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 🙂
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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.
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.
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.