Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake

Cocoa Powder: Use natural unsweetened cocoa powder for the base formula. Dutch-process cocoa changes the acidity and should not be substituted without retesting the leavening.
Batter: The finished batter should seem much thinner than most cake batters. That is expected and helps create the cake’s soft, moist crumb.
Coffee Variation: Replace the first cup of water with room-temperature brewed coffee and the second cup with hot brewed coffee, keeping the total liquid at 2 cups.
Round Cake Variation: Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans and line their bottoms with parchment paper. Divide the batter evenly and begin checking at 32 minutes; the deeper layers may need 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes before turning them onto cooling racks.
Make Ahead: Bake the cake one day ahead, cool it completely, and keep it tightly covered in the pan until ready to finish and serve.
Storage: Keep the cooled, unfrosted cake tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months. Follow the linked frosting recipe’s storage directions once the cake is frosted.
Serving: Serve the cake plain, dusted with powdered sugar, covered with a simple chocolate frosting, or finished with the optional Broiled Coconut Frosting .

Name: Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 12 slices
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 cups granulated sugar; ¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda; ½ teaspoon salt; 2 cups water; 10 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil; 2 large eggs; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Hot water turns the cocoa batter thin before it bakes into a tender, moist crumb. The flavor settles overnight, so a second-day slice may be even better.

By Betty Lou Gardner1 hr 45 minUpdated 2026-08-25

This Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake is soft, moist, and deeply chocolatey with a tender crumb that stays rich for days after baking. Simple pantry ingredients come together into the kind of dependable homemade cake that works just as well for birthdays and potlucks as it does for an everyday chocolate craving.

Betty Lou Gardner in a family archival photograph

Granny’s Kitchen Notes

From Betty Lou Gardner

I always like this cake because it turns out moist without needing anything fancy or complicated. Sometimes I use coffee for the water because it deepens the chocolate flavor beautifully, and I think the cake tastes especially good the second day once everything settles together a little more.