Air Fryer Chocolate Cake
, Updated Nov 22, 2025
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Air Fryer Chocolate Cake – bake my delicious chocolate cake in your Air Fryer and you will be thrilled with the results! This easy chocolate cake recipe is foolproof and perfect for beginners. Add your favorite frosting and prepare to swoon!
You will also love my Air Fryer Vanilla Cake!
This Air Fryer Chocolate Cake is my latest obsession – a beautifully soft, rich, from-scratch chocolate cake that’s super-easy and foolproof.
My recipe makes an eight inch full-sized cake that can be sliced in half and filled with chocolate buttercream or any frosting! Perfect for birthdays and celebrations or simply as a treat with a cup of coffee 🙂
Here’s What You’ll Need
This air fryer chocolate cake recipe uses everyday pantry ingredients and is super-easy to make! You will need a cake pan that fits comfortably inside your air fryer. I have the Cosori 5.8Qt which can fit this deep 8 inch cake pan.
- Flour: all-purpose / plain flour
- Baking powder (check it is fresh!)
- Sugar: light brown sugar
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Softened unsalted butter or margarine (such as Stork)
- Medium eggs
- Semi skimmed milk
- Lemon juice
- Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
USEFUL TOOLS & EQUIPMENT
- Electric hand mixer or a stand mixer
- Digital scales – I use a scale for all my bakes
- Measuring spoons for the raising agents
- Cake release spray
- Cake lifter – for transferring cakes safely
- A cake leveler for slicing the cake into even layers
How to make Air Fryer Chocolate Cake
PREPARE THE CAKE BATTER
- Preheat the air fryer to 320°F (160°C). Mist an 8-inch cake pan with cake release and line the bottom with baking paper or a reusable liner.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer). Add the butter, eggs, milk, lemon juice and vanilla.
- Start beating on a low speed setting to combine the ingredients then increase the speed to maximum. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and level. Cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil, securing it tightly to the sides of the tin. Poke a few holes on the foil to allow for air circulation.
BAKE IN THE AIR FRYER
- Place the cake pan into the air fryer basket. Bake, covered, for 45 minutes – the cake will be mostly baked through but still slightly damp in the middle.
- Carefully remove the foil cover and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Depending on the brand of your air fryer you might need to adjust the cooking time by a few minutes.
- Leave the cake in the pan for five minutes then invert onto a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool completely before adding any frosting.
FILL AND FROST YOUR CHOCOLATE CAKE
- Slice your air fryer chocolate sponge in half and fill with whatever frosting takes your fancy! I love using my rich chocolate buttercream which will transform this chocolate sponge into the chocolate cake of your dreams!
- Use a cake leveler to split the cake in half. Spoon frosting over the bottom layer and level. Top with the second layer and cover the entire cake in buttercream.
- Decorate with sprinkles or chocolate truffles or chocolate shavings. Cut into thin slices – it is VERY RICH – and enjoy!
Recipe Notes and Tips
- This chocolate sponge cake can be frozen whole or in slices. Wrap well with plastic wrap and place in a suitable container. Thaw overnight in the fridge then serve.
- You don’t have to use a special setting on your air fryer. Simply set the temperature and cooking time on manual.
- Make the sponge up to a day ahead. Leave it to cool then wrap with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
- The cake will stay lovely and moist for a few days. Store at room temperature away from direct sunlight in a covered cake container.
- If you have used fresh cream as the filling it will need to be consumed straight away.
- Can I bake it in the oven? Yes! Bake (uncovered!) in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Air Fryer Baking FTW!
I am always asking myself “can I cook this in an Air Fryer?” and the answer is usually yes! Check out my Air Fryer recipe collection for both sweet and savory recipes. For lovers of chocolate these Air Fryer Brownies are a must bake!
HAVE YOU MADE MY AIR FRYER CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram with @supergolden88 and the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Air Fryer Chocolate Cake
Air Fryer Chocolate Cake – bake my delicious chocolate cake in your Air Fryer and you will be thrilled with the results!
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 cups + 1 tbsp (260g) flour all-purpose / plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup (60g) cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ cups ( 250g) light brown sugar or caster sugar
- ½ cup (115g) softened unsalted butter or margarine
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup (120ml) milk
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Chocolate Frosting
- 1 cup (175g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup (115ml) cream pouring / single cream
- 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- ⅔ cup (150g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 tbsp hot coffee optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
To decorate (optional)
- chocolate shavings
Instructions
MAKE THE CAKE BATTER
- Preheat the air fryer to 320°F (160°C). Mist an 8-inch cake pan with cake release and line the bottom with baking paper or a reusable liner.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer).2 cups + 1 tbsp (260g) flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ cup (60g) cocoa powder, 1 ¼ cups ( 250g) light brown sugar
- Add the butter, eggs, milk, lemon juice and vanilla. Start beating on a low speed setting to combine the ingredients then increase the speed to maximum. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.½ cup (115g) softened unsalted butter, 2 large eggs, ½ cup (120ml) milk, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and level. Cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil, securing it tightly to the sides of the tin. Poke a few holes on the foil to allow for air circulation.
BAKE IN THE AIR FRYER
- Place the cake pan into the air fryer basket. Bake, covered, for 45 minutes. Carefully remove the foil cover and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Depending on the brand of your air fryer you might need to adjust the cooking time by a few minutes.
- Leave the cake in the pan for five minutes then invert onto a wire rack. Leave the cake to cool completely before adding any frosting.
MAKE THE CHOCOLATE FROSTING
- Put the chocolate and cream in a bowl and heat in the microwave, for 40-50 seconds. Leave for a couple of minutes then stir together to combine.1 cup (175g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, ½ cup (115ml) cream
- Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer).6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar
- Add the softened butter and some of the chocolate ganache and start mixing on low speed. Gradually add all of the ganache and beat together until the frosting holds peaks.⅔ cup (150g) unsalted butter, 2 tbsp hot coffee, 1 tsp vanilla extract
FILL AND FROST YOUR CHOCOLATE CAKE
- Use a cake leveler to split the cake in half. Spoon frosting over the bottom layer and level. Top with the second layer and cover the entire cake in frosting..
- Decorate with sprinkles or chocolate truffles or chocolate shavings. Cut into thin slices – it is VERY RICH – and enjoy!chocolate shavings
Notes
- You can make the chocolate sponge up to a day ahead. Leave it to cool then wrap with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.
- The cake will stay lovely and moist for a few days. Store at room temperature away from direct sunlight in a covered cake container.
- If you have used fresh cream as a filling it will need to be consumed straight away and kept chilled.
- Can I bake it in the oven? You can use the oven to bake the cake if you prefer. Bake (uncovered!) at 350°F (175°C) for 28-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, the top of the cake is springy to the touch and slightly comes away from the edges of the pan.
- Can I use self raising flour? Yes but if you do you will need to leave out the baking powder.
- Use a potato peeler to make chocolate shavings be scraping against the side of a chocolate bar.
USEFUL TOOLS & EQUIPMENT
Contains affiliate links of products I trust and use in all my baking- This easy all-in-one cake can be made using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer.
- Digital scales – I use a scale for all my bakes
- Measuring spoons for the raising agents
- I swear by cake release spray – a little goes a long way!
- You will need a
- Cake lifter – for transferring cakes safely
Nutrition
Calories: 366kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 159mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 599IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 78mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
I just made this, me and my mom loved it. Thanks for the recipe, it was my first time my making a cake.
So if I wanted to make vanilla cake, could I just remove the cocoa powder and slightly increase the amount of flour, and then continue with the rest of the same recipe? or would there be more changes to be made?
Hiya – I have just the recipe for vanilla cake
Here https://www.supergoldenbakes.com/air-fryer-cake/
I am just making this cake for the second time, it takes way longer than 45 min, the first time it took 1 hour 20 min, I had also covered the sides of the tin with wet paper towles and then put foil over that as well as the foil on the top, the cake was amazing, moist and nice evenly cooked cake, this time I have only covered the top, and I am at 65 mins and it’s still very runny in the middle, it will be interesting to see if it is still evenly cooked without covering the sides
Hi Coralee – I know air fryers can vary so this is not that unusual.
Hello there, I’m new to baking with an air fryer and have tried twice to make this recipe and failed. There outer part of the cake was amazing both in texture and taste however, the centre was only partially baked and collapsed when cooling. On my first bake I didn’t tighten the foil enough and it came away from the tin and rose up to the fan. I thought that this may have been the problem so the second time I used a perforated silicone lid which stayed in place. Unfortunately I had the same result. Do you have any pointers as to what I could be doing wrong please? I’m using a Ninja Foodi 9 in 1
TIA
Martin
Hi Martin – this issue is due to the way air circulates in the air fryer. Since it comes from the top only the top of the cake browns quickly and looks done when the interior still has a way to go. My advise would be to only take the cake out when a tester (a skewer or toothpick) comes out completely clean. A better way to make sure the cake is properly baked is to use an instant read thermometer such as a Thermapen to check the middle of the cake reaches 98°C (210°F).
When the cake has finished baking take the air fryer basket out but leave the cake tin in it for 5 minutes before turning the cake out. Hope this helps.