This chocolate birthday cake is simple to make, tastes delicious and is perfect for decorating for a special celebration.
PLUS – Need a different shape or size of cake? Take a look below the recipe to find the ingredients and instructions you need to bake this in pretty much any size of round, square or rectangular tin.
Skip to the recipe | Recipe FAQs | Calculator
One question I’ve been asked a lot in the past is whether I can recommend a really good chocolate birthday cake recipe, and I couldn’t… until now.
I hate getting questions that I can’t give a helpful answer to, so over the past few weeks I’ve been a busy bee trying to perfect my chocolate cake recipe. Now this couldn’t be just any old chocolate cake, it had to be perfect for a birthday which meant it…
1) Must be simple to make
I get a lot of comments on my all-in-one vanilla sponge birthday cake and the ones that always makes me smile the most are when people say that they never bake and the simplicity of the recipe has given them the confidence to do more in future. I wanted this chocolate cake to be that simple to make… a cake even the novice-est of cooks can make.
This cake is so simple… chuck it all in and mix it up. The only piece of culinary skill you need is a bit of grating!
2) Must be suitable for decorating
When I make birthday cakes for my boys I love to go to town on the decoration. In order for the cake to work as a decorated cake it can’t dome too much on top or sink in the middle and it must be sturdy enough to be carved into various shapes for decorating without crumbling.
3) Be chocolatey
This is actually the big reason I’ve not been able to recommend chocolate cake recipes until now. All the cakes I’d made in the past with the right texture (see point 2) used just cocoa powder and they simply weren’t chocolatey enough. To give this cake some extra chocolate-iness it includes lots of actual chocolate grated into the cake mix alongside the cocoa powder.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Frequently Asked Questions
If it’s your first time making this recipe or you have a question, please take a moment to have a read through my FAQs for some extra tips and allergen information.
- What should I use to decorate this cake?
- How much fondant icing do I need?
- Can I freeze this cake?
- How far in advance can I make this cake?
- How long does this cake last and how should it be stored?
- Can I bake this cake in a single deep tin and then cut it in half?
- Can this cake recipe be used for multiple tiers?
- Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes?
- Is this cake recipe suitable for carving into shapes for novelty cakes?
- Can I make this recipe in a difference size tin or with more or less layers?
Ingredient FAQs
- Can I use butter or oil instead of margarine?
- What can I use if I don’t have self raising flour?
- Can I add other flavours such as orange or mint?
- Can I use dark chocolate or white chocolate instead of milk chocolate?
- Can I use a different flavour buttercream with the cake?
- What is this recipe free from? Who is it suitable for?
What should I use to decorate this cake?
This cake is filled and coated in chocolate buttercream and then covered in fondant.
If you wanted you could also add a layer of jam in the middle either in addition to or instead of the buttercream. I find both raspberry and cherry jam compliment the chocolate sponge well.
I usually use ready-made fondant icing from the supermarket, usually the supermarket own brand or Dr Oetker. I tend to find there’s little variation in the different brands so whatever you can find in your local store should be absolutely fine.
How much fondant icing do I need?
You don’t need to cover this cake with fondant, it tastes amazing with just buttercream.
However, if you’d like to cover it to make a novelty cake then you can use my fondant calculator to work out exactly how much you’ll need.
How far in advance can I make this cake?
I usually bake it a couple of days before I want to serve it and the decorate it the day before.
You can bake it further in advance if you need to, but remember that it won’t last as long after you actually serve it.
How long does this cake last and how should it be stored?
This cake is good to eat for up to a week after baking as long as it’s stored in an airtight container. There’s no need to store it in the fridge unless it’s a very warm day or you live in a hotter climate than the UK.
Can I freeze this cake?
❄️ Suitable for freezing
You can bake the cake in advance and then freeze the undecorated sponges. I recommend wrapping them in clingfilm to protect them while they’re in the freezer.
Make sure you defrost them thoroughly before decorating.
Can I bake this cake in a single deep tin and then cut it in half?
Personally I recommend always baking this cake in sandwich tins as that way you’re most likely to get the perfect sponge, as promised.
I find that results can be mixed if it is baked in a deeper tin. It works perfectly for some people, but others have found the sponge a little more prone to dipping in the middle as it cools.
If you decide to use a deeper tin and this happens then don’t worry, the cake will still be good to eat. Simply add a little extra buttercream to fill the dip.
If you want to cook the mixture for two layers in one deep tin it will take 45-50 minutes to bake rather than the 30-35 specified in the original recipe.
Can this cake recipe be used for multiple tiers?
Yes. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of this sponge being used to make 2 or 3 tier cakes from my readers.
If you want to make a cake with tiers, I recommend using dowels or straws in the lower tiers to add additional support.
Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes?
Yes, I’ve turned this recipe into a chocolate cupcake recipe.
Is this cake recipe suitable for carving into shapes for novelty cakes?
Yes, it’s quite a sturdy sponge so can be carved into some basic shapes (I wouldn’t recommend carving it into anything too intricate or complex).
If you want to carve the cake, I recommend waiting for at least a day after baking as the sponges will be softer when they’re fresh out of the oven. I’d also recommend chilling the sponges before carving as this will help firm them up and make it easier to get the shape you’re after.
Can I make this recipe in a difference size tin or with more or less layers?
Absolutely!
This cake can be made in a variety of tin shapes and sizes. If you look directly beneath the recipe you’ll find my cake calculator that will tell you how to adjust the ingredients for any size of round, square or rectangular tin.
Can I use butter or oil instead of margarine?
You can substitute the margarine for butter, just make sure you leave it out of the fridge for a while before making your mixture so that it is soft and mixes well with the other ingredients.
You cannot substitute in oil as this cake is not designed to be made with oil and would require other adjustments to ensure it turns out sucessfully.
What can I use if I don’t have self raising flour?
You can make your own self-raising flour using plain (all-purpose) flour and baking powder.
You can find the instructions here.
Can I add other flavours such as orange or mint?
You can add other flavours such as orange or mint. I’d add 1½ tsp of a good quality extract into the cake mixture along with the other ingredients.
Can I use dark chocolate or white chocolate instead of milk chocolate?
You can substitute the milk chocolate for dark if that’s what you prefer.
I wouldn’t recommend substituting in white chocolate as it doesn’t bake in the same way. Also the chocolate flavour in the sponge comes from the combination of cocoa powder and actual chocolate. For a white chocolate cake you’d need to substitute the cocoa powder for additional flour and the grated chocolate alone will be insufficient to give a strong white chocolate flavour.
If you’d like to make a white chocolate cake then take a look at the recipe I designed specifically to overcome these two issues and give a cake that’s packed full of white chocolate flavour.
Can I use a different flavour buttercream with the cake?
Absolutely! You can use whatever flavour you like. Take a look at all of my buttercream recipes for some inspiration.
I think it goes particularly well with my white chocolate buttercream, classic vanilla buttercream or coffee buttercream.
What is this recipe free from? Who is it suitable for?
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary, and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide and Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
FREE GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION CHARTS
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Chocolate Birthday Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 40 g cocoa powder
- 230 g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 230 g soft margarine - you can also use softened unsalted butter too
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g milk chocolate - choose something from the baking aisle in the supermarket as it will cope well with the heat in the oven without going grainy.
- 2 tsp milk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat your oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan.
- Line your tins (2x 20cm sandwich tins) with liners or greaseproof paper.
- Grate the milk chocolate (100g).
- Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl (200g self-raising flour, 40g cocoa powder, 230g caster sugar, 4 large eggs, 230g soft margarine, ¼ tsp vanilla extract, 2 tsp milk and the grated chocolate) mix on a low speed until fully combined.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins and spread it out so it’s pretty even (it doesn’t have to be perfect as it’ll even out in the oven, but roughly flat is good).
- Put the tins in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes put a skewer in the middle and check if it comes out clean. If it does it’s done, if not pop it back in for a couple more minutes and check again.
- Once cooked, remove the cakes from the oven and leave them to cool in the tins for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the cakes from their tins and pop them onto a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
What are the ingredients for a different size of tin?
The ingredients are calculated so that the depth of each cake is the same as in the original recipe. This means that the cooking time and temperature don’t need to change.
Round Cake
Cake Ingredients
- 0 g self-raising flour
- 0 egg(s)
- 0 g soft margarine or butter
- 0 g caster sugar
- 0 tsp vanilla extract
- 0 tsp milk
- 0 g cocoa powder
- 0 g milk chocolate
Buttercream Ingredients
- 0 g butter
- 0 g icing sugar
- 0 g milk chocolate
- 0 g cocoa powder
- 0 tsp vanilla extract
Square or Rectangular Cake
Cake Ingredients
- 0 g self-raising flour
- 0 egg(s)
- 0 g soft margarine or butter
- 0 g caster sugar
- 0 tsp vanilla extract
- 0 tsp milk
- 0 g cocoa powder
- 0 g milk chocolate
Buttercream Ingredients
- 0 g butter
- 0 g icing sugar
- 0 g milk chocolate
- 0 g cocoa powder
- 0 tsp vanilla extract
Sian Gambrell says
Will this cake support 6 or more layers? I want to make my husband a TARDIS cake for his birthday and so it needs to be high! Will be using 6inch square tins. Thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
You can use this to make a tall cake but it will need to be fully dowelled and supported.
Felicity says
hi Charlotte,
When making the chocolate sponge cake is baking powder not required?
Thanks,
Charlotte Oates says
This recipe uses self-raising flour which contains the baking powder. If you only have plain/all-purpose flour, you can use that and add baking powder. I’ve written a guide all about this here.
Emma says
Lovely tasting cake but they didn’t rise at all. I will try leaving the margarine out of the fridge for even longer next time but is there anything else I could do to get a proper rise?
Thanks,
Emma
Charlotte Oates says
It might be worth checking that your self-raising flour/baking powder if used with plain flour is in date and that your oven is running at the correct temperature. Small cheap in oven thermometers can be quite useful as most domestic ovens are often out a little one way or the other.
Rois says
Sweetened or unsweetened cocoa powder?
Charlotte Oates says
Pretty much all cocoa powder in the UK is unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder so this is what you’ll need for any of my recipes containing cocoa.
Jess says
I have been using the cake recipe for many years for my children’s and family birthday cakes. It is one of best and most reliable recipes I use. I always come back to it as it is perfect every time. I would highly recommend it. It has been the base of many novelty cakes and normal cakes. The tin calculator is amazing and I love it as it save me so much time having to work it out myself. Thank you so much for such a great recipe and of course the time saving calculator!
Jo says
Sadly a complete fail for me :'( the cake didn’t rise at all so it was half the thickness of the pics here. All my ingredients were in date. I doubled the recipe to make a large cake so it was a huge waste of ingredients and my time – I am so disappointed. Fortunately I’ve found another recipe which worked perfectly first time.
I think the issue with this one is it says to put all the ingredients in the bowl at once and whisk it all together whereas I wonder if it would be better off incorporating the ingredients more slowly and doing the eggs one at a time.
Charlotte Oates says
All in one method cakes have been tried, tested and used by bakers for decades so I’m sure this isn’t the issue you had. Not softening butter properly is however often an issue so perhaps this was the problem.
Charlotte H says
The best chocolate cake I’ve ever made! I’ve struggled with chocolate cakes in the past – they can become dry too quickly. Or, they can be too rich. This recipe produced two good sponges, no sinkage, moist, and sturdy enough to decorate easily. Four days on, we have just enjoyed the last two slices warmed slightly in the microwave served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Delicious! Will definitely make again.
Kirsty says
I made this as a 2 tier cake for my daughters birthday (decorated with fondant icing), we are both dairy free so I changed the ingredients
Everybody thought the cake tasted AMAZING….I’m now making it as a Christmas stump (log)…
This was my first ever bake and I’m so happy it came out as wonderful as it did.
Sarah White says
Can you freeze this cake? How long do I defrost for if so, before decorating?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes you can freeze the cake, more details can be found in my FAQs section of the post. The sponges will take a couple of hours to defrost over overnight in the fridge.
Catherine says
Worked really well, light but firm enough to decorate and great chocolate flavour!
CC says
I just made this cake top tier in 2x 20cm sandwich tins and cakes are perfect. Then attempted a lower tier 24cm. I used the cake calculator and inputted 2 layers but bakes as one cake and its almost completely flat…I thought I was baking it witb a view to cutting it in half through the middle and creating two layers. Was the cake calculator actually to just make one cake? Or should I have just put half in the cake tin and then cooked the second half thereafter (as I cooked the smaller tier in two sandwich tins)? (I only have 1x2cm cake tin).
I will need to make another layer now but worried if I do half its going to be very thin or whether I start again and bake the mixture in two halves if that makes sense? Please help! Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
Unfortunately yes, as this case is designed and tested to be baked in individual layers, by baking two layers worth of batter in one tin, that will have significantly affected the bake and rise. There will have been too much weight of the batter to allow the raising agents to work correctly.
Farah says
Lovely texture and flavour. Made this for my sons birthday and received lots of compliments about the cake. I think this is the Best chocolate cake I’ve ever made!
Jo small small says
Best chocolate cake I’ve ever made decorated with chocolate butter cream and chocolate fingers and a cake topper made of thin icing Bing bunny style
Charlee says
I made this for my sons birthday and it was incredible. My go to recipe for birthday cakes now in a family of chocolate cake lovers!
Sioned Coates says
Hello,
I’m wondering does the buttercream set on the cake if put in the fridge or freezer ready to put the fondant icing on? Or does it stay quite wet?
Thank you
Charlotte Oates says
The buttercream may form a very light crust but it will not set hard. Think of it more as a glue for the fondant rather than a firm layer like marzipan.
Stephanie Maddox says
Perfect cake for my 4 year old grandson’s birthday cake. He’s having 17 friends so I needed a good size cake
Hayley says
Hi I use this recipie all the time to make 8” cakes however I find when I up the cake size it shrinks a lot when cooling. Any idea what I am doing wrong? Would it be suitable to add baking powder? Thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
Cakes naturally shrink a little when the middle is soft. I suspect that when you are making larger cakes, you have a larger soft area in the centre so the shrinking is more noticeable. Try baking at a slightly lower temp for a little longer when making larger cakes, this should combat the issue.
Thelma says
I made this for our village Coronation cake competition and won it ! Everyone said it was the best chocolate cake they had ever tasted – so it is my go to recipe now! Just made 18 cupcakes from the recipe . Delicious _ thank you!
Charlotte Oates says
Congratulations!
May Cassidy says
Hi , I love this recipe and have used it a couple of times now. I hate grating choc though (I dont have a processer so have to hand grate) and the this time I just attempted to fine chop the chocolate, This did leave (bonus) chocolate chips in the cake, but I wondered if I can melt the chocolate instead of grating the chocolate? I wonder why the chocolate has to be grated?
Thanks, May
Charlotte Oates says
Melting the chocolate creates a liquid that when mixed in with the rest of the ingredients changes the texture of the batter and therefore the texture of the baked sponge. For a recipe that has been properly tested with melted chocolate, I would recommend trying my Easy Chocolate Cake. Its beautiful and moist so I’m sure you’ll love it!