Bread Machine Chocolate Cake

This bread machine chocolate cake recipe is simple & very easy to make. Just sit back and let your bread machine bake you a cake! It is perfect if you want to make a quick cake, your oven is not working, you don’t want to use a packaged cake mix with tons of strange chemicals & preservatives, etc. Your family will enjoy the taste of this simple chocolate cake… and you will enjoy how easy it is to make!

Bread Machine Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Our bread machine cake recipe should take you roughly only 5-10 minutes to prepare and clean up. In case you are interested, you will also find a printable and “pin-able” recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients – Bread Machine Chocolate Cake

• 1 Cup – Milk – 230 milliliters
• 12 Tablespoons – Unsalted Butter – 171 grams – Soften the butter into a liquid (i.e. melt the butter in your microwave).
• 2 Teaspoons – Vanilla Extract – 10 milliliters
• 2 – Eggs
• 2 Cups – All-Purpose Flour – 240 grams
• 1 1/2 Cups – Light Brown Sugar (packed cups) – 322 grams
• 1/2 Cup – Cocoa Powder Natural Unsweetened (not hot chocolate powder) – 42 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Powder – 4 grams
• 1 Teaspoon – Baking Soda – 5 grams
• 1/2 Teaspoon – Salt – 3 grams
• 3/4 Cup – Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – 100 grams – Regular sized chocolate chips are too heavy and sink in the batter
• Optional – Whipped Chocolate Frosting

Servings – Roughly 12 Slices

Equipment – Measuring cup & spoons, soft flexible spatula, oven mitts, wire cooling rack… and of course, a bread machine.

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Finished Bread Machine Cake in Bread Pan

Instructions – Bread Machine Chocolate Cake

• Bread Machine Settings – Light Color, 2 lbs, Cake/Quick Bread
• Unplug your bread machine and remove the bread pan for the bread machine.
• Soften butter in the microwave.
• Add milk, butter, vanilla extract & eggs into a large mixing bowl. Mix together and then add dry ingredients. Stir ingredients until fully mixed. For best results, use a whisk or electric hand mixer (but for only a couple of minutes). Then mix in the chocolate chips with a large spoon. FYI – Premixing the ingredients before adding the batter to the bread pan helps to prevent flour sticking to the sides of the bread pan and/or finding small flour “clumps” in the finished cake. See tips below.
• Pour the premixed batter into the bread pan.
• Put the bread pan (with the batter) back into the bread machine, close the bread machine lid and then plug in the bread machine.
• Enter the correct bread machine settings (Cake/Quick Bread, Light Color, 2 lb.) and press the start button. FYI – Before making this recipe, please read the tips section below for more information regarding the cake & sweet “quick bread” settings. The setting may be called “quick bread”, “cake/quick bread”, “cake”, etc. This setting lasts for roughly 1:40-1:55 hours (and you will see this time in your machine’s electronic display panel). However, some manufacturers use the “quick bread” setting name for rapid sandwich-type breads that use yeast (and not for cake & quick bread recipes that use baking powder/soda). This “quick bread” sandwich bread setting lasts for only 50-60 minutes (which is not long enough for a cake recipe and your cake will be undercooked!!). This setting can be very confusing… but the tips section below will help you to find the right setting to use on your machine. You need to enter the correct cake setting used by your SPECIFIC bread machine model or the cake could be under or overcooked. Do NOT use any settings designed for yeast-based recipes (see your manual).
• When the bread machine has finished baking the cake, unplug the bread machine, remove the bread pan and place it on a wooden cutting board. Use oven mitts when removing the bread pan because it will be very hot!
• After removing the bread pan from the bread machine, you should let the cake stay within the warm bread pan on a wooden cutting board for 10 minutes (as this finishes the baking process) before you remove the cake from the bread pan. Wear oven mitts.
• After the 10 minute “cooldown”, you should remove the cake from the bread pan and place the cake on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Use oven mitts when removing the bread.
• You should allow the cake to completely cool before cutting. This can take up to 1-2 hours. Otherwise, the cake will break (crumble) more easily when cut.
• Please READ the tips section below in order to maximize the success of this recipe & to avoid common bread machine cake problems. Make sure to read the machine settings information in the tips section below in order to avoid an undercooked cake (as some machines have a problem with this issue)!

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Other Bread Dad Sections

• Bread Machines – My favorites
• Bread Machine Cookbooks
• Bread Mixes – Ingredient kits
• Bread Tools – Bread slicers, etc.

Tips – Bread Machine Chocolate Cake

• To be honest, it is easier to make a cake in an oven than in a bread machine. There is no confusion about the correct bread machine setting, more flexibility in terms of baking times & temperatures, etc. This recipe is for those who want to experiment with the many different settings on their bread machine & don’t mind an occasional mistake.
• Click on our “print recipe” link if you want to print out this recipe. It includes all of the recipe’s ingredients and instructions. However, the recipe print function does not include our tips section. Please read the tips section in order to avoid common recipe problems.
• This recipe is part of Bread Dad’s series on easy Bread Machine Recipes (such as buttery white bread, oatmeal bread, multigrain bread and French bread).

• Warning – The number 1 error that people make when creating a bread machine chocolate cake is using the WRONG setting. The people who have a problem often use the “quick” setting designed for fast sandwich bread recipes that use yeast… and NOT the “cake/quick bread” setting designed for moist quick breads (i.e. banana bread & pumpkin bread) that use baking soda/powder. These are two totally different settings. You need to find the correct baking soda/powder “cake/quick bread” setting used with YOUR specific make & model of bread machine. FYI – To avoid this error, please read the setting tips lower down in the tips section. We have also listed below some of the correct setting names used by different bread machines.
• Warning – The number 2 error is not premixing the ingredients or scraping the sides of the bread pan. Compared to making bread dough, bread machines have a much harder time completely mixing the batter of cakes & moist “quick breads” (i.e. banana bread). You need to “help” this mixing process or you will have flour sticking to the sides of the bread pan and it will not be properly mixed into the batter. For more information, see the mixing tips further down in this section.

• IMPORTANT – If your machine’s electronic display is showing 50-60 minutes (total time for mixing & baking) before you press the “start” button, you have entered the WRONG setting. The total time should be roughly 1:40-1:55 hours (100-115 minutes). Moreover, the baking length of the “quick bread” setting is roughly 1:10-1:20 hours (out of the total 1:40-1:55 minutes for this setting). Yeast breads spend a long time on kneading/rising and much less on baking (whereas moist quick breads spend only a short time on rising – as they are using fast rising baking powder/soda – and a long time on baking). Therefore, a 1:55 hour yeast bread setting will NOT work for a 1:55 hour moist “quick bread” setting.
• This recipe will not work in a smaller bread machine (1 lb loaf capacity). It only works in a bread machine with 1.5 lb or 2 lb loaf capacities. If you try to make this recipe in a small bread machine, it is more likely to overflow the bread pan or have the middle of the cake collapse.

• This recipe is more of an “emergency” cake recipe (i.e. your oven is broken). It will create a decent cake. Unfortunately, in most bread machines, you can not control the baking temperatures and times. So it is much harder to create a fantastic cake.
• I know that bread machines are great because they usually do the mixing for you… but for this recipe, you should strongly consider PREMIXING the ingredients in a large bowl before placing them in the bread pan. This premixing helps to reduce the chance of small white flour “clumps” from appearing inside the finished dark-colored chocolate cake. It also reduces the need to scrape the sides of the bread pan (during the machine mixing) in order to stir in any flour or cocoa sticking to the sides of the bread pan. Bread machines usually don’t do a great job mixing moist cakes, banana breads, etc. and you will usually find flour sticking to the sides of the bread pan (if you do not premix the ingredients and/or scrape the inside of the bread pan). See your bread machine manual on how to properly & safely scrape the inside of the bread pan.

• Optional (but recommended) – Add chocolate frosting to the top of your bread machine cake… for a double dose of delicious chocolate! The picture above shows a bread machine cake topped with Duncan Hines Whipped Chocolate Frosting. Yummy frosting (my children’s expert terminology) helps to improve the taste of all chocolate cakes.
• Frosting is also a great way to hide any cake “flaws” (i.e. the top of the cake is wrinkled or you damaged the top when you removed the cake from the bread pan). Add the frosting after the cake has completely cooled.
• This recipe uses MINI chocolate chips. Larger “regular” chocolate chips are too heavy and usually sink to the bottom of the cake. Mini chocolate chips tend to spread out better in bread machine cakes and sweet quick breads.
• Don’t add more liquids than called for in the recipe or the cake top could collapse.
• Some bread machines have a bake-only setting but many machines do not have this setting. Therefore, this recipe uses the “Cake/Quick Bread” setting which most (but not all) bread machines have. See details below. FYI – I have not tested the bake-only setting for this recipe so I don’t know if it works as well (as the bake time for the bake-only setting is often longer than the bake time for the cake/quick bread setting).

• IMPORTANT – Make sure to use the specific setting on your bread machine designed for sweet Cake/Quick Bread recipes. Read your manual!
• Be aware that the setting name used for cake recipes can vary by bread machine manufacturer. Here are some examples of some of the setting names used to make cakes & sweet quick breads on various bread machines – the Sunbeam Breadmaker 5891 uses the “Quick” setting, the Hamilton Beach Bread Maker 29881 uses the “Quick” setting, the Black & Decker BOOONJBYXO Bread Maker uses the “Quick Bread” setting, the Breadman 2lb. Professional Bread Maker (BK1050S) uses the “Quick Bread” setting, the Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Bread Maker uses the “Cake” setting and the Cuisinart CBK-100 Bread Maker uses the “Cake/Quick Bread” setting. Therefore, you must check your bread machine’s instructions for the exact setting name used to make a cake by your specific bread machine model.
• To find the setting names used by some of the most popular bread machines, you should visit my Bread Machine Quick Bread Settings page. I set this up to help people find the correct setting for their particular machine.
• However, be aware that some bread machine models have only a limited number of settings and may NOT have a setting that can be used for sweet quick breads and cakes. These bread machines are primarily focused on making sandwich-type breads and can not make cakes & non-sandwich “quick breads”.

• DO NOT be fooled by setting names like Rapid Bread or Express Bread (as these settings are often used for very rapid bread baking and are not used for cakes & sweet quick breads). For example, on my Sunbeam, the sweet quick bread setting lasts for roughly 1:40 hours versus the express setting which lasts for only 58 minutes.
• IMPORTANT!!! – Be aware that some bread machine manufacturers even label the rapid/express bread setting as “Quick Bread” and this can cause a lot of confusion!! (because they use the name in order to describe a setting that makes a rapid sandwich-type bread and not a cake or sweet quick bread recipe).
• Moreover, in many bread machines, the “sweet bread” setting is used for sweet breads that use YEAST (not cakes that use baking soda/powder). “Sweet bread” recipes are different from cake & sweet quick bread recipes (i.e. banana bread) and utilize different mixing & baking times. Therefore, a bread machine cake recipe is unlikely to work on the “sweet bread” setting.
• If you are still having trouble finding the sweet quick bread setting, check your bread machine manual for details regarding the “Cake” setting on your machine. Some bread machines have a cake setting that states that they can be used for cakes & sweet quick breads.

• The recipe on this page is designed for a quick bread & cake/quick bread setting that lasts roughly 1:40 hours. FYI – On my Sunbeam bread machine (and a number of other bread makers i.e. Hamilton Beach), the sweet quick bread setting lasts for roughly 1:40 hours (with 20 minutes of mixing & 80 minutes of baking). Make sure that you use the quick bread or cake/quick bread setting because some “cake” settings (i.e. cake setting on the Sunbeam bread machine – model 5891) last for roughly 2:50 hours (versus the quick bread setting of 1:40 hours).
• Be aware that older and newer models from the same manufacturer may use different setting names for the same thing. Therefore, you need to read the manual included with your specific model in order to determine the correct setting used by your bread machine. Don’t guess with settings or assume that the setting used by a similar or older model from your bread machine manufacturer is the same as the setting used by your specific model.
• I know this can be super confusing… but always read your bread machine manual and look for the specific setting on your machine that is designed for cakes (with the total mixing & baking time lasting for roughly 1:40-1:50 hours).
• If you have lost your bread machine manual, you can usually find it by searching online. For example, I can find my manual by typing “Sunbeam bread machine manual” into Google.
• Many bread machine manufacturers also have recipe booklets where you can also find more information on how to make a cake with your specific bread machine model.

• Use FRESH ingredients (i.e. baking soda and flour) for the best results. For example, if you use stale baking soda and/or baking powder, your cake will not rise properly and will be too dense. Baking soda & powder is best if used within 6 months of opening the container.
• How to eliminate/reduce the mixing paddle “hole” in the bottom of the cake – Unplug the bread machine. Remove the bread pan. Remove the mixing paddle from the bread pan. Mix all of the ingredients together by hand in a separate mixing bowl and then pour into the bread pan. Return the bread pan to the bread machine. Plug in the bread machine and then follow the rest of the recipe instructions (in order to finish the baking process). There is no need for the machine to mix anything if you have already done all of the mixing by hand (thus no need for a mixing paddle in the bread pan). You will just have a very small hole left in the finished cake by the mixing paddle “pole/connector” (versus a much larger hole left by the entire mixing paddle).
• If you want to make your own chocolate glaze or frosting (thus screening out any weird chemical preservatives), you should try our easy Banana Bread Glaze. It works well with cakes too!!

• Be careful when removing the cake from the bread loaf pan. Bread machine cakes are much softer than sandwich-type bread loaves. Therefore, they can break or “dent” more easily when you remove them from the bread loaf pan. When removing the cake from the bread pan, you should also be careful of the movable bread pan handle (because it can swing into the cake and cause damage).
• Optional – If the top center of the bread looks too moist when you take it out of the bread machine (or you want to make sure the cake is completely cooked), you can try the classic baking “toothpick test”. Gently push a long wooden skewer (or long wooden chopstick) into the center of the cake and see if any batter sticks to the skewer. Make sure to wear oven gloves because the bread pan and bread machine will still be hot. If batter is sticking to the skewer then it hasn’t completely cooked. Place the bread loaf pan back into the still warm bread machine for another 5-10 minutes. After the 5-10 minutes, remove the bread pan and retest the cake again with the skewer.

• Since a toothpick can be too short, I like to use a long chopstick or wooden skewer when conducting the classic “toothpick” test. Remember always wear oven mitts when dealing with a hot bread pan and bread machine.
• After removing the bread pan from the bread machine (and the cake successfully passing the optional skewer test), you need to leave the cake in the bread loaf container for 10 minutes after you take it out of the bread machine. Denser & moister bread machine cakes take a little longer for the interior dough to be fully baked.
• Optional – If you are finding small white clumps of flour in your cakes, you can use a fine mesh strainer or flour sifter to sift your flour (before mixing the flour with the wet ingredients). This “aerates” the flour and breaks up & screens out small flour lumps.
• If you have a problem with a bread machine recipe, please make sure that you are following the recipe exactly. You will need to make sure that you are inputting the correct bread machine settings, using the exact ingredient measurements (i.e. don’t eyeball the measurements versus using a measuring cup), using the exact ingredients called for in the recipe (i.e. baking soda/powder versus yeast or all purpose flour versus bread flour), etc. Please don’t “wing” things with recipes unless you are willing to live with your experiments!

• My recipes are based on US ingredient measurements (i.e. US cups & tablespoons). However, as a courtesy to our European visitors, I have also included some very ROUGH European equivalents (i.e. grams & milliliters). Since I rarely use European measurements when baking, please let me know in the comment section below if any of the European ingredient measurements need to be changed (i.e. for XYZ ingredient, milliliters are more commonly used versus the grams information listed in the recipe).
• Always be safe when using any electrical equipment (i.e. mixer). Do not have your hands near any moving parts.
• Always wear oven mitts/gloves when dealing with a bread machine. The bread pan and the rest of the bread machine can get very hot during the baking process. This means that the bread pan and bread machine is likely to be very hot when you attempt to remove a baked good from the bread machine and/or bread pan.
• If you liked this recipe, you can also make other easy bread machine “desserts” such as bread machine banana bread, bread machine sweet cornbread, bread machine gingerbread and bread machine pumpkin bread.
• For more bread machine recipes (such as white bread, pizza dough, multigrain bread, French bread and whole wheat bread), please visit Bread Dad’s main Bread Machine Recipes section.

If you liked this recipe, please leave a comment below & give us a 5 star rating. It is ALWAYS great to hear from someone who has enjoyed our recipes!! Jump to comment section

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Questions & Answers

Is it possible to make a cake in your bread machine?

Yes. Bread machines can make delicious cakes. However, they won’t be super fancy cakes with multiple layers!

Most bread machines can make nice basic cakes. Nevertheless, be aware that the cake will come out in the shape of the bread machine’s bread pan (i.e. rectangular). Bread machines do not produce a traditional round cake.

Some examples of bread machine cakes include bread machine chocolate cake, bread machine pound cake, bread machine coffee cake, bread machine lemon cake, etc.

Reference Sources

• Wikipedia, Bread Machine
• Wikipedia, Chocolate Cake

Your fantastic comments motivate us to write more easy & delicious recipes. Also beginning bakers learn a ton from your helpful suggestions, tips and amazing recipe variations. Thank you!

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