Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake with Sprinkles

Last week, I turned 26 – hooray! And it wouldn’t be a birthday without chocolate cake. As the chief baker in the family, it’s my job to create something special for those I love and it’s honestly one of my favourite things to do. I really enjoy creating something with the person receiving it in mind. Perhaps using their favourite flavours, textures or food combos as inspiration. However, November 5th is the one day I’m not allowed to bake. One day a year, I’m treated to others baking for me.

This year I was spoilt. I received not 1, not 2, but 3 masterful cakes! The first was by my glorious mum, who in attempting our go-to chocolate cake recipe, couldn’t get the cake out of the tin successfully, so a 2nd attempt was needed – but both were equally delicious! The 3rd by my good friend Anna, a deliciously fluffy Victoria Sponge – a surprise ending to a birthday dinner with my favourite people. 

Now the celebrations have passed, it’s my turn to bake again. Using my mum’s version as inspiration, I developed my own interpretation to create this chocolate birthday cake with lots of sprinkles! 

Servings

After a weekend of indulgence, I created a miniature version resulting in 4 – 6 decent slices from the finished cake (and left plenty of scraps). However, the recipe below caters for 12 servings. Instead of using a rectangular tray and cutting out the circles, you can split the batter into 2 or 3 circular cake tins and use those as your layers to build the cake, giving you roughly 12 slices. 

Use dairy-free butter to make it dairy-free. If you’re looking for a gluten-free alternative, try this flour-less chocolate cake recipe.

Ingredients 

6 oz / 170g butter

6 oz / 170g soft brown sugar

3 eggs

2 oz / 60g cocoa powder

4 oz / 120g self-raising

2.6 oz / 75g dark chocolate (chopped or chips)

1 tbsp milk 

5.3 oz / 150g butter 

10.5 oz / 300g icing sugar

2.6 oz / 75g melted dark chocolate

Sprinkles

Method 

For the chocolate birthday cake

First, preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a rectangular baking tray. You can use baking parchment or spread a little butter around the inside of the tray and dust with some flour, ensuring it’s fully covered. 

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together with an electric whisk until light, pale and fluffy. If you think it’s done, mix it a little longer. This will form the base of your batter and is essential to the foundation of your cake.

Next, add one egg and mix until fully combined before adding the next egg. Once all the eggs are incorporated into the mixture, sieve the cocoa powder and self-raising flour into the bowl. 

Before folding the mixture, add the chocolate to the bowl and allow it to be coated in the flour. This will help it not all sink to the bottom of the cake. I prefer chopping up a bar of chocolate for a variety of sizable chocolate chunks, however, you can use a bag of chocolate chips if you like. 

Once the chocolate chunks are coated, fold the mixture using a spatula until it’s almost fully combined. Add the milk to loosen the mixture and fold again until you have a smooth batter. 

Pour it into the lined baking tray and place it into the centre of the oven for 20 – 25 mins, turning the oven temperature down to 175 degrees once the batter is inside. The cake will be fully baked when it’s evenly risen, the top is slightly firm and a knife comes out clean when poked into the centre. Set aside to cool completely before icing. 

For the icing

You can begin making the icing while the cake is cooking. To do so, start by melting the chocolate either by placing it into a heatproof bowl and setting it on top of a simmering saucepan of water, or place it into the microwave. Be careful to check it’s not burning! Set aside when fully melted to cool slightly.

Using a large bowl, mix the butter with an electric whisk until pale. Next, sieve the icing sugar into the bowl a little at a time (otherwise icing sugar will smother your whole kitchen) and mix until fully combined. 

Pour the melted chocolate into the icing and mix until you have a smooth, chocolate buttercream. Place into the fridge until you’re ready to ice.

Layering the birthday cake

Once the cake has cooled completely, you can begin layering it. Start by grabbing your cutting shape (a chef’s ring, glass, or stencil) and cut your sheet of cake into 3 equal circles, one at a time. Put the remaining cake scraps aside to “test” with a cuppa.

Grab a plate or cake board to which you’d like to build your cake and place half a teaspoon of the buttercream into the centre of the board. Next, place the first layer of cake on top of the buttercream. This will allow the cake to stick to the board and help create a stable foundation. 

Then, spread a thick layer of buttercream over the cake and place the next cake slice on top. Repeat again so you have a layer of cake, buttercream, cake, buttercream. With the final cake slice, as you go to place it on top of the most recent layer of buttercream, turn it over so the original base of the cake is now the top of the cake tower. This is how you can achieve a perfectly flat top to your cake tiers. 

Decorating the chocolate cake

Next, coat the top and sides with buttercream (make sure you still have a portion of buttercream left). Then, scrape off any excess, smooth the edges and place into the fridge for 30 minutes. This is your crumb coat. 

A crumb coat ensures a smooth finish as this original layer of icing surrounding the cake incorporates all the fluffy crumbs that so easily escape. Once the icing is solid, finish with your final layer of buttercream, taking your time to ensure even, crisp edges. Finally, decorate with sprinkles. To cover the sides, cup your hand with a small number of sprinkles and glide it in an upwards motion from the bottom to the top of the cake’s sides. Repeat using any excess sprinkles to coat the entire circumference of the cake.

Light, fluffy, extra chocolatey and incredibly moorish, this chocolate birthday cake with sprinkles is certainly worth every mouthful. However, no birthday cake is complete without candles and this bonfire baby calls for sparklers!

To view how I made it check it out on Instagram @theardentbakery. 

For more cake recipes, visit my baking section.

Els x