Is there a difference between homemade chocolate cake from scratch and boxed chocolate cake mix? Why yes, yes there is! I had no idea there was a difference until I met my husband who adores his mother’s homemade chocolate cake and insists I make her recipe for him at each of his birthdays. He turns his nose up at store bought boxed cake mixes, and to tell you the truth, I kind of do now too!
Today is Valentine’s Day, and I didn’t get my husband a card or a box of chocolates, or whatever it is that you are supposed to get your husband on Valentine’s Day, but I did make him his favourite cake.
It’s really not hard to make homemade chocolate cake from scratch, and it doesn’t take a whole lot longer than boxed cake mixes. At least you know all the ingredients going into it are fresh and there are no chemical preservatives or ingredients you can’t pronounce.
Best of all, it turns out exactly like a boxed cake mix, except it tastes way better, it’s fresher and you get to feel like Martha Stewart for baking a cake from scratch!
Homemade Chocolate Cake from Scratch Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups Flour
- 2 cups Sugar
- 3/4 cup Cocoa
- 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Canola Oil
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup Boiling water (must be boiled)
You can use your favourite frosting, but we beat together:
- 1 package instant pudding (chocolate or vanilla)
- 1 envelope of Dream whip
- 1 1/2 cups of milk
I made this cake for my colleague’s birthday and everyone loved it. Thanks for your recipe. I’m going to make this alot from now on
I made some substitutions–used whole wheat pastry flour–removed 1 tbsp. cocoa and added 1 tbsp. cinnamon and put 1 1/2 c. sugar instead of 2c. This was the moistest–best stating cake from scratch I ever made in my over 40 yrs of baking.
With the ingredients listed, how big of a cake does this make?
It makes enough for two 9″ cake pans or 24 cupcakes. So put together, it’s a two layer 9″ round cake. It’s exactly the same size as you’d get from a boxed cake mix.
So a couple of questions…is it all purpose flour or cake flour? And can you use vegetable oil instead of canola oil?
I use all purpose flour. And making it with vegetable oil should be just fine. I hope that helps! 🙂