar but I’ve seen similar recipes that use lemon juice.

  27. Glo

    Celebrating our 45th anniversary tomorrow……with an “empty nest” now, this is the perfect size, ingredients and flavor, and I have all the ingredients on hand. Love your thoughtful and delicious recipes. Thanks for sharing.

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