This Was, Hands-Down, the Most Popular Article We Posted on Kitchn This Year

At the close of every year here at Kitchn, we always spend time reflecting on the previous 12 months. We like to look back on the many (like, over 4,000!) posts we published, and share which ones you, our readers, loved the most. We cover everything from our most popular recipes of the year, to all the ways Ina made our lives better, to the most surprising cleaning tips we learned — but perhaps what’s most telling is our single most popular article on the site.

After such a hard, tumultuous year, I was curious to know what you were seeking most in 2020. Was it how to make sourdough bread? Or, perhaps the other quarantine darling, banana bread? Was it how to grocery shop safely in our new pandemic reality? Those were certainly popular, but our most popular new post skewed more … chocolatey.

Hands-down, this chocolate cake recipe showdown — originally published in February, before COVID-19 lockdowns began here in the United States — was our most popular article on Kitchn in 2020. In true showdown fashion, we tested four super-popular chocolate cake recipes to find the very best one.

Read more: I Tried 4 Famous Chocolate Cake Recipes and Found a Clear Winner

This particular showdown made its debut the day before Valentine’s Day (hello, perfect way to say I love you!), but I think its enduring popularity over the course of the year was due to the fact that a truly perfect, from-scratch chocolate cake is one of the most comforting, soul-satisfying things you can treat yourself (or others) to. There’s also something to be said for knowing that the time, energy, and ingredients (all resources that felt strained in 2020) you put into something are going to turn out a reliably delicious result — and you can always count on that with our showdown winners.

If you’re curious to know which chocolate cake recipe takes the cake (pun shamelessly intended), check out the results here. Here’s to a healthy, safe, and happy 2021 — with plenty of chocolate cake in our futures.

What was your favorite article on Kitchn this year? Share in the comments!