The Most Perfect Moist Chocolate Cake [+Video]

Homemade Chocolate Cake like this is not easy to find. This is the Most Perfect Moist Chocolate Cake recipe, and that’s coming from an obsessed cake tester!

Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe with Chocolate Frosting

You all know how I work. It’s why we have the best Traeger Ribs, Buttermilk Pancakes and Banana Bread recipes among a gazillion others. I get all sucked into finding the best of the best for a specific recipe and I can’t let it go until I’ve achieved it.

And friends, I’ve discovered which chocolate cake is best. If you’re needing chocolate cake for a birthday or a family celebration, you just step right up.  (Who am I kidding, just make it because you are surviving the crazy these days.)

Everyone I know loves a moist chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, but no one has great luck with a homemade chocolate cake without just using a cake mix. I am crazy giddy to share all of my secrets!

Don’t go crazy, but this is a chocolate cake recipe without butter. That’s for a very specific reason. As much as I thought that butter would be all the difference in flavor, it just wasn’t the truth. The flavor didn’t count enough for how much the cake lacked moisture.

Apparently butter doesn’t make cakes moister, which makes sense. Butter has a high water content that evaporates as steam in the baking process so it can’t keep the moisture like an oil can. If you really want to use butter you can, just use equal amounts or half and half, but all oil did lead to a better chocolate layer cake!

Homemade Chocolate Cake Ingredients

As I already mentioned, the moistness of this homemade chocolate cake is thanks in part to the oil used in the batter. Our other secret? Buttermilk! Yep, this is a buttermilk chocolate cake.

Any time a recipe calls for buttermilk, it makes me think it’s going to be a fancy recipe. But in reality, this chocolate cake from scratch couldn’t be simpler to make.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this moist chocolate cake recipe:

1. All-Purpose Flour: I’ve tested all sorts of flours but had the worst luck in a chocolate cake with cake flour.
2. Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: Do not use dutch-process cocoa powder, but opt for an unsweetened cocoa powder, which will give a better rise. Try Hershey’s or a similar brand just in the grocery store. Not crazy trip to a gourmet store needed.
3. Espresso Powder: Espresso powder is optional, but listen, as one who does not drink coffee for religious reasons I really do believe this makes a difference in the chocolate flavor.
4. Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Yes, use both!!! I’ve tried many baking powd

This creamy, rich blueberry ice cream is filled with chunks of dark chocolate that will melt in your mouth. Oh, my friends, make this. You won’t regret it – and I’m willing to bet that you’ll fall in love with it at first bite. I know I did.

This creamy blueberry ice cream with dark chocolate chunks has been my weakness for the past couple of years. I haven’t been keeping it a secret from you, but up until recently, I haven’t had the recipe. I’m beyond excited to finally be sharing it with you.

When I tell you that this ice cream is absolutely divine, you can take that to the bank. I first tried this ice cream at Rusconi’s American Kitchen when we lived in Arizona.

Rusconi’s has been my favorite date night restaurant, girls’ night restaurant, happy hour, and special occasion destination for a while now – and I still make a reservation for dinner there every single time I’m back in the valley.

The selection of ice cream on their dessert menu varies according to what the chef has made that day and I always cross my fingers that this flavor will be available when we’re there.

Blueberry Ice Cream

The first time we heard about this ice cream, the couple sitting at the table next to us was asking the waiter if there was any blueberry ice cream available. They ordered a pint to take home and then leaned over to us and told us about it.

They grinned at us as they apologized for taking the last of it home with them and told us that we simply had to try it the next time we were at Rusconi’s.

You can bet that this ice cream lover ordered a scoop of blueberry ice cream to try the next time we ate there. I may have sighed with happiness at the first bite, and the second bite, and every bite down to the very last bite.

From then on, this ice cream has been my favorite ending to every meal at Rusconi’s and I am disappointed when it is not available.

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Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 5 to 11

This weekly menu plan is full of all the recipes you love! Some quick and easy, some a little more involved but all totally fabulous for dinner! Plus, the braised pork Thursday and casserole on Saturday are brand new recipes!

Monday: Baked Chicken Meatballs with Orzo

Tuesday: IP Taco Soup

Wednesday: 15 Min Chicken Stir Fry

Thursday: Apple Cider Braised Pork

Friday: Red Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday: Cheesy Ground Beef and Potato Casserole

Sunday: Stuffed Pork Chops

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 5 to 11

Tender, savory beef simmers with a medley of herbs and earthy veggies under a golden, flaky pie crust in this simple Beef Pot Pie.

Beef Pot Pie

Isn’t pot pie just the epitome of cozy comfort food? Rich, savory gravy hugging every chunk of meat, nestled beneath a flaky crust. The vegetables are wonderful, too, but that’s not why I’m making this easy beef pot pie recipe.

The boys at my table don’t think about the vegetables too much when it comes to beef pot pies. They want steak in their pot pie nearly as much as they want it in their chili. It makes the meal, let me tell you.

Ground Beef Pot Pie

This recipe uses steak, but you could easily swap it out and make a ground beef pot pie. The flavors would be very similar.

That said, I highly recommend making it as written with steak. The texture of tender steak that has been properly seared is something incredible to experience in a pot pie.

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Cheesy Ground Beef and Potato Casserole [+Video]

Casseroles are such a great dinner option! This cheesy ground beef and potato casserole is creamy, comforting and perfect for a busy day.

We had received so many messages about our readers making our mega viral busy day casserole with potatoes instead of rice that I just had to try it for myself. This casserole is full of creamy potatoes, seasoned ground beef and melted cheese for days.

We are giving you two versions of this recipe…a quick version with cream of mushroom soup and a totally made from scratch version where you make the creamy sauce yourself. You can choose whatever you have time for!

Now if you force me to choose between the rice version and the potato version of this casserole, I will have to give the slightest edge to the original rice version. It’s probably nostalgia for me, but I just like it a little better. This potato version is pure comfort food and it reminded me of camping and eating a tinfoil dinner. It tastes so similar!

What Ingredients Go in Cheesy Hamburger Potato Casserole?

For the quick version, you’ll only need 7 simple ingredients. For the homemade version, you’ll need a few more ingredients to make the cream of mushroom soup from scratch, but all the ingredients are easy to find. Here is what you will need for both versions:

Quick Version

• Cream of Mushroom Soup, Russet Potatoes, Milk, Carrots, Ground Beef, Onion, and Cheese (Cheddar or Colby Jack)

From Scratch Version

• Sauce: Butter, Onion, Garlic, Mushrooms, Flour, Cream, Chicken Broth, Pepper, Salt, and Milk
• Casserole: Ground Beef, Salt, Garlic Powder, Onion, Carrots, Cheese (Cheddar or Colby Jack), and Russet Potatoes

PRO TIP: You can also make this recipe with frozen hash browns to make it even easier!

The measurements of all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. Keep scrolling to see all the details!

What Potato is Best to Use?

We prefer Russet potatoes in this recipe. They are starchy and soak up a lot of the flavors of the ground beef, carrots and creamy sauce. You could honestly use any p