This ultra-moist Chocolate Snack Cake is tender and soft and sure to satisfy your chocolate cravings! It is an easy and simple recipe yet provides an indulgent taste and rich, moist texture!

This Chocolate Snack Cake is always a family favorite, and this recipe always works perfectly. Moreover, I love to top the cake with light and airy chocolate whipped cream, which goes perfectly well with this cake.

If you want to start with an extremely easy chocolate cake, try this Chocolate Depression Cake!

Jump to:

What is Snack Cake
Decadent Chocolate Snack Cake
Why You Will Love This Easy Snack Cake
Ingredients
How To Make Chocolate Snack Cake
Serving Suggestions
Storing and Freezing Suggestions
Helpful Tips
More Eggless Chocolate Cakes
Recipe Card

What is Snack Cake

Snack cake is traditionally a sheet cake and can be served with or without icing. It is a single-layer cake; you can eat it without frosting or dusting icing sugar on top before serving. It could be any size of cake, but I have made it as an 8-inch chocolate sheet cake in this recipe. As I mentioned, it can be eaten without any frosting, but I have topped it with light and airy chocolate whipped cream.

Decadent Chocolate Snack Cake

Making this chocolate snack cake is beyond easy and does not require an electric mixer. It can be made anytime for a post-meal dessert, a chocolate craving, or a potluck.

It’s also a good idea to make this cake as a small birthday or Valentine’s Day treat for your family and loved ones.

This cake tastes decadent even without any frosting. Or, you can top this snack cake with any of your favorite frosting. You can frost it with buttercream, cream cheese frosting, or whipped cream frosting.

The combination of oil, sour cream, and buttermilk makes this cake super moist with soft crumbs. My family loves chocolate cake, and I already posted quite a few types of chocolate cakes.

This Chocolate Snack cake is an eggless cake, and there is no need for any fancy egg replacers, just like my other recipes.

Why You Will Love This Easy Snack Cake

This Chocolate Snack Cake is beyond easy to bake, and you can have a chocolatey dessert in no time.
The cake is soft, moist, super chocolatey, and delicious.
You can enjoy this cake as it is or top it with your favorite frosting.
It can be served with a scoop of whipped cream or ice cream.
The recipe is eggless and vegetarian.
You can also make it as a Valentine’s Day treat for your loved ones.

a slice of chocolate snack cake on the plate

Ingredients

Flour: I make this cake using all-purpose flour or cake flour. And with either one, the cake comes out soft and moist. However, for a more tender and delicate cake, use cake flour. Also, measuring the flour correctly and using the kitchen scale for the best results is essential.
Cocoa Powder: I have tried this cake recipe using natural cocoa powder and Dutch-process. And with any cocoa powder, this cake turns out equally delicious. However, my personal favorite is Dutch-process cocoa powder. So, go with your preference and use either natural cocoa powder or Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Both are leavening agents and are essential for this recipe.
Salt: It provides a pleasant contrast to the sweetness of the cake.
Sugar: It provides structure and sweetness to the cake.
Milk + Vinegar: This is a DIY version of buttermilk. It is an easy homemade substitute if you can not find store-bought buttermilk. Instead of white vinegar, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar can also be used. But I prefer white vinegar. Use full-fat or 2% milk to make buttermilk, and do not use low-fat milk.
Oil: Oil makes the cake very moist and soft. I have made this Eggless Chocolate Snack Cake using Sunflower oil, but other options are canola and vegetable oil.
Sour Cream: It makes the cake moist and soft. Use full-fat sour cream for the best result.
Vanilla: This flavor goes perfectly well with the chocolate cake. Use pure vanilla, if possible, for the best flavors.
Hot Water: Hot water makes cocoa powder bloom and dissolve. After adding hot water, the batter will be thinner, and that makes this cake further moist.
Instant Coffee: Adding coffee powder to hot water is optional. But coffee makes the cake darker in color without tasting the coffee.

How To Make Chocolate Snack Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Generously grease an 8×8-inch cake pan with oil spray or butter and line it with parchment paper.
Set it aside.
Add 1½ teaspoon of white vinegar to the milk, mix well, and let it stand for 5 minutes.
It is the DIY version of buttermilk. But if you have store-bought buttermilk, you can use ½ cup of it.

Mix 1 teaspoon of instant coffee into hot water.
If not using coffee, use only hot water. Set aside.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Whisk well until everything is well combined.

Now add granulated sugar and mix to combine.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk oil, sour cream, buttermilk, and vanilla together until the mixture is well combined and smooth.

Add the wet mixture and hot coffee into the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined.
Do not overmix.

mixing dry and wet miture together in a bowl

Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 28-34 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack.
Allow the cake to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Top the chocolate snack cake with your favorite frosting and slice it.
I have topped the cake with chocolate whipped cream frosting.

frosted chocolate snack cake on the plate

Serving Suggestions

This 8-inch chocolate sheet cake is super chocolatey and moist. So you can slice and serve the cake as it is.
You can dust the chocolate cake with icing sugar before serving.
Top the cake with your favorite frosting, such as vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream, cream cheese frosting, whipped cream, or chocolate whipped cream frosting.
You can also serve the cake slice with vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
Or, top the cake with chocolate ganache.

Storing and Freezing Suggestions

The cake without frosting can be stored, tightly covered, at room temperature for 3 days.
If you like the chilled cake, store the cake in the refrigerator for up to a week.
The cake can be frozen without frosting, tightly covered, for up to three months. When ready to use, thaw the cake in the fridge overnight and bring it to room temperature before frosting or serving.
If you top the cake with frosting, it is best to refrigerate it until serving.

Helpful Tips

Measuring: Make sure to measure the ingredients correctly. For the best result, use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients if you have one.

Milk For Buttermilk: To make DIY buttermilk, use full-fat or whole milk. However, you can use low-fat milk but do not use fat-free dairy.

Instant Coffee: If you do not want to add coffee, you can skip it and use only hot water instead.

Mixing The Batter: Do not overmix the cake batter; overmixing will make the cake denser.

Baking: Every oven is different, so keep an eye on the cake after 28 minutes of baking. Overbaking will make the cake dry and dense.

Frosting: I have frosted the cake with chocolate whipped cream frosting in the pictures in this post. But you can frost the cake with your choice of frosting. This cake tastes delicious with vanilla or chocolate buttercream, cream cheese icing, whipped cream frosting, chocolate ganache, and many other cake frostings.