Chocolate Birthday Cake

4.45 from 25 votes

A showstopping chocolate cake worthy of being the centrepiece of your birthday celebrations, with chcoolate buttercream frosting and decorated with different chocolate bars and chocolate decorations.

Course Baking

Cuisine British

Keyword chocolate cake

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Decorating Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings

Calories 515kcal

Author Lucy Allen | BakingQueen74

Ingredients

For the cake:

150 g cocoa powder
600 ml boiling water
360 g butter or spread softened
600 g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 eggs at room temperature
360 g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt

For the chocolate buttercream:

500 g butter softened
1 kg icing sugar
50 g cocoa powder
3 tbsp milk

To decorate:

3 bars of Flake chocolate
1 Terrys chocolate orange
12 white and milk chocolate stars

UK Measurements - US Measurements

Instructions

To make the cakes:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Lightly grease two 7 inch cake tins.
If using 2 cake tins, you will leave half the mixture until the first two cakes have baked. If using 4 cake tins, prepare them all now.
In a jug, add the boiling water and cocoa powder, mix until smooth, then leave to cool.
In a large bowl, sieve the flour and add the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Leave this until needed.
In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract and then the eggs one by one. Beat well after you add each egg.
Add all of the flour, and mix gently until combined. Fold in the cooled cocoa powder and water mixture.
Divide the mixture into the prepared cake tins. If you are using two cake tins and will bake in two sessions, put half the mixture aside.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until a cake tester (or knife or skewer) comes out clean from the centre of the cake.
Leave to cool in the tins until cool enough to touch then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.
Now, if you used two tins, wash and regrease them and bake again with the rest of the mixture.

To make the chocolate buttercream:

Note that you will have some excess buttercream icing from this recipe. It can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days or frozen in a tub for another time.
Make sure your butter is very soft. Cut the butter into cubes and put it in the stand mixer bowl.
Beat until the butter very soft and fluffy. It should also be lighter in colour than when you started.
Add the icing sugar little by little to avoid icing sugar clouds and start of mixing on low. Once incorporated turn the speed up and mix well. Continue adding the icing sugar little by little until it is all added.
Add the milk a tablespoon at a time, checking the consistency. Adding the milk will make the icing a little softer and more spreadable, so make sure it is as you'd like it to be and adjust the milk as needed to get your ideal result.

To construct and ice the cake:

Put the first cake layer (completely cooled) on your cake turntable. Cover the top with a thick layer of icing, then add the rest of the cake layers in turn and do the same.
Once all four are stacked, using a palette knife and apply the icing to the sides of the cake and spin the turntable round, smoothing the icing on with the knife, to make a smooth thick layer.
Carry on until the sides of the cake are all covered. Now use the palette knife to put icing on top of the cake and smooth again, turning the turntable around until smooth and even.
Chop the Flake bars up as desired and decorate the top of the cake with the chocolate as you prefer.
Serve!

Notes

Recipe for the cake adapted from this triple-layer chocolate cake recipe on Good To Know.

Nutrition