The Most Decadent One Bowl Chocolate Cake
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! You need an easy recipe for a decadent dessert to celebrate. It doesn’t matter if you are sharing this with a partner, friends, family, or if you plan to eat this while your pets watch, this elegant and easy chocolate cake is for you.
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The idea for this recipe is not organically my own. We watch an awful lot of the Bon Appétit Youtube channel at night (we don’t have cable). This is off-topic, but I ship Claire and Brad in like a “best-friends” way. Anyway, we once tried a Chris Morocco recipe for donuts that turned out great. So, when we saw this video for cake, we had to try it, too.
Must Watch: The Original Recipe
The first time I made this, I thought I’d really tweek it. It was our anniversary, and since our wedding cake was red velvet, I thought it’d be easy to convert this. Not so much.
Experimentation Gone Awry
I started by subbing the semi sweet chocolate for white chocolate in the frosting. Then, I mistakenly tried to make ganache with butter because we didn’t have cream… so the frosting was a little chunky and weird looking.
Then, I made another mistake by using dutch process cocoa and red food coloring. The color didn’t show up at all, for one thing. But then, the cake itself was overly bitter and very dry. So, for that reason, I’m going to tell you to just use plain unsweetened baking cocoa. It will work better.
The one change I made that I will defend though, is using light brown sugar instead of granulated. I thought it made it more moist and added a level of flavor from the molasses.
Insanely Good One Bowl Chocolate Cake
This elegant and easy chocolate cake starts with a really easy cake mix. The only thing that is even remotely hard about it is heating the milk. Frankly, if you don’t have time for that, pop the milk in the microwave for 45 seconds, and it turns out fine.
All you have to do, to start, is sift together the dry ingredients. You’ll mix together the oil, eggs, and vanilla in a measuring cup until it, basically, emulsifies. It’ll turn a paler yellow, and all the whites will be incorporated. It looks almost custardy.
Once you have that custardy mix, you’ll fold it into the dry to create a paste. This is weird, but trust me, it’s fine. After you whisk in the warm milk, it thins out into a gorgeous batter that really looks like ganache.
It bakes up easily. A lot of other bakers who reviewed it said theirs was done at 40 minutes. I’d definitely at least check it then. You’re looking for a clean toothpick.
Unique Frosting
The frosting was a new process for me. This is mainly because I’m so used to American buttercreams. Remember, I’m not a pastry chef or anything. I’m just a home cook who’s constantly learning. So, this may be old news to you.
If you make up a really great ganache, you can turn this into the base of your frosting. Who knew? To do this, you’ll start with your favorite chocolate and heavy cream in a double boiler.
Turn on the heat after you’ve placed the bowl on top of the pot to prevent the glass of the bowl from breaking. Let the whole affair come to temperature as one unit.
The thing I found important is to continually stir it for even heating. Don’t walk away. Definitely don’t take a potty break. The last thing you want is the chocolate on the bottom overcooking and turning gritty.
Also, even though I’ve already said this, do not try and make the ganache with butter instead of cream. It was bad, you guys. So bad.
Perfect Pairings for Your Chocolate Cake
I initially made this for our anniversary, and then I made it again just to prove that I knew how to actually bake a cake. But, the second time, I also decided we needed to break out a bottle of wine.
You probably know of a great bottle that would go so nicely with an elegant, easy chocolate cake. But for me, I’ve had this bottle of cherry wine from a local winery in Indiana for nearly five years.
When I first tried it at a wine tasting, we were offered a chocolate chip. You were supposed to take a sip, then let the chocolate melt in your mouth, and take another sip. Somehow or other, what you were left with was this mouthful of aromatic cinnamon. So, that is why I’ve held onto this wine for so long. I had been waiting around for the perfect chocolate cake.
However, not everyone has a bottle of Wildcat Creek Cherry Wine in the rack (nor would everyone find this appealing). For you, I’d recommend pairing this chocolate cake with a pinot noir.
Why Pinot Noir?
If you do research into what will pair best with rich chocolate cake, you’ll yield results like merlot or cabernet sauvignon. This isn’t just a chocolate cake though. The tang in the cream cheese ganache frosting needs to be complimented.
The flavor profile of this cake more closely resembles a red velvet cake. So, a nice pinot noir will highlight the cocoa flavor, but also introduce cherry and berry notes. Nothing says Valentine’s Day quite like a good chocolate covered fruit.
Time to Make Some Chocolate Cake
It doesn’t matter who you spend Valentine’s Day with. If you have a partner, they’ll love making this with you. Maybe it’s just you, and you truly deserve some elegant, easy chocolate cake to treat yourself right. Or you might even be sharing this cake with friends and family. Whoever you share this cake with, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday full of love and laughter.
So, tell me all about your Valentine’s plans, your traditions… comment below because I want to hear from you! And if you want to hear from me, please subscribe for weekly blog updates.
Elegant + Easy Chocolate Cake
Equipment
- 9 inch round cake pan
- Parchment paper
- Saucepan
- Large mixing bowl
- 2 cup measuring cup (or small bowl)
- Heatproof medium bowl
- Electric hand mixer
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
- 1⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1¼ tsp pink himalayan sea salt
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch process)
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk
Cream Cheese Ganache Frosting
- ¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 pinch pink himalayan sea salt
Instructions
Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Begin by setting an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 325ºF.
- Oil and line a 9 inch round cake pan with parchment paper. There is a link in the notes for how to do this really easily via the Kitchn.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk in brown sugar.
- In a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together eggs, vegetable oi, and vanilla extract until homogenous and pale yellow.
- Using a spatula, fold the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until fully combined. It will be very thick, like spackle.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk until wisps of steam begin to rise. Do not simmer.
- Gently whisk the warm milk into the cake mix until smooth. Do not overmix.
- Pour batter into the prepared cake pan, and gently tap the pan against the counter to pop excess air bubbles.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. Cool in the pan until the pan is cool to the touch. Then turn out to cool completely on a wire rack.
Cream Cheese Ganache Frosting
- Create a double boiler on your stove with a saucepan filled with 1 inch of water and a heat-proof medium bowl set into it.
- Add the chocolate chips and cream to the bowl, and turn the heat to medium. Bring the water below to a simmer. You want the bowl to warm up gradually to prevent breaking.
- Continuously stir the chocolate and cream until smooth and glossy.
- Remove the ganache from the heat and allow to cool completely. It will be very thick once cool.
- Using an electric mixer, beat in room temperature cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Beat until light in color and airy.
- Spread the frosting over your finished cake, using whatever technique you desire. I like a swirl. You may like the swoop method used in the Chris Morocco video.
