This chocolate birthday cake uses Dutch process cocoa, espresso powder, and hot water for an ultra-moist, deeply fudgy crumb with rich chocolate buttercream frosting. From scratch and showstopping.

Everything you need to make the perfect homemade birthday cake — classic recipes, showstopper cakes, fruity options, tips, and FAQs all in one place.

Vanilla cake turning out dense, dry, or sunken? This post covers the most common vanilla cake troubleshooting problems and exactly how to fix them — plus a free guide.