Chocolate cake is rich, indulgent and oh-so delicious, but when making it yourself at home the results aren’t always melt-in-your-mouth.

Chocolate cake is actually quite a tricky bake to get right as the addition of the cocoa powder can make it quite dry and dense. The lack of moisture can also be caused by overmixing and leaving it in the oven for too long, so there’s lots of ways that it can go wrong. As the cake combines both flour and cocoa powder, this results in a very dry mixture and so to tackle this, it’s important to bring in some more liquid to your recipe. The solution to this problem really is very simple and the answer already lies in your kitchen at home. According to food experts, adding in some boiling water to your mixture will bring that much needed moisture to your cake.

Boiling water helps to create a thinner cake mix which ensures it stays soft and moist once baked, while the heat also helps to dissolve the sugar and lumps of cocoa powder for a smoother texture.

The Daily Meal says: “When baking a chocolate cake, it turns out that water is all you need to take it to new heights of richness and flavour.

“That's right – using milk when making a chocolate cake can detract from the rich, cocoa-y goodness we crave. Chocolate, after all, is already incredibly flavourful on its own. Instead, using hot water in your chocolate cake batter allows that rich, bloomed cocoa flavour to permeate every bite.

“This might sound counterintuitive, as we usually consider water as a plain, flavourless liquid that's only good for hydrating, but trust us on this one. Get ready to toss aside your preconceptions about a milk-rich chocolate cake and tap into the transformative power of hot water.”

Not only does boiling water help achieve a more moist cake, it is also the secret to unlocking a much richer-tasting chocolate cake as it causes the cocoa powder to “bloom” and draw out its flavour.

The Spruce Eats explains: “ Blooming cocoa powder means adding a hot liquid, like water, coffee, or melted fat, to cocoa powder in order to draw out its rich flavour.

“Doing this before adding the cocoa into the rest of a recipe can improve the end product – whether that be flourless chocolate cake or German chocolate cookies. Most bakers agree that this extra step is totally worth it, especially considering it doesn’t add much time to the overall process.”

According to The Spruce Eats, the best way to add boiling water to your chocolate cake is to combine it with the cocoa powder in a separate bowl first and stir until the powder is fully dissolved and the texture is smooth. Allow this cool as you combine your other ingredients and then add it in at the end.

It adds: “Removing the shell of the cocoa bean is one of the first steps in making cocoa powder. But between the shell and the bean is a thin membrane that can remain on the cocoa solids as they're processed.

“Blooming cocoa powder encourages this membrane to loosen from cocoa powder particles, thereby exposing the cocoa solids and increasing its overall flavor. What’s more, just as hot liquids extract the flavor from say, coffee or tea, so too does hot liquid with cocoa.”