Chocolate Cake Recipes

This sweet and simple sheet cake marries two great flavors that just plain belong together: rich and tender chocolate cake, and creamy peanut-butter frosting. For maximum fluff, go for a classic smooth variety of peanut butter, and plug in your mixer—manpower alone won't be enough. Scatter chopped peanuts along the edges for any crunchy fans in the house.

A super-easy chocolate layer cake belongs in every cook's recipe repertoire. This chocolate-buttermilk cake is luscious enough for a special occasion but easy enough for everyday desserts. And the recipe gets brownie points(!) for using just a single bowl. You can also use this cake batter to make two dozen cupcakes: fill lined tins two-thirds full and bake for 20 minutes, rotating once. A decadent chocolate frosting is the finishing touch and your cake is ready for its star turn at a birthday, anniversary, or pretty much any celebration.

If you don't own a candy thermometer, this cake offers a good excuse to buy one. It sounds a little nitpicky, but the caramel should reach exactly 238 degrees. (Any less and the cake layers won't hold together properly; any more and the caramel will turn hard.) Precision will also pay off with the chocolate frosting—it achieves its ideal spreading texture after standing for 30 minutes.

This beauty is baked with a splash of Chambord and layered with a sweet raspberry filling, both of which offer bright counterpoints to the thick layer of chocolate-cream cheese frosting and whole berries scattered on top. You won't be able to have just one slice.

Baking an easy dessert like this chocolate cake can be almost as thrilling for a birthday girl or boy as blowing out the candles. 

If the sides aren't perfectly glazed, press in chocolate shavings for an easy cover-up.

Everyone needs an unintimidating, foolproof cake like this one. A generous amount of coconut topping, poured over the moist cake while it's still warm, provides richness and a deliciously gooey texture. The 12 generous slices can be cut smaller to feed a larger crowd.

An American-born beauty, the cheesecake gets upgraded with a triple dose of chocolate. It's in the crust, in the filling, and over the top. To help prevent cracks, turn off the oven and let the cheesecake sit inside for an hour. To cut the cleanest slices, use a knife dipped in warm water.

You won't taste the pureed beets, but they make this cake extra moist and play up its deep chocolate flavor.

With three shades of chocolate, these cakes are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the sweet tooth.

This chocolate cake recipe from Lucinda Scala Quinn's "Mad Hungry" cookbook involves minimal cleanup -- the ingredients are blended in the very pan that goes into the oven.

This stunner is a naturally gluten-free cake that has a smooth, ultra-rich texture. Packed with decadent dark chocolate and espresso, it's like the mocha latte of your dreams in dessert form. And we haven't even gotten to its best selling point: this cake is super easy to pull together, with only eight basic pantry ingredients and three simple steps.