The Best Rich and Moist Chocolate Cake
This Easy Chocolate Cake Recipe from a box mix is professional bakery-quality, but anyone can make it at home with simple ingredients.
Our family recipe adds sour cream, instant pudding, extra eggs and chocolate chips to make a box of cake mix so much more moist and delicious!
Easy Chocolate Box Cake Recipe
This is a bakery-quality cake recipe that anyone can make at home with common ingredients!
This chocolate cake is super moist because it is made with pudding and sour cream. A cup and a half (or the whole bag) of semi-sweet chocolate chips add to the rich flavor. The combination of all of these ingredients is truly unforgettable and very popular on Pinterest and TikTok, just like our Easy Chicken Cobbler.
When I’m craving a delicious dessert this is our go to for a super easy chocolate box cake recipe. Not knowing what to name it we say it’s the BEST rich and moist chocolate cake from a box mix, and love sharing that is unbelievably EASY to make!
We typically use this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, but check out the Chocolate Cool Whip Frosting on our Chocolate Poke Cake to put a spin on this recipe.
A Moist Cake With Pudding Mix Added
A popular birthday cake, this is a secret recipe that was stolen from my mother-in-law’s kitchen. She was sworn never to give the recipe away, to never let people know about the instant pudding and sour cream that are added in. Being a woman of her word she didn’t.
I hope I never forget the day my husband was looking for something in the kitchen and he found this recipe.
We couldn’t tell her for the longest time that we had the family favorite recipe. Then a few years passed and the small town restaurant that supposedly shared the recipe closed, so I think it’s safe to share with you.
Adding instant pudding creates a wonderful dessert with very little effort.
Our Easy Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake, White Chocolate Cupcakes, and Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake were all inspired from this method and recipe.
Ingredients Needed:
A few simple ingredients elevates a box mix of cake to taste homemade in about 15 minutes!
- Box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix – or another type of chocolate cake mix will work fine too
- Instant Chocolate Pudding – only instant pudding will do, make sure not to buy the cook and serve type
- Eggs – adding more eggs than a typical box mix calls for helps tenderize every morsel of cake
- Sour Cream – makes the cake have a deeper flavor and adds so much moisture
- Warm Water – helps activate the pudding and allows all of the ingredients to mix together
- Vegetable Oil – adds fat and moisture for tender crumbs
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – more chocolate flavor makes the cake even better
The Best Chocolate Birthday Cake
This cake is almost always requested at family birthday parties. And Joe comes from a big family so there’s a lot of birthday parties which means a lot of the best chocolate cake ever!
Faith, family, farming and food are big in my husband’s family. All the prerequisites for a great relationship! I’m so grateful for the values that Joe’s family has instilled in him. He has carried these values into our family and our marriage!
Simple family traditions and big parties are so valuable. Part of feeding a crowd on a budget has included learning how to make box cake better.
My husband just said this week (in January) that he would like to get marinated pork chops or ham loaf from a local market for his birthday in April. Cheers to the time and effort to create traditions that are special.
Tips for Making Box Cake Better
- Mix ingredients very well before adding chocolate chips
- Be careful not to add liquids to pudding mix only as it can begin to set up like pudding
- The pudding makes this cake so moist, but it also means the cake takes longer than normal to bake
- Baking times vary, so I use a toothpick to test the cake a couple times to prevent burning
- After removing cake from the oven cover with a piece of foil to help hold in ALL of the moisture – this is key to keeping a super moist cake
- Cake can be made in two 9 inch pans or in a 9 x 13-inch pan – bake for about 30 minutes
- I always use 1 1/2 to 2 cans of chocolate store bought icing to save time, but feel free to make homemade icing
- My husband loves this cake with a couple cans of cream cheese icing too
Easy Add Ins To Make A Box Cake Better
- Eggs – makes the cake richer
- Pudding Mix – adds sweetness and improves the texture to be softer and more enjoyable
- Sour Cream – adds so much richness and helps make the cake super moist
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips – more chocolate makes it sweeter, more chocolatier and even more like a professional cake
- Coffee – substitute coffee in place of the warm water as it amplifies the chocolate flavor
How to Make Moist Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan; 2 – 9 inch round pans also work well.
- Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips on medium speed for up to 1 minute.
- Gently fold in chips and pour into greased pan.
- Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step By Step Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF and coat a 9 x 13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large electric mixing bowl pour in box of cake mix.
Break eggs and add to bowl. Add sour cream, vegetable oil and warm water.
Then add the instant chocolate pudding mix and be ready to mix fairly quickly.
You don’t have to race, but you don’t want to wait and let the pudding set up.
Begin mixing.
Then scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
Mix for about a minute, but be careful not to over mix.
Then lift the beater and clean it off with the spatula.
Remove the bowl from the base and add chocolate chips.
Use spatula and fold in by hand.
Pour cake batter into a greased baking dish.
Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes in a 9 x 13″ pan OR for about 30 minutes in two round cake pans until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow cake to cook and then cover with icing. We typically use one to one and a half cans of chocolate or cream cheese frosting.
Storage Instructions
Store covered in a container with a lid or covered tightly with foil to keep moist. Keep on the counter for 3 – 4 days.
Storing in the refrigerator helps extend the life of the cake up to a week.
More of our Favorite Cake Recipes:
Here are a few other of our favorite cake recipes to make for birthdays, special occasions and everyday desserts. We hope you enjoy these cakes as much as we do!
- Oreo Dirt Cake
- Cream Puff Cake
- Cinnamon Applesauce Cake
- Peanut Butter Texas Sheet Cake
- Heath Bar Cake
- Punch Bowl Cake recipe
The Best Rich and Moist Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box Devil’s food cake mix
- 3.4 ounce package instant chocolate pudding
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.
- Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips at medium speed for 2 minutes.1 box Devil’s food cake mix, 3.4 ounce package instant chocolate pudding, 4 large eggs, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- Gently fold in chips.1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- I always use a 9 x 13 pan, by 2 – 9 inch round pans can also be used. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Video
Notes
- Baking times vary, so I use a toothpick to test the cake a couple times to prevent burning
- Cake can be made in two 9 inch pans or in a 9 x 13-inch pan – bake for about 30 minutes
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ids My name is Jennifer and i have question about your directions for the chocolate cake mix
You say be careful not to add liquids to the pudding mix??? Why are saying. Not to add the liquids to the pudding mix ????????
Correct, don’t make the pudding first and then mix it in. Mix things together before letting the pudding set up. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jennifer! I’d like to make this tomorrow for my husband’s Birthday! I have 2 questions: What would I add for high altitude (we live in Colorado) and does it have to be devil’s food cake? Would it be okay if it was regular chocolate cake? Thanks so much for your time!
Hi! So excited to hear you plan to make this for a birthday cake! I think the chocolate cake mix would work fine. I haven’t baked in high altitude, but I typically check for doneness with a toothpick sooner than the recipe calls for the cake to be done just to be sure it doesn’t burn. Let me know what adjustments you end up making. Hope you enjoy!
Would this work for a German Chocolate cake as well? What pudding mix would you suggest?
We’ve just been testing variation of this cake over the weekend! Haven’t tried German Chocolate yet, but I bet it would be good. I would try regular chocolate pudding. Could use a coconut pecan icing for a great flavor. Please let me know if you give this a try how it works out!
Here is another flavor combination that we LOVE https://plowingthroughlife.com/chocolate-covered-strawberry-cake/
Can you taste the sour cream? Seeing that in the recipe makes me nervous!! What kind of flavor does it give the cake?
Great question! We do not taste the sour cream at all. I think it has more to do with the texture and keeping it super moist than flavor. I hope the cake turns out great for you!
I was looking at your instructions and I have a question do you follow the instructions that you have or do you follow the instructions on the back of the chocolate cake mix and then follow your instructions
Great question! I just follow the instructions listed here on the website. Hope the recipe turns out well for you!
Question you add the ingredients to make the box cake. But do you also add the ingredients from the pudding mix box as well or just the pudding mix only
Great question! Ignore the back of the box and follow the recipe and instructions listed on the recipe card towards the bottom of the page. Hope the recipe turns out well for you!
Best boxed cake I have ever made
Made this for my husband’s birthday today. Turned out great and super moist. Thanks for the recipe. Directions were easy and simple to follow.
Thanks so much for sharing your success! So glad the recipe worked out great for you!
Super delicious & chocolaty rich, but mine came out a tad too moist – will definitely try again!
How long wouldnI bake it using a bundt pan?
Hey there – I would start testing with a toothpick at 40 minutes and then judge baking time needed from there. We hope you enjoy 🙂
I just made it! Thank you for sharing!!! 🙂
Thanks so much for letting me know! Hope you love it!
do you add the chocolate pudding to the other ingredients as a DRY mix?
Great question! Yes!
We are home during the Covid-19 stay at home orders. So it was a great time to do a little baking. I tried this recipe minus the instant chocolate pudding and I just replaced the water with coffee. It came out great. I do want to try with the pudding I just didn’t have on hand. We are using a grocery shopping service so I don’t always get everything I want from the grocery store. So we make due. Sour cream does at first seem odd to use but, I also used it to a cornbread recipe and it too was outstanding. Thanks for the recipe it’s worth making and probably just that much better with pudding. I can’t wait to try it!
Hey there! We’ve been doing the same thing trying to make recipes but struggling to get all of the groceries when ordering. I’m so glad you tried the cake and love it. It’s truly one of our favorites! Hope you’re able to stay safe and healthy!
Just made this for my son’s birthday and it was delicious! I accidentally grabbed the olive oil instead of vegetable oil and was worried it would affect the taste. It was still so chocolatey and moist. I followed the directions exactly and love the chocolate chips as they give a bite of texture. I doctored up the store bought chocolate fudge frosting with vanilla, tad bit of heavy cream and dollop of sour cream and whipped it up. This will be my go to recipe for chocolate cake!
So glad to hear the recipe worked well for you and your family! Thanks for sharing the substitutions you made. Hope your son has a great birthday!
Love this recipe
So glad to hear this! It’s one of our favorites too!
I am going to try this but I have a question about covering the cake. Do you keep the foil on until the cake completely cools or for a set amount of time? Do you do this for all of your cakes?
Great question! As the cake cools the foil helps catch the condensation which helps keep the cake more moist. The recipe is very moist without this step, but yes this is something I try to do with all cakes…when I have time and remember :). Hope you love the recipe!
Just to make it clear for me. The cake mix you used does NOT have the pudding in it???? I have found that the Dollar Tree is the only place I can find no pudding in the mix. Only $1. Some stores have both chocolate and White cake mixes. I beleive the brand name is Pillsbury. (Not 100% sure… Maybe Betty Crocker)
Great question! I usually use Duncan Hines, but any brand will work. It’s okay to have the pudding in the cake mix, you’ll still add a box of pudding which helps make it so moist!
For any cake mix, I always substitute milk for the water, and butter for the oil, in addition to a box of instant pudding in the same flavor of the cake. Always use 4 eggs, and all ingredients should be at room temperature – I let mine sit out for about 45 minutes. Your cake will be very, very moist and rich! Also, you can heat your tub of icing in the microwave for about 15 seconds — makes it so much easier to spread.
Thanks!
Gini
Hello,
As week speak my cake is in the oven! I added espresso for the water and will be frosted with Peanut butter frosting! Reminds me of what my Mom use to make meI’ll let you know how it turns out!
Shellie
Will this recipe work with a bundt pan?
That’s a great question! I haven’t tried it in a bundt pan but if you do please let me know how it turns out!
I’m not a big baker but our family loves a chocolate cake. We always make a cake for Christmas for Jesus’s birthday. This year we tried this one. I was a bit worried when I saw sour cream in the recipe. I almost left that out but I’m SOOOO glad I didn’t. This cake was super moist and will be gone in NO TIME! It was sooooo good!