Old Fashioned Chocolate Church Cake
This old fashioned chocolate church cake is a timeless dessert, popular at Southern gatherings and church brunches. It’s a delicious dessert, just begging to be a part of your family suppers too. This cake is sure to become a treasured favorite at any occasion!
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Growing up Baptist, potlucks were a common occurrence.
They happened at least once, often twice, a week.
These church potlucks always featured a several tables full of a delicious hodgepodge of everybody’s easy family favorites.
And on one of these tables you could always find a chocolate church cake, the favorite of every single Southern kid.
What is chocolate church cake?
Chocolate church cake is a simple chocolate cake with a basic, easy chocolate frosting.
It’s classic and a recipe often passed down from Southern grandmas.
Ingredients
To make this you’ll need a set of ingredients for the cake and one for the frosting.
For the cake itself you’ll need:
- Butter– Softened
- Sugar– Granulated
- Vanilla– Use real vanilla for the best flavor
- Milk– Use whole milk if you can.
- Eggs
- Flour– All purpose. No need for cake flour or anything fancy.
- Cocoa powder– Your favorite brand
- Baking soda– For lift
- Salt– To balance the sweet
- Hot water
For the frosting you’ll need:
- Butter– Softened
- Cocoa powder
- Vanilla extract– Again use real vanilla.
- Heavy cream– While you could substitute half and half, heavy cream is going to provide you the richest, creamiest results.
- Powdered sugar– Do not use granulated sugar in frosting. Your frosting will be gritty if you do.
How to Make the Cake
Chocolate church cake follows a pretty basic cake baking formula.
To do it, cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Once the butter and sugar are light and fluffy, beat in the vanilla extract, milk, and eggs until the wet ingredients are smooth.
Then, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
Set the mixer to a slow speed, and steadily, but slowly, add the dry ingredients in.
Mix everything just until the batter comes together and is evenly combined.
At this point, mix in the hot water, just until evenly combined.
Spray two 9 inch round cake pans liberally with cooking spray.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, dividing it evenly between the two.
Bang each pan on the counter 2-3 times to get any trapped air bubbles out and to make sure the batter’s even.
Then, bake the cakes at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, run a butter knife along the outer edges to release the cakes, then carefully turn the cakes out onto metal cooling racks to finish cooling completely.
How to Make the Chocolate Frosting
To make the frosting, add the softened butter to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream it until the butter is light and fluffy.
Turn the mixer off and add the remaining ingredients.
Once you’ve added the remaining ingredients, beat the frosting again until well combined and the frosting’s fluffy.
Scrape the sides down as needed.
Once everything is evenly combined, you can assemble the cake.
Assembling Chocolate Church Cake
Take one of the cooled cake layers and put it in the center of you white cake stand or serving dish.
Spread a layer of frosting evenly out over top to the edges.
Top the frosted layer with the remaining cake.
Then, evenly frost the outer layers and top of the cake.
Slice and serve as is, or cover, refrigerate and serve within 24 hours.
Enjoy!
Storing
Store chocolate church cake in a cake storage container or cake server in the fridge.
The cake will last about 3 days but tastes best within the first 24 hours.
Tips and Tricks
- Make sure the butter is softened but not melted. I like to let it sit out on the counter to come to room temperature before I use it.
- If you are worried about the cakes sticking to the pan, you could cut two 9 inch circles of parchment paper out and place it in each pan, spray the parchment with nonstick spray, and then pour the batter in.
- Make sure the cakes are fully cooled before you frost them. If the cakes are still warm, the frosting will melt all over the cake.
- You could use a butter knife to frost the cake or a frosting spatula.
Other Southern Dessert Recipes
Chocolate church cake is a nostalgia filled favorite.
Make it for your next gathering and enjoy!
Looking for other Southern dessert recipes?
Try these:
- No Churn Lemonade Ice Cream
- Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
- Pineapple Pretzel Salad
- Sour Cream Grape Salad
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Southern Chocolate Church Cake
Ingredients
For The Cake
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp Adam's Extract vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup hot water
For The Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
To Make The Cake
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter & sugar together until whipped and fluffy. Add the extract, milk, & eggs. Beat until evenly combined and the batter's smooth.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, & salt. Using a whisk or fork, stir together until all ingredients are evenly combined.
- Set the mixture to a slow speed, and steadily, but slowly, add the dry mixture in- mixing just until the batter comes together and is evenly combined.
- Add the hot water, mixing again just until evenly combined.
- Spray 2 9" round cake pans liberally with cooking spray. Pour the batter into them, dividing evenly between the two. Give each pan a wack onto the counter 2-3 times to get any trapped air bubbles out and to make sure the batter's even.
- Bake the cakes at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven, and set them aside from heat to cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Run a butter knife along the outer edges to release, then carefully turn the cakes out onto cooling racks to finish cooling completely.
To Make The Frosting
- Add the butter to a bowl of your stand mixer, cream until fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients, and beat again until well combined & the frosting's fluffy.
- Transfer the designated bottom layer of your cake to a cake plate or whatever serving dish you're using. Spread a layer of frosting evenly out over top to the edges.
- Top with the remaining cake. Evenly frost the outer layers and top of the cake.
- Slice & serve as is, or cover, refrigerate and serve within 24 hours.
Notes
- Make sure the butter is softened but not melted. I like to let it sit out on the counter to come to room temperature before I use it.
- If you are worried about the cakes sticking to the pan, you could cut two 9 inch circles of parchment paper out and place it in each pan, spray the parchment with nonstick spray, and then pour the batter in.
- Make sure the cakes are fully cooled before you frost them. If the cakes are still warm, the frosting will melt all over the cake.
- You could use a butter knife to frost the cake or a frosting spatula.
Nutrition
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Such a fun recipe! Thank you so much for sharing your Old Fashioned Chocolate Church Cake with all of us at Weekend Potluck! Hope you have a great week!
Hi, Meaghan, Thanks for the chocolate church cake recipe. It was a delicious cake! the directions were complete and easy to follow. and everyone raved about the cake.
In your notes about yourself and your family you say “My boys keep my husband and I busy…” You wouldn’t say “My boys keep I busy”, you’d say “My boys keep me busy”; likewise you say “My boys keep my husband and me busy…”
I love old fashioned recipes, thank you for sharing your church cake!
I am sure many woman were happy to see boxed cake mix invented in the 1930’s.
But there is something about home made chocolate cake that is hard to beat..