Our Best Chocolate Cake Recipes

From Cooking Light

Have your cake, and eat it, too! Our lighter chocolate cake recipes are chock full of delicious and decadent flavor so you can indulge your sweet tooth—guilt free.

Five-Ingredient Chocolate Cakes

A piece of chocolate cake doesn't have to ruin your healthy-eating habits. Our lighter versions of these sweet treats are indulgent, rich, and oh-so-tasty.

Believe it: This gorgeous dessert uses only five ingredients—sugar, butter, eggs, cake flour, and cocoa (we don't count water, salt, and cooking spray). The chocolate sauce that tops the individual cakes is luscious, thick, and glossy, with full-on chocolate flavor. Beaten egg whites go into the cake batter for a light, airy texture.

Brown Butter Cake with Cocoa

This impressive-looking dessert takes only 15 minutes to throw together, making it a great last-minute dessert for entertaining. There's no need to pull out the stand mixer either. A whisk is all you'll need to mix ingredients. A good bit of salt enhances all the flavors here.

Triple-Chocolate Cheesecake

This dessert gets well-rounded chocolate richness from three sources: chocolate graham crackers in the crust, plus intense cocoa powder, and luscious milk chocolate in the filling.

Triple-Chocolate Cake

For those who say it's not dessert if it's not chocolate: Creamy milk chocolate mousse is sandwiched between intensely chocolaty cake layers.

Texas Sheet Cake

With a presence as large as its namesake state, this humble, easy-to-prepare cake made it all the way to the finals for our best chocolate recipe bake-off. This recipe uses butter and buttermilk in quantities that give it the right indulgently moist texture and rich flavor, but keep a serving at just 10 grams of fat and about 300 calories.

Chocolate-Orange Layer Cake

We love the classic flavor combination in this light, moist layer cake. Instead of a full frosting, simply spoon a warm chocolaty glaze over the two layers.

Chocolate-Banana Snack Cake

This easy-to-make snack cake has a deep chocolate taste. For more banana flavor and a slight crunch, top the cake with crumbled banana chips before baking.

Chocolate Layer Cake

This stunning dessert is gluten-free and delicious using unsweetened almond milk in both the cake and frosting.

Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Frosting

Soft, fine-crumbed cake gives way with each forkful, allowing creamy frosting to drape every bite.

Double-Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes are easy to make, and because simple ingredients are used, it's best to purchase premium cocoa powder and dark chocolate. This way, you're making sure that you're getting the purest, richest chocolate flavor. Since they're studded with dark chocolate chunks, just dusting them with powdered sugar is enough to decorate these treats, as it adds a subtle, professional-looking touch. Bake them in muffin cup liners. A dozen of these will go fast so be sure to bake an extra batch or two. Make these chocolatey delights for that special someone on Valentine's Day, or bring them to a potluck or special holiday event.

Triple-Chocolate Cheesecake

A splash of rum added to the melted chocolate gives this chocolaty cheesecake an advantage.

Double-Chocolate Swirl Pound Cake

Swirl in two steps: Alternate batters using two ice-cream scoops; then swirl with a pick for a fantastic treat.

Dark Chocolate Soufflé Cake

This favored soufflé cake is light and fluffy thanks to cake flour, a fine-textured, soft wheat flour with a high starch content.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

When you're testing the chocolate zucchini cake for doneness, insert the wooden pick in several different places. You may hit a melted chocolate, which might make you think the cake isn't done.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Instant coffee intensifies the chocolate richness of these cupcakes. For thicker frosting, cover and chill for 10 minutes before spreading on the cupcakes. Refrigerate frosted cupcakes overnight; cover lightly with plastic wrap, or store them in an airtight container.