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
Caroline says
Love thus recipie. Its my go to for chocolate birthday cakes. Its super easy to make and Ive had so many compliments on how tasty and moist it always is. Love the chocolate buttercream too.
Julie says
OMG this recipe is amazing I’ve just done both the vanilla and the chocolate for my granddaughter’s 18th birthday and am in the process of making cake pops with the leftover cake.
Kate says
Hello, my cake has come out very light and flecked with chocolate (looks like cookie dough) I used milk chocolate from the supermarket in the baking section, did I do something else wrong?
Charlotte Oates says
Did you add the cocoa powder?
Leanne says
How long could I bake in advance if covering with fondant once cooled.
Charlotte Oates says
The cake should be good to eat for up to 7 days after baking, just store it in an airtight container to keep it fresh.
Leanne Tindall says
I’ve baked this cake for the past few years for both of my daughters birthdays. It always goes down well. I’m about to bake this week again and was wondering how long they would keep from being baked – I’m just struggling with time so it will be a drawn out process over a few nights to bake and decorate. Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
The cake is usually good to eat for 7 days after baking as long as it’s stored in an airtight container.
Kerry says
Baked this cake along with your chocolate buttercream for my brothers birthday and it was great! Definitely going to be my go-to chocolate cake from now on.
Sarah says
I love this cake and usually do it in one 23cm tin, but I will be making it into a unicorn cake this time so wanted a bit more height, and was thinking of doing three layers using 20cm tins instead.
I was just wondering how deep each tin should be when doing separate layers?
I have three sandwich tins but two of them are only 3cm deep which doesn’t seem deep enough to me – and I don’t want to find that out just as I’m pouring the mix into the pans, or as they are baking!
Charlotte Oates says
The tins I use are 4.5cm deep. I think 3cm would be too shallow and there’s a risk the cakes would overflow.
Sarah says
Ok that’s what I was thinking too – thank you.
On a related note – if I were to bake two of the three layers at once, would the remaining mix for the third layer be ok to just sit while they baked, before I could put it in the oven? I don’t think I’m going to be able to find enough tins (or oven space) to do three at once!
Charlotte Oates says
I always recommend baking cake mixture as soon as it’s made as sometimes leaving it sitting for a while can affect how the cake rises when it is eventually baked.
Penny says
I made this in 6in tins that were only 2.5 cm deep. I used the recipe as above and they came out perfectly. If split evenly you might be ok using your tins. 🙂 I also used dark chocolate rather than milk. Yummy!!
Joanna says
Hi,
This is my go to recipe for all my children’s birthday cakes and it has always gone down very well! I’ve been asked to make a doll cake for a friend and the doll cake tin (Wilton 8” diameter 5” deep) states to use 5.5- 6 cups of batter.
Firstly, do you think this recipe would work for this shape cake and can you advise what quantities I should use? And for how long should it be baked?
Many thanks,
Jo
Charlotte Oates says
I wouldn’t recommend baking this cake in a tin that deep for two reasons:
1) It can sometimes sink in the middle when baked in a deeper tin
2) The additional cooking time needed to bake it through can mean that it goes dry around the edges and dry chocolate cake really loses its flavour compared to when it’s lovely and moist (made in a shallow tin).
Siobhan says
Hi I need to make a gluten free chocolate cake but could only get gluten free plain flour. Can I use this instead of the self raising? If so how do I adjust the recipe?
Charlotte Oates says
The instructions in the how to make self-raising flour post should also work for gluten-free flour.
How To Make Self-Raising Flour From Plain Flour
Lyndsey says
Absolutely delicious. For me the best chocolate cake I’ve ever tasted, thank you so much for the time you’ve put into creating this recipe. I covered mine with a fondant icing for my son’s birthday cake and it went down a storm. Finally found a “go to” chocolate cake recipe!
Shelley says
Replaced the flour for gluten free and it worked perfectly for my daughter’s 21’st thanks so much for a great recipe. Lots of lovely comments on the day. Topped the cake with a mix of your white and milk chocolate buttercream.
Dani D says
Love this cake recipe..it’s my go to recipe for chocolate cake! Comes out perfect every time.
Rachel says
Thank you Charlotte, I love this recipe! Do you know if it can be frozen?
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
Yes it can, either just the sponges, or the decorated cake.
Siobhan says
How much soft sugar paste icing will it take to cover the cake?
Charlotte Oates says
You can find my calculator here:
How Much Fondant Do I Need To Cover My Cake?
The cake is usually around 8 cm high and 20cm in diameter (unless you’ve use my calculator to make a different size)
K Williams says
Delicious!
Helen says
Hi Charlotte,
Excellent chocolate cake with a real chocolate taste, but not too intense – had great comments when I made it.
However, despite S.R. flour being fresh, it certainly did not rise to the size in your picture, each layer being barely an inch thick. Usually find the conventional oven works best for cakes, but maybe I should have used the fan oven. Have you tried it in both?
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve only tried in a fan oven so I’m not sure what the difference would be, but I would expect them to be similar.
Louise Harrison says
I’ve made this recipe many times both as birthday cakes and cupcakes. Great results everytime. Thank you Charlotte.
Frankie says
I made this cake for my sons 3rd birthday, everyone loved it. I’ve been asked to make a load of cupcakes for my nieces christening and I would like to use the recipe, I have all my fingers and toes crossed that the cupcakes come out just as nice.
Charlotte Oates says
They should do. If you’ve not already given it a try, then you can find the recipe for the cupcake version of this cake here.
Eniola Dere says
I made this cake for my son’s birthday and it was fantastic. Great recipe.
Judith Piggott says
I love this cake but have been asked to make it for someone gluto free by using spelt and baking powder..do you have any advice? Especially how much baking powder? Thsnks
Charlotte Oates says
Spelt flour contains gluten, although at lower levels than regular flour. If you want this to be gluten-free you’ll need to opt for a different flour. This cake should work fine with a commercial gluten-free self-raising flour.