Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

midnight dragonfly chocolate cake

(36 ratings)
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Cynthia Guptill
Cedar City, UT

I have been looking for a great chocolate cake recipe most of my life. I found a good one then tweaked it up to make it great. ;)

Blue Ribbon Recipe

Chocolate lovers unite over this decadently dark and delicious chocolate cake. It's super moist and melts in your mouth. On top, is a rich, creamy, and super chocolaty frosting. We love that while there is a ton of chocolate in this cake, it's not overly sweet. It is rich, though.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(36 ratings)
yield 10 -12 or about 30 cupcakes
prep time 15 Min
cook time 40 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For midnight dragonfly chocolate cake

  • CAKE
  • 2 c
    all-purpose flour
  • 2 c
    sugar
  • 1/4 c
    Hershey's special dark cocoa
  • 1/2 c
    regular cocoa
  • 2 tsp
    baking soda
  • 1 tsp
    salt
  • 2
    large eggs
  • 1 c
    buttermilk
  • 1/2 c
    melted butter
  • 1/2 c
    vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp
    vanilla extract
  • 1 c
    boiling water
  • FROSTING
  • 1/2 c
    butter
  • 3 Tbsp
    Hershey's special dark cocoa
  • 1/2 c
    regular cocoa
  • abt. 4 1/2 c
    powdered sugar
  • 1/3-1/2 c
    half and half
  • 1 tsp
    vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch
    salt
  • 2 Tbsp
    corn syrup, light

How To Make midnight dragonfly chocolate cake

Test Kitchen Tips
Every oven is different. In ours, we baked the 9x13 cake for 50 minutes. Also, we suggest sifting the cocoas in the frosting to prevent lumps. Same for the cocoa and flour in the cake batter.
  • Oven preheated to 300 degrees.
    1
    Preheat oven to 300 degrees. No, this is not a typo. This is a slow bake cake. Grease and flour one 9x13 or three 8" round cake pans. Use liners if making cupcakes.
  • Cake ingredients in a bowl.
    2
    Put all the cake ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Mix until batter is smooth.
    3
    Mix till smooth.
  • Batter poured into a prepared pan.
    4
    Pour into prepared pan(s).
  • Cake baking in the oven.
    5
    Bake one 9x13 cake, one hour. (Check at 40 min or until toothpick comes out clean.) Bake three 8" round cakes, 40 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Bake cupcakes, 30-35 min or until toothpick comes out clean.
  • Prepared frosting in a bowl.
    6
    I have always had trouble with being able to consistently make a creamy chocolate frosting until I found this tip on the internet... wait for it... melt the butter. lol So, for the frosting, melt the butter ;) Stir in the cocoas until smooth. Add powdered sugar and half & half alternately until smooth. Stir in vanilla and salt. Add the corn syrup, stir until creamy.
  • Frosted Dragonfly Dark Chocolate Cake.
    7
    This will frost an eight-inch three-layer cake. Cut recipe in half for 9x13 or cupcakes
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