Baking A Classic Chocolate Birthday Cake

There is no denying that Brits love chocolate and thanks to brands such as Cadbury, Galaxy and Nestle, we really do have an impressive range of treats to enjoy in the UK and if you have a sweet tooth, the chocolate aisle in a British supermarket is guaranteed to be your favourite. However, it isn’t just chocolate bars and chocolate biscuits that Brits love, there is a special place in lots of people’s heat for chocolate cake too and it is fair to say that many will agree this is a superior option. 

When it comes to baking a birthday cake, whether it is for yourself or a loved one, chocolate will be the first choice for many and it is actually incredibly easy to create a delicious chocolate cake, no matter how skilled you may be in the kitchen. 

One thing that many expats find is that it can be quite difficult to recreate a classic British chocolate cake when they’re away from home. Usually, this is because the ingredients will be slightly different in foreign stores and of course, it is highly unlikely that the chocolate will be as good as it is here in the UK. 

If you’re wanting to bake a classic chocolate birthday cake and you’re looking for a British recipe and the best British shopping website to help you, you’ve definitely come to the right place. Here is everything you need to bake the perfect chocolate cake wherever you are in the world. 

The easy option 

Undeniably, the easiest way to bake an incredible chocolate cake will be to turn to Betty Crocker. Simply purchase a ‘Tempting Chocolate’ cake mix and follow the incredibly straightforward recipe on the back of the box. Of course, you should always decorate the cake with a Betty Crocker icing/frosting too and either a classic milk chocolate flavour or even a chocolate fudge flavour is the perfect topping. 

Starting from scratch 

Not everyone will want to use a box cake mix, but thankfully, it is still really easy to bake a beautiful chocolate cake. So, if you’d rather start from scratch, here’s a simple British recipe for you to follow; 

Ingredients 

The cake;

• 4 large eggs 
• 2 tablespoons of milk 
• 220g unsalted butter 
• 220g caster sugar
• 200g self-raising flour
• 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder

The topping;

• 200g unsalted butter 
• 400g icing sugar
• 100g chocolate - you can choose the chocolate you’d like to use
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

Method 

The cake; 

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C or 160°C if you have a fan oven and also grease and line 2 cake tins, ideally 8-inch tins, and set them aside for later. 

1. Add the butter and the caster sugar into a large mixing bowl and whisk/beat them together until smooth. You can use either a hand whisk or an electric whisk to do this. Then, add to this bowl all of the remaining ingredients for your cake and mix them together until they are completely combined. 

1. Divide the cake mixture between the two cake tins that you prepared earlier. You can then pop these tins into the oven for around 20 to 25 minutes. To double-check that they’re cooked, simply insert a skewer into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean then they’re likely to be ready. 

1. Remove the tins from the oven and leave the cakes in them to cool for around 10 minutes. Then, turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely. 

The topping;

1. Whilst your cakes are cooling, melt the chocolate you have chosen for your topping in a bain-marie (a bowl on top of a pan of boiling water). 

1. As the melted chocolate cools slightly, beat the butter in a bowl until it is soft and then gradually add in the icing sugar and vanilla extract, ensuring they’re mixed together and completely smooth. 

1. Fold the melted chocolate into the mixture until it is completely incorporated and you’ve then got the perfect topping for your chocolate cake. 

Assembling the cake;

1. When both of your cake halves are cool, spread 1/4 of the topping mixture onto one half of the cake and ensure that it is evenly distributed.

1. Add the other half on top of this layer of topping and push down ever so slightly to secure it. You can then add the remaining mixture to the top of the cake and if you’d like to, around the sides of the cake too to cover it completely. 

1. You can then add any additional chocolate bars or other toppings to the finished cake before serving. 

Many will agree that it is actually much easier to make a delicious classic chocolate birthday cake than they thought it would be. Even if you’ve never made a cake before from scratch, when following this recipe, you will find it incredibly straightforward. 

Baking a British chocolate cake

It is fair to say that it really is all about the ingredients and of course, the chocolate itself when you’re baking a chocolate cake, so in order to get the delicious taste you’re used to, it is essential to turn to the best British shopping websites. Thankfully, here at British Essentials, we can provide you with absolutely everything you need to create the perfect chocolate cake and one that tastes exactly the same as the ones you used to enjoy here in the UK.