Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake
Your very own chocolate cake showstopper
So I got to thinking, maybe we should have an Easy Peasy Chocolate Birthday Cake Recipe on Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.
In fact I think we need one don’t you think?
It’s a celebration that for most people always involves a cake? (obviously)
I blardy love a piece of birthday cake, especially when it’s homemade. Nothing nicer in my book
So you need look no further – here’s the perfect idea for a Chocolate Birthday Cake!!!
It looks complicated but it really is super easy
Why do we eat cake for a Birthday?
I wasn’t entirely sure why we give ‘cake’ at Birthday celebrations, however having had a look it would appear
‘In the 15th century, bakeries in Germany began to market one-layer cakes for customers’ birthdays as opposed to only marketing cakes for weddings, and thus the modern birthday cake was born. Wiki
I wanted only one Birthday Cake Recipe for the blog. (since I’ve added Naked birthday cake too)
After all the whole point of my blog is no fuss, easy cooking and baking! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!
And let’s not forget homemade cake is such a treat!
SIMPLE is the key! Always
Basic Chocolate Birthday Cake Recipe – so moist
So I have a base recipe here for an Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake that you can alter in the decoration depending on who it’s for, child or adult, male or female.
And indeed you can customise and add what the recipient likes and what sweets are their favourites.
Who wouldn’t want a birthday without an amazing indulgent Chocolate Birthday cake?
Chocolate Cake
So we start with a basic chocolate cake
I decided that most people like Chocolate – especially at Birthday times?
But you could also make it with vanilla sponges – of course you could
Also please remember it can easily be modified for Easter and Christmas! The opportunities are endless!
Oh and what about Halloween? Stop me now….
Oh and Maybe heart shaped for Valentines Day?
Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake Ideas, for kids and adults
It would also work perfectly as a vanilla cake using maybe White Chocolate Kitkats? Ooooo 🙂 Now there’s a great idea!
So here is a Chocolate extravaganza Birthday Cake that I hope will be a bit of a show stopper!
Have fun 🙂
Go wild – it’s so easy and takes little skill – it also goes down a storm!
Chocolate Birthday Cake with Sweets – there’s no failing here.
There are so many things you can use to decorate, I used:
- Kitkats (lots)
- or Chocolate fingers?
- Malteasers
- M and M’s
- Kinder Eggs
- Curly Wurly
- Bueno’s
- Chocolate lollipop
- I think it would also be great with jelly sweets and lollipops and maybe a few strawberries because making it personal to the receiver is the key?
- Maybe chocolate fingers, matchmakers, Flakes, Mini Eggs, oh anything, would be nice!
White Chocolate Birthday Cake idea?
Oh and I made a White Chocolate version as well – just go for it!
This was for Bake It Pink for Breast Cancer and it raised a fair bit of cash for the charity
The idea here is just to show how flexible and easy it is to make this Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake!
So how do you make an Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake?
So why not just go for it, use this Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake recipe as the basis to develop you’re very own showstopper!
It’s easy and straight forward and you don’t have to be a great baker at all.
Most of the icing work gets covered anyway, so please don’t worry about that….
Step By Step to your perfect chocolate birthday cake extravaganza
Chocolate Butter cream / chocolate frosting
Chocolate butter cream is delicious and easy to make and easy to work with!
Here are the baked sponges filled with chocolate butter cream
Then just go for it, mines quite neat but it doesn’t need to be as long as you get a good covering of buttercream / chocolate frosting over it.
The finished cake will be covered with sweets so the cake really doesn’t need to be perfect:
Then you get to the fun part – the really fun part
How to decorate your Chocolate Birthday Cake – Easy Peasy
Then decorate – and you’re off!
Birthday Cake Ideas – Have a go at making your own!
Please please have a go and let me see your creations! I’d really love that!
Come on it’s an Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake – I promise you can make a great showstopper and the kids will adore it for sure!
I’d really love to see you ideas – really I would
Drop me a comment below and let me know what you do! I’d really love to see your creations
Thanks Clare
Another Easy Birthday Cake Recipe – This time a naked cake
Here’s another more delicate kinda birthday cake.
It’s super easy and you should really give it a try.
Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- Cake
- 3 large Eggs free-range
- 175 g 6 oz Self-Raising Flour
- 175 g 6 oz Caster Sugar
- 175 g 6 oz Softened Butter
- 1½ level tsp Baking Powder
- 40 g 1½ oz Cocoa Powder
- 4 tbsp Boiling Water
- Butter Icing
- 150 g Softened Butter
- 300 g Icing Sugar sieved
- 30 g cocoa powder
- 2 Tablespoons Milk
- Decoration the FUN Bit
- Kitkats 36 fingers
- Malteasers
- M&M's
- Kinder Eggs
- Curly Wurly
- Bueno's
- Chocolate lollipop
Instructions
- Cakes
- Preheat the oven to 180C, gas 4.
- Grease and line two 8 inch or two 20cm sandwich cake tins (7 inch would also do)
- In a large mixing bowl beat together the eggs, flour, caster sugar, butter and baking powder until smooth.
- Put the cocoa in separate mixing bowl and add the water a little at a time to make a stiff paste.
- Add this paste to the cake mixture and combine
- Turn into the prepared tins, level the top and bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 mins, or until shrinking away from the sides of the tin and springy to the touch.
- Leave to cool in the tin, then turn on to a wire rack to become completely cold
- Butter icing
- Cream the softened butter with the sieved icing sugar and cocoa powder until smooth (I do it with an electric stand mixer - or electric hand mixer. Or you can do it by hand (think of those toned arms 🙂 )
- Finally add the milk to slacked off - helps to soften which means icing the cake is easier
- Construction
- Place your first cake on a plate or on a cake board, whatever you will ultimately serve it on
- Add approx. 1/3 of your butter cream and spread evenly across the cake
- Pop the next cake on top Roughly cover the whole cake in the remaining butter cream - don't be too worried about it being perfect - it should be just a thin layer and it will be covered up!
- Next break your KitKats into 1 finger and start placing around the outside of your cake - they will stick to the buttercream (don't eat the KitKats 🙂 )
- When the outside is totally covered in KitKats - place your ribbon around and tie in a bow (also helps to secure the KitKats)
- Then decorate as you wish, Ilike a bit of height and colour on mine! Now just enjoy!!!!
Anon
Made this cake and it looked fab! Once cut, I put the left over cake in the fridge, but the sponge has gone quite hard. Should I have covered it? Thought the chocolate would melt/go soft if left out of the fridge? Where should it be kept please?
Clare x
How long did you keep it? I would hasher covered it and fridge it if it was a warm day – other wise out the fridge would be ok x
Anonymous
Thank you🙂
Jodie
Hello! If I used two 30cm pans to make a bigger cake how many eggs etc would I need? Thanks!!
Clare x
I would do 1 1/2 times the mix and remember you will need a lot more KitKats and sweets 🙂 Good luck
Anonymous
Easy to do! Made a beautiful cake
Anna
Hello, this looks lovely – I’m a beginner but going to attempt it for my daughter’s birthday! It looks like the recipe includes both self-raising flour and baking powder – just double checking that’s correct as in my (very limited) experience it’s usually either or. Thank you!
Clare x
both x
Anonymous
Lovely cake, turned out perfectly, though I doubled the quantities and baked in an extra large tin for a bit longer.
Louise
I made this cake for my Grandson’s 4th Birthday. I was so chuffed with it, it looked and tasted great and I received so many compliments! My niece has asked if I will make her a cake for her 18th Birthday 🙂 So my question is can I make the sponge layers and freeze for a week before icing?
Thank you
Clare x
Yes you can Louise – Thanks Clare
Julie
If I was to use 9 inch square tins how much more would I need to increase the recipe? Thanks Julie
Clare x
I would increase the mix weights by 1/3 – Thanks Clare