15 Best Chocolate Cake Recipes

What could be better than ending a meal with a slice of rich, dark, chocolate cake? Well, nothing, of course. Chocolate cake is the quintessential dessert, the most mouthwatering of cakes, the pièce de résistance of any meal — and we're not exaggerating one bit. So, now that we have established that chocolate cake is by far the highlight of the dessert course (or any course, for that matter), what is the best chocolate cake?

Click here to see the 15 Best Chocolate Cake Recipes (Slideshow)

We searched the Web, drooled over recipe after recipe, and may have indulged in a few chocolaty slices ourselves. Here are the best, from the top five food websites (ours included — obviously): The Daily Meal, Food Network, Allrecipes, Food.com, and Chow. The best cakes have the most and overall highest ratings on each of the websites. The Daily Meal recipes are some of our favorites that we think you must try. We've included three top recipes from each site.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake from Food Network is a classic made with buttermilk, Food.com has a Bundt cake that takes high prize, Chow's top recipes include a German chocolate cake, and Allrecipes has a Chocolate Cavity-Maker Cake that definitely sounds sweet and delicious. Here at The Daily Meal, we have a raspberry cake and a chocolate sour cream cake that are sure to be on your holiday "to-bake" list.

So, now that you are officially craving a thick slice of heavenly chocolate cake, browse through some of these recipes. For a holiday twist on any chocolate cake, sprinkle some candy cane pieces on top or serve gingerbread men alongside a slice. Your search is over for the best chocolate cake recipes — now the only question is, which one will you make first?

Emily Jacobs is the Recipe editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @EmilyRecipes.