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
Sarah Morris says
Beautiful cake, very chocolate and moist without being too rich. My go to birthday cake recipe!
Vicky says
Hello, I just wondered if it would be ok to use cadburys milk choc in this cake rather than cooking choc (is all I’ve got!)? If not would it be better to use dark cooking choc….which I do have but will it be a bit bitter? I prefer the taste of milk but don’t want to ruin it! Thanks so much!
Charlotte Oates says
I usually use cooking chocolate as I find Cadbury’s can go a little grainy when it’s heated. However, I know others that have made this cake with Dairy Milk and have really enjoyed it, so it should be OK. You can use dark, but as you’ve said, it will be a little more bitter.
Sarah Morris says
I use dark cooking chocolate – not at all bitter – the sugar offsets any bitterness I guess
Carol says
Hi I am making your chocolate sponge cake and wondered if I could put your caramel sauce in the chocolate buttercream how many of your batches would I need I am making a big cake the buttercream is 750grm butter 750grm icing sugar 450grms milk chocolate 120grms cocoa powder and 0.75 taps vanilla how can I incorporate the caramel sauce in and would it work thanks
Charlotte Oates says
I wouldn’t mix caramel sauce into this buttercream as it’ll make it too soft. Instead you could make my caramel buttercream and then use the two (either separately or mixed together).
The amount you need will depend on the size and shape of your cake as well as how thick you’d like your buttercream to be.
Carol says
This thank you Charlotte I’ll do that I made your all in one vanilla sponge and orange chocolate cake they went down a storm I love your recipes and the calculating table is brill thanks again xx
Ani says
Baked this a few times now and it is beautiful every time! Did it also as a traybake with melted chocolate on top, my family do not allow it to stay in the tin long!
Toni Murrow-Smith says
I’ve made this cake before and it’s delicious but find grating the chocolate to be a pain, do you think chocolate chips would work instead?
Charlotte Oates says
Don’t use chocolate chips, they’re bigger than the grated chocolate and so are likely to sink to the bottom. Instead melt the chocolate and leave it to cool to room temperature before folding it into the cake mixture.
Akure Philomena says
Please if I’m to use the pure Cocoa powder only to make a chocolate cake, plz won’t the cake have a bitter taste because of the Cocoa powder which taste bitter, plz reply me soon as I’m possibly going to try making this chocolatey cake soon
Charlotte Oates says
Do you mean just pure cocoa powder and no additional grated chocolate? If that’s what you mean then I wouldn’t recommend it. It shouldn’t be bitter, but the cake won’t be chocolatey enough as it needs the additional chocolate for flavour and the moist texture. If you mean pure cocoa powder instead of standard stuff (still adding the extra chocolate) then that’ll be absolutely fine.
Hannah says
I’ve just made this and it looks and smells delicious (currently cooling) – it’s a practice run to make a stack cake at the weekend for my sons birthday. But I don’t feel like it has a particularly good rise. I’ve got about 3-3.5 cm per circle. Is this normal? Or am I doing something wrong?!
Charlotte Oates says
I would normally expect about 3.5-4cm per layer.
Fiona Hepburn says
Hi, could I make this with 3 or 4 layers? Would I need to use dowels to support the cake? If yes, how many layers could I put together safely without them?
Charlotte Oates says
It’s fine to make three or four layers. I regularly make three without using dowels (I like a taller cake so I can add more design onto the sides). You shouldn’t need dowels for a 4-layer cake, but you may want to pop a couple in just to be on the safe side, especially if you’re transporting the cake anywhere.
Amelia Edwards says
Hi,
Could I melt the chocolate and then incorporate in into the mixed batter?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes
Kasia says
What’s the best sort of fondant to use?
Charlotte Oates says
I tend to but whatever I can get hold of. Usually Tesco own brand. I’ve also used Lidl and Dr Oetker.
Charlie says
Hello, I’ve just made this cake for my sons 5th birthday and I have to say it tasted amazing! I covered it with fondant and cut out some batman decorations and he absolutely loved it. Thank you for the recipe.
Rosie May says
Hi Charlotte, I’ve made this recipe quite a few times now as it’s so lovely, I was just wondering is it ok to freeze ? If so should i wrap it in cling film and foil ? Many Thanks for all your yummy recipes x
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, it freezes well.
Constance George says
Iam in Portugal and have made this as a trial run before I make it for a friends Daughters 12th Birthday.
It was moist and delicious.Thank you.
Sana says
Hi, I wanna make a fondant cake for my daughter’s birthday, for the first time! How many days ahead of time can I make this cake? And if done, how do I store it? Should it be covered with cling wrap or foil?
What if cake starts to break off?
Thanks I’m advance!
Charlotte Oates says
I usually make mine a couple of days before and then they’re good to eat for another 5 days.
Before the cake is covered in fondant, make sure it is stored in an airtight container. Once you have added the fondant there is no need for this (as the fondant protects the sponge). However, make sure you keep it covered to protect it from any dust.
Saffron says
Hi, i made this cake recently and it was absolutely delicious! Thanks for such a great recipe. However, the middle sunk a little after cooling. Was this because I used one deep tin to bake the cake instead of splitting the mixture?
Charlotte Oates says
I suspect that’s what it is. I try to keep my cakes as light and fluffy and a can, but that means they don’t have quite as strong a structure as some other cakes. This is fine in sandwich tins, but can sometimes results in the cake dipping a little after baking if you use a deeper tin.
Sarah says
Hi I made this cake for a birthday and the it was delicious. However, the middle sunk a little after cooling. Was this because i put all the batter in one deep tin?
Jennifer says
Forgive me if you’ve mentioned this somewhere. But if I want to cover this cake with fondant, how much/how many packets do I need please?
Charlotte Oates says
I have a calculator where you pop in your cake dimensions and it’ll tell you how much you need.
https://charlotteslivelykitchen.com/how-much-fondant/
Laura J says
Hi Charlotte, hoping to try out this recipe for my daughter’s birthday, she’ll be 5 next weekend.. I’m going to use your chocolate buttercream as a filling but how much should I use to coat the cake if I want to use fondant over it and decorate with some caketoppers? Should I keep it to a thin layer? Or do you have any tips? I’m always nervous at this part!! Thanks in advance, can’t wait to try it 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
I would add a generous layer in the middle and a thin layer around the outside. The layer on the outside is just to help the fondant to stick and to help you get it nice and smooth. If you make it too thick in can squidge out of the bottom as you lay the fondant on top (especially in this warmer weather we’re having at the moment). Give the warm weather, I’f recommend chilling the cake for a while after adding the buttercream to allow it to firm up a bit before adding the fondant. Don’t panic if it does squidge out. Carefully wipe it away with a dry pieve of kitchen towel and you should be fine.
Laura J says
Thanks so much for the reply!
Sharifa Mckechnie says
I love this recipe. I just made my 2nd cake this week. Birthday then nursery graduation. My daughter has a milk allergy so easy to use dairy free alternatives. Instead of grated choc I used 50g of dairy free buttons. I made the cake Thurs evening and buy Sunday morning it was still fresh as my daughter and I finished the last slice. Such a delicious cake and lovely chocolate taste.
Debbie Howe says
Hi. I am going to make the chocolate cake. I noticed that you use plain flour instead of self raising. Which one is the best for raising.
Many thanks
Charlotte Oates says
You can use either. If you use self-raising flour there’s no need to add any baking powder. If you use plain then you need the baking powder listed in the recipe. You might find this post interesting to see the difference between the two.