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
Charlotte Oates says
Definitely, they go really well together.
Lucy says
I can see from all the positive comments that I’m not the only one to have found this a brilliant recipe. In fact the best cake I’ve made for a Birthday! Thanks x
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks Liz, I’ve tried to keep the recipe as simple as possible to hopefully help people who don’t bake all that often.
Christina Mackay says
Just wanted to say, thank you for your chocolate cake and buttercream recipe. It was delicious! I’m a novice and decided to make my sons birthday cake for first time ever for his 4th Birthday which is today. I needed a receipe that allowed me to carve without cake crumbling. The first cake I tried for my husbands birthday back in Dec didn’t end up so well – think it was more me than actual cake, and my buttercream consistency wasn’t quite right, plus although it was chilled in fridge after being baked I hadn’t put it in freezer so might have been still slightly moist. Decided wanted to try a different recipe this time. Came across yours whilst looking for recipe ideas. Liked how yours was made up of combination of cocoa powder as well as chocolate, and as my kids love chocolate and cake was for a kids birthday, thought this a win win especially as full cocoa can be quite rich I find.
Made and carved out Chase from Paw Patrol for my paw Patrol obsessed son using your yummy chocolate receipe. Grating chocolate was easy until it came to ends so just ended up chopping them into fine pieces. At first was worried how cakes would turn out as cake layers looked flat (ended up having to use two different size tins as hubby had bought one which was wrong size, and felt hadn’t put enough mixture in each tin, plus had seived self raising flour so wasn’t sure f it would make difference). Once cake layers layered together they looked normal and cakevnot flat. Wrapped cakes individually in cling film and layer of tin foil and froze over night, thawed them out next day to carve. What a delight it was to be able to carve cake without it falling to pieces (this is what happened to last one where section fell apart, and even with buttercream it wouldn’t hold). I used your buttercream to layer cakes together, and add a section onto my carving as my template was just off edge. It held perfectly! I then made up a chocolate ganache (cooking milk chocolate and double cream) just to crumb coat it. After i chilled it for few hours I then added fondant and decorated it.
Well, today was the big day and I was worried how it would go down with family (especially as I never have made a cake before from start to finish until today, and my family is fussy, especially the kids – the oldest loves to tell you exactly how things are… he’s 4 and as it was for his birthday I was anxious!). The cake tasters verdict are in – the cake was a winner! My family loved the cake especially the kids who ended up having 3 pieces each, and even the hubby went back for second helpings and said how good it was.
Just wanted to say thanks again for sharing your yummy recipe. I will be using it again on my family cake making journey
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks so much for your lovely comment Christina. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake x
Rekha says
Hi
I’m going to make this for my sons birthday but there isn’t any butter cream recipe?
Do you have one please ?
Charlotte Oates says
It’s here
Amina Imthiyas says
Hey Charlotte I have tried this recipe but my cake has began to flater ,crispy on sides and cracked on top I really don’t have any idea what went wrong .is it because of leaving the cake for a long in the oven
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve never had that happen to me, but from what you’ve described it sounds as though it’s either been in the oven for too long or the oven temperature is too high.
Jennifer says
Hey Charlotte! I’m using your cake recipe and am finding it to be very thick, is it suppose to be that way? It’s so thick that I’m having trouble taking it out of the bowl and pouring/spreading it into the pan. I added more milk to ease it up – is this normal… or did I make a mishap. Photos of the batter would be helpful if you had any!
-Totally freaking out
Charlotte Oates says
It’s not a pourable consistency so you’d need to spoon it into the tin, but it should be OK to spread. If you have a look at this video I made for Oven Pride for millionaires’ cupcakes, it’s the same cake mixture so you can see what the consistency should be like https://www.facebook.com/OvenPrideUK/videos/1198689190194241/ Go to about 35 seconds in to see the mixture.
Jennifer says
Thanks Charlotte!! That video was extremely helpful. So I had to run out to the market to get more ingredients. I did everything again exactly the same this time – I swapped the butter I’d used for the margarine and it turns out I had used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate. It was a WORLD of difference. Much lighter and smoother. The one I had made just before was the consistency of fudge D:!
Thanks again!! I cannot wait to try your cake tomorrow!! <3
Charlotte Oates says
Glad I could help, I hope you enjoy the cake x
Emma Hynes says
This cake (and chocolate buttercream) is amazing….thank you. It’s the first time I’ve ever made my daughters birthday cake and I was so stressed about it….until I found this website, it made everything so easy! I used the calculator to make a slightly bigger, 3 layered cake and it’s perfect!
Charlotte Oates says
Fantastic, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe and that the calculator was useful. I often go for three layers too.
Michelle says
Hi Charlotte I’m planning on making this for my little boys birthday. I want to ice and decorate it so when would be the eradicate I can make the cakes if his birthday is the Sunday?
Charlotte Oates says
I usually make my cakes two days before and then decorate the day before, so for a Sunday birthday I’d bake on a Friday. However, the cake is always good for a a few days afterwards so you could bake a little earlier if you wanted, just ensure you store it in an airtight container to help it stay fresh for longer. Alternatively, if you want to make your cake far in advance you can freeze it. Wrap it (the cake only) in clingfilm and the defrost thoroughly before you want to decorate it.
Michelle says
Thank you that’s great! I might go with Thursday as Friday is my birthday! 😉 should I buttercream it and then store it or buttercream it the same day I ice? 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
Happy birthday for Friday!
If you can, buttercream it and then store it. This will allow the buttercream to set a little and should make it easier to cover the cake with fondant.
Hermy says
Hi,
I have tried grating chocolate in the past and found that the bar just breaks as I am grating. Reading through the comments, I found one reader melted the chocolate. Would you recommend that and when should I add it?
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tried it but it should work. I like to grate the chocolate as it then gives a little extra burst of chocolatey flavour each time you find a grated piece. If you want to try melted chocolate, melt the chocolate before you start making the rest of the cake mix and then fold it in at the end before you put it into the tins. You need to ensure that it’s cool but still runny when you add it. If it’s warm it’ll start to cook the cake before it goes into the oven.
Hermy says
Hi, can I use milk chocolate drops from the baking aisle instead of using grated chocolate?
Charlotte Oates says
Not really, I find that they’re too have and sink to the bottom so you get a soggy cake bottom and the weight means it doesn’t rise as well.
Lisa says
Hi
I’ve made this cake twice before and it tasted great but the sponge came out really flat. I’m now making it again for my daughters birthday, any tips to get it to rise? Not sure where I’m going wrong, I’m definitely not opening the door too early.
Charlotte Oates says
I’m not too sure. It doesn’t puff up lots but should pretty much double in size. Did you bake it as soon as you’d made the mixture? If you leave the mixture resting then the raising agent in the self raising flour won’t work as well.
Charlotte says
I’ve made this 3 times in as many months for various occasions and wasn’t really a fan of chocolate cake myself but wow, it’s delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Charlotte Oates says
🙂
Victoria says
How deep is the layer once cooked?
I’m looking for something quite deep with an open crumb (something akin to Mary Berry’s Victoria Sponge but richer and more chocolatey).
Could I add some baking powder, perhaps?
My cake is going to be 10″ and 3 layers so I’m not confident in the double-up approach… Any advice? TIA 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
Each layer is about 3cm deep when cooked. It’s quite a dense sponge (due to the added chocolate) but still quite light to eat. I wouldn’t recommend adding more baking powder, I tried it when developing the recipe originally and found that it rose more in the oven but then sank as it cooled.
Caroline says
Hi Charlotte, could you tell me if this recipe would work by simply replacing the milk chocolate and coco for dark cocoa and dark chocolate? Looking to do mud colour sponge (for plant pot theme cake) but also don’t want it tasting bitter, would more sugar be needed?
Charlotte Oates says
It does work but only do it if you prefer the favour of dark chocolate to milk as it will have a richer flavour. If you want to stick with the milk chocolate flavour you could try a mix of the two or simply add a bit of dark brown food colouring.
Caroline says
Many thanks for your reply, I’m new to baking but followed both your vanilla and chocolate sponge recipes last week for my sisters Birthday both of which turned out amazing for my first attempt, just didn’t want to ruin this one for mum. Thank you will try mix of both x
Kate Tattersall says
Hi Charlotte. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Can’t wait to try it. Please can you let me know whether this cake frozen? I’m going to be short of time the day before the party.
Thanks.
Charlotte Oates says
It can be frozen without any decoration. Simply wrap the cakes tightly in clingfilm before freezing and allow the cakes to defrost throughly before icing.
Dhivya says
Hi Charlotte. I tried this recipe and it was absolutely delicious! There was hardly any rise to it though so I’m trying to work out where I went wrong. Only thing I did differently was use butter instead of margarine ( I always do this) and used chocolate chips as I didn’t have a block of chocolate to grate. Would either of these things have stopped it rising?
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
Butter instead of margarine shouldn’t have made a difference (I’ve used both and had similar results). The chocolate chips may have made a difference. When I tried chocolate chips I found that they sank to the bottom leaving it soggy and heavy, this might also have impacted the amount of rise.
Kim says
Hi Charlotte,
This recipe looks great and I intend on using it for my sons birthday this weekend so thank you…. a good chocolate cake recipe is hard to find. I’m just wondering if you have had any feedback as to whether this cake freezes ok?
Thanks
Kim
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried it but it should do. I would freeze it undecorated and then decorate it after defrosting.
Steph says
I’m planning on making this cake in a rectangular 32 x 22cm tin. I want to cover it in fondant icing. I’ll be making it from scratch, do you know
the quantities for this please?
Charlotte Oates says
Hi Steph, have you tried using my calculator?
Steph says
Yes, thank you, I’ve used the calculator to work out the cake sponge and buttercream quantities but I also wanted to decorate the cake with fondant icing like your spotty cake photographs. I couldn’t see any details for the fondant quantities.
Charlotte Oates says
I tend to buy far more fondant than I think I’ll need so I’d probably recommend too much. There’s a guide here you might find useful https://www.designer-cakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SugarpasteChart.pdf.
Francesca Hatton-Beazley says
Thank you for posting your wonderful chocolate cake recipe. I used it very recently for my daughters sixth birthday and had to decorate it with a Trolls theme. It worked perfectly first time and went down a storm. Best chocolate cake recipe ever and nice and simple to follow. The buttercream just finished it off perfectly too. So thank you again xx