This chocolate birthday cake is simple to make, tastes delicious and is perfect for decorating for a special celebration.
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…
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 (you can see some on my cakes in my cake gallery). 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.
Photographing this cake caused a lot of confusion in my house as I decided it needed to be decorated just like a birthday cake with lots of colourful fondant. Josh (who’s 3) kept asking whose birthday it was and then started getting all excited about Father Christmas coming (because apparently, he delivers presents for birthdays too). I probably didn’t help matters by deciding to light the candles – a completely unnecessary step as I really only wanted to photograph the inside of the cake after they’d been blown out – we had fun doing it together though 🙂
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.
Free From/Suitable For…
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Nut-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are easily available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
Nelson says
Great, i did a 9inch square version , came out perfectly.
Gen says
I tried this last night as a test for my little girl’s upcoming birthday party. I followed the recipe to the letter and the batter tasted amazing! It’s hard to find self-raising flour where I live so I had all-purpose and added baking powder (as per the advice to make my own self-raising) After 30 mins in the fan-assisted oven at 140 degrees the middle was still totally liquid (the outside was cooked though) what could I be doing wrong? Could it be the flour or the oven? I ended up leaving it in another 15 mins (checking regularly) and eventually increasing the temperature to 180 degrees and it finally cooked, but of course, the outside is now very dry and crumbly and overcooked 🙁
Any advice?
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that. I have a few questions to hopefully troubleshoot what happened:
* Did you bake the cake in a deep tin or sandwich tins – I always recommend sandwich tins and cakes cooked in a deep tin need longer.
* How did you line your tin? Did you use a baking belt? – Baking belts tend to lead to cakes needing longer to bake.
* Did you use the grams or cups measurements?
* What country do you live in? The fact SR flour isn’t available suggests not the UK.
* How much baking powder did you add to make SR flour? It should be 2 level tsp.
Genna says
Hi Charlotte, thank you so much for your help! I am sure it is something I did wrong! Here are my responses in case something jumps out as being the key issue.
* Did you bake the cake in a deep tin or sandwich tins?
– I thought it was a normal cake tin, but now you ask perhaps it’s deep!? It is one that opens (loose bottom) and measures 20cm across and 7cm deep.
* How did you line your tin?
– Baking paper, no belt (although would like one!)
* Did you use the grams or cups measurements?
– I used grams
* What country do you live in?
– Switzerland (Geneva specifically and I cannot find SR anywhere at the moment (COVID lockdown isn’t helping!)
* How much baking powder did you add to make SR flour? It should be 2 level tsp.
– I should have mentioned I made only 1 cake, so I used the calculator (so I ended up using 1 tsp of baking powder!)
Charlotte Oates says
There’s nothing that jumps out here that could have been the cause. The most likely one is that the deeper tin stopped as much heat getting to the surface of the cake leading it to cook more slowly.
If you do buy a baking belt don’t use it for this cake. Baking belts help cakes that normally dome on top to bake more evenly. This cake is already designed to be flat so could sink if you add a belt.
Genna says
p.s The recipe itself is 5 stars, I can’t edit it but I would suggest it tastes amazing (I just can’t seem to cook!)
Paula says
Hi Charlotte!
This is my absolute go to chocolate cake recipe- everyone I make it for loves it! I just wanted to ask a question about the 20com size. If I wanted to make it a bit deeper but still keep the same size tin should I just use the quantities for a 24cm tin for example? Hope that makes sense! Thank you!
Charlotte Oates says
That should work, although I sometimes fine that when people try this as a deeper cake it can sink a little in the middle after baking (it doesn’t happen for everyone, but is extremely rare in sandwich tins, and a little more common when making a deeper sponge). If you do decide to try it then remember to increase the cooking time as this is mostly determined by the depth of the cake. I’ve not made one with that amount of mixture so I’m not 100% sure what the cooking time would be, but I’d probably check it after 40 minutes if I were to try it.
Paula says
Thank you Charlotte!
Grace says
Hi Charlotte, I made the cake on Friday and ate it on Sat, but it turned out quite dry. I used 4 medium eggs instead because I didn’t have large ones at home. Do you think this was the reason it turned out dry?
Thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
Normally a cake made with smaller eggs is slightly more moist. The most likely reason it’s dry is that it’s a little over-baked. All ovens operate slightly differently, so it may been a little less time in your oven.
Helen says
My new favourite chocolate cake recipe! I’ve stayed away from making chocolate cake because a lot of them aren’t chocolatey enough but this is perfect. I was worried it would be too sweet but it’s just right. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Marevana says
Absolutely amazing! I have been using your vanilla cake recipe for birthdays for years now and I love it and so does everyone else! This year my husband wanted marshmallow frosting, so thought a chocolate cake would go best. Thought to use this recipe since I have had so much success in the past. And it was amazing! Best chocolate cake ever! Really don’t understand comments about not rising or being dry, mine rose lovely and was not dry in the slightest. Thank you Charlotte!
Jess says
I made this this morning, absolutely delicious! The bake time of 30 minutes was perfect. The cake is moist and spongey and not at all crumbly, the buttercream glided on great. The used melted cooking chocolate in the sponge rather than grated and it worked perfectly. How long would you say it’ll keep? Also, as I’ve used buttercream should it be kept in the fridge?
Charlotte Oates says
It usually keeps for up to 7 days after baking if it’s stored in an airtight container. It should be fine at room temperature as long as the room isn’t too warm. If you tend to have the heating on a lot then it’ll be better in the fridge. If you do store it in the fridge, allow it to come back up to room temperature before you eat it as it tastes better that way.
Jemma says
Hi Charlotte, how much fondant would I need to cover this cake please?
Thank you!
Charlotte Oates says
Have a look at my fondant calculator
How Much Fondant Do I Need To Cover My Cake?
Sue says
I tried this once and it did not rise at all and was very stodgy so I tried it again but added baking powder and it rose but then collapsed in the middle and fell apart when I took it out of the tin. Complete waste of time.
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that the cake didn’t rise well for you. How old was the flour you used? Sometimes the raising agent in the flour can lose it’s power if it’s older.
I always recommend not adding additional baking powder to this recipe because, as you’ve described, it tends to rise too much in the oven and then collapses in the middle.
Lynn says
Hi I’ve make this cake so many time love it,how long will it stay fresh as I am making it 3 days before my husbands birthday
Charlotte Oates says
It is usually good to eat for about a week after baking.
Jay says
What did you put in the middle
Charlotte Oates says
Chocolate buttercream.
Sana says
Hello Charlotte love your chocolate recipe, but just wanted to know if you have a raisin sponge cake recipe, as I have tried many other raisin cake recipes none of them cake out good.
Charlotte Oates says
I don’t have a specific raisin cake recipe. However, you could try switching the white chocolate for raisins in my white chocolate cake (the cake sponge is designed to suspend the white chocolate chips rather than them sinking to thew bottom). It’s not something I’ve tried with raisins but it should work. I’d recommend soaking the raisins for a few hours before adding them to the cake to keep them moist during baking. You could just go for water or making things more interesting with tea or maybe even some rum.
OXH says
Made this cake yesterday. It was sooo dry even though I did respect the quantities and cooking time/temp. If I knew, I would have poured syrup over it. On the up side, it did raise pretty flat which is great for fondant decoration. Sadly I did not enjoy the taste of it and neither did the kids.
Pam Shute says
I have made this recipe many times for my families birthdays in the last six months it has kept me busy in lockdown! It is excellent, moist and so easy to make. I have do ne the vanilla and chocolate one.
Diane says
Hi Charlotte, do you know if I can substitute the flour to gluten free self raising flour, and keep all other ingredients the same? Would I need to add more liquid to keep it more moist?
Many thanks
Charlotte Oates says
It’s not something I have tried. However, I have received comments from others who have who have said that it works well with gluten-free flour.
Margaret petrie says
I’ve used gluten free flour and works amazing. Found melting the chocolate works best no need for extra moisture
Ian says
I have made this about 3 times now with variations on the icing and filling. Every time someone tries it, they ask for one for their birthday too!
Great recipe!!
Joanna says
Hi, I am planning on making cake tonight and icing tomorrow with fondant.
I don’t have any cake boxes or airtight containers. Could I just use clingfilm?
Charlotte Oates says
Wrapped in clingfilm is fine.
Elizabeth says
How do I cover a sponge cake with fondant icing?
Charlotte Oates says
I don’t have a guide on here, but you may find this video helpful.
Sonia says
Hi I’m planning on making this for my son’s birthday. I wanted to ask if I could make it the day before and keep in fridge. Would it still be OK for the next day? Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
It’ll be absolutely fine. Make sure you allow it to come up to room temperature for a little while before eating it as it tastes best that way.