Chocolate Cake – Back to Basics
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A simple, easy and delicious chocolate cake with easy chocolate buttercream frosting!
The third instalment in my ‘back to basics’ series!
Back to basics
So, recently (I say recently, it was like August time it started) I decided to start a ‘back to basics‘ series on my blog because as much as I bake all these recipes, and usually, post two a week, they aren’t the most basic. Even down to the flavouring, they aren’t the most basic.
I’m not talking about dumbing down recipes or anything like that, as I like to make mine as easy to follow as possible for anyone of any skill level, but more like posting the recipes that most of my other recipes are based on. I’m not saying all my recipes ever are based on those from the ‘back to basics’ series, but more because I thought I would cover all bases to help you guys out.
Instalments so far
The first in my series of ‘back to basics’ was my no-bake vanilla cheesecake. I had over SIXTY cheesecake recipes on my blog by the time I posted a delicious, but basic, vanilla cheesecake. It was something that is technically in all of the recipes already on my blog, but the number of people that had been searching for one of my blog every day astounded me.
The second in my series of ‘back to basics’, was my triple chocolate brownies. Similarly to my cheesecakes, but not to the same quantity, I had basically used the same recipe quite a few times, but always put extras in such as Biscoff, or Terry’s chocolate orange. The reactions to both of these recipes were really quite astounding! I genuinely never thought they’d be so popular, but they still are now after months of posting.
So, for the third instalment in the series, I thought I would cover one of the most delicious treats that have ever existed, the chocolate cake. Some of you may think “but you already have a chocolate cake recipe”, and I do… with my chocolate fudge cake, but that’s more an American style recipe and its super gooey, and utterly scrumptious, but definitely requires more ingredients and effort.
Chocolate cake
This beauty is basically a chocolate Victoria sponge. The only difference to the recipe from a classic Victoria sponge is that you remove some quantity of flour, and replace that quantity with cocoa powder. It’s still based on the idea that you have equal quantities of flour, eggs, butter and sugar, which is the base of practically most cakes on this blog, but some of the dry becomes the chocolate.
Often the most simple bakes can be the most delicious, this bake is about simple flavours, simple but effective. Using high quality cocoa powder is key as this will boost the flavour of your sponge, I usually use 100% cocoa powder for that rich, delicious chocolate taste.
Accuracy
If your oven is definitely at the correct temperature, which most ovens technically aren’t, and you mix the ingredients in the right way, to the correct quantities, there is no reason that this cake should ever fail. With ‘The Great British Bake Off’, they apparently test all of the contestant’s ovens every day, by baking a Victoria sponge, and theoretically, they should all come out identical if the ovens work.
There isn’t too much more to explain about the cake itself, but be accurate when weighing it out. Also, if your bakes never tend to work properly, no matter the recipe, invest in an oven thermometer as it may save it all. In my rented house that I lived in last year, it was FIFTY degrees out. FIFTY. We ended up having to buy a new oven and swap it whilst we lived there as the landlord didn’t understand the significance of this.
Buttercream
For the chocolate buttercream, it’s quite a simple one. You MUST use ACTUAL UNSALTED BUTTER. I mean the kind you find in foil, and that when its fridge cold, is solid. You can use a spread for the cake, but NOT for the buttercream. I might get a few smart arse comments about this as to ‘why not’ but if you want a stable buttercream, that will last no matter the heat outside, use actual unsalted butter.
If its peak summer, and there is a heatwave, you won’t need to add any liquid to the buttercream. Technically, you don’t have to at all if you really do beat your buttercream well enough, but I actually like mine a smidge softer so its easier to pipe, so I usually add between one and two tablespoons of boiling water to smooth it out. But, if the weather is so hot you don’t even want the oven on, this won’t be necessary.
Variations on a basic
All in all, I have used this recipe technically loads of times on my blog, in my Oreo drip cake for example, but never done a post on a simple chocolate cake before. I personally, prefer using light brown sugar in the sponge because I like the flavour, but either that, caster sugar, or golden caster sugar would work perfectly fine.
This sort of sponge has a really good base for multiple uses, and it’s a hardcore classic that millions of people bake across the world as it’s so simple. I generally find the cake fine as it is, because it’s meant to be simple, but you can always add 100ml buttermilk if you wanted, but if you wanted a denser or richer sponge, I would go for something else such as a fudge cake as they really are so different.
This sort of sponge is a really good base to cover in fondant if you are decorating, or anything similar. You can also swap up the flavours really easily by adding 1-2tsp of different extracts, such as orange or mint, or just swapping up the flavour of the frosting that you decide to put on top.
Tips and tricks
- This cake will last at room temperature (not in the fridge as it will go hard) for three days.
- The cake will freeze for 3+ months
- I use a cake tin, or a cake box to store it.
- You can use dark chocolate in place of the cocoa powder if you wish – use 100g for the sponge, and 100g for the buttercream.
- If your cake isn’t baked fully, your oven might be at the wrong temperature, or it wasn’t mixed correctly. Keep it in, till a skewer comes out clean, and it’s springy to touch.
Chocolate Cake!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 300 g unsalted butter
- 300 g caster sugar/light brown sugar
- 245 g self raising flour
- 55 g cocoa powder
- 6 medium eggs
Chocolate Buttercream
- 200 g unsalted butter (not baking spread)
- 400 g icing sugar
- 50 g cocoa powder
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 180ºc/160ºc fan, and line two 8" cake tins with parchment paper.
- Beat together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add in the flour, cocoa powder and eggs, and beat again until combined.
- Split evenly between the two tins, and bake in the oven for 28-32 minutes. Sometimes it can take a little longer - don't open before 25 minutes, and be as quick as you can checking with a skewer.
- Once baked, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.
For the Chocolate Buttercream
- Make sure your butter is at room temperature. Don't use a baking spread or margarine.
- Beat your butter on its own for about a minute, to loosen it up.
- Add in the icing sugar gradually, beating in during or in 1/3 at a time. Don't add it all in at once.
- Also, add in the cocoa powder, beating in fully.
- If it's really very stiff, add in ONE tablespoon of boiling water at a time, beating fully each time, until it becomes smooth and lovely.
To Decorate
- Place your first sponge on a plate/cake board, and pipe/spread on half of the buttercream frosting. Add on the second cake, and pipe/spread on the rest of the buttercream.
- Add on anything you fancy as decoration, I used sprinkles. Enjoy!
Notes
- This cake will last at room temperature (not in the fridge as it will go hard) for three days.
- I use a cake tin, or a cake box to store it.
- You can use dark chocolate in place of the cocoa powder if you wish - use 100g for the sponge, and 100g for the buttercream.
- If your cake isn't baked fully, your oven might be at the wrong temperature, or it wasn't mixed correctly. Keep it in, till a skewer comes out clean, and it's springy to touch.
Hi jane i loved the condensed cookie fudge recipe it was delicious ive wanted to try some of your cake recipes buh i saw you don’t usually use butter milk is thia a reason why
Hiya I don’t fully understand your message sorry! This is just a basic chocolate cake recipe?
Hi Jane I only have 2 9” tins will this be okay still? X
For a 9″ version you’ll want to use 375g (7 eggs) of everything rather than 300g/6 medium eggs and bake for a bit longer! x
Hi Jane, I was wondering if I could use two deep 7 inch tins for this recipe? Thanks! I absolutely love your recipes.
Hey! That should be fine yes! The baking time will increase a bit though! X
Hi Jane,
I have been recommended your chocolate fudge cake but from reading some of your comments I think this recipe may be more suitable ( I will still be making the fudge buttercream filling 😍) I am attempting to make my boyfriend a birthday cake…. the idea is to make a rectangle cake, with grass effect buttercream – Which would you go for and do you have a recipe for a firm buttercream that I could use for the grass effect? Also if I use a rectangular tin rather than round, would I need to alter the ingredient quantity? Thank you very much for any help – I am a novice baker but really want to do something nice for the boyfriend.!
Hey! Have a look at my easter nest cupcake post – I do a grass effect on those! And the ingredients depends on size of tin! x
Hi Jane! I only own one 8’’ round tin. Will this work if I pour all mixture into one tin? Thank you!
Hey! You certainly could do, but I would lower the temp of the oven by 20C, (for example, in my fan oven I would bake at 140) – and then bake for a long long time – probably more than an hour and a half! This will prevent it from drying out! x
Hi Jane!! I love this recipe for my chocolate cakes but I feel like it sometimes is too dry. Do you have a way of making it moister but still holds it’s shape? I wondered about adding some golden syrup or something? Thanks xx
Hey! So personally I would just bake it slightly less (As that’s basically the killer for cakes!) or drizzle with a sugar syrup after baking! xx
I am going to make this recipe in a couple days but doing them the mini tins so I can get 2 little 2 tier cakes out of it. (12cm) how long would you think they will take in the oven?
Hey! I’m really sorry but I’ve got no idea! I’ve never baked a cake that small – but I imagine if cupcakes take about 18-20 minutes, it wouldn’t be much longer?! x
Hey, I made this cake today and it ended up a wee bit dry. Do you have any idea why this could be, perhaps what I did wrong?
It just means you over baked it slightly x
Okay great thanks for getting back to me! X
Tried this today and it tastes great! Although I only had a 24cm cake tin so has come out quite thin! Couldn’t work out the ratios to make it thicker.
Hey! a 24cm tin is about 1.4x the recipe – so it’s a chunk bigger! X
Could I replace the 55g of cocoa powder with 100g of milk chocolate instead of 100g dark chococolate?
Hey – you can, but sometimes using melted chocolate changes the texture slightly of the sponge! x
Hi Jane, Love your recipes, just a quick question. How deep are your 8” cake tins please
Hey! Ahh thank you! They’re all at least 3″ deep – the sponges don’t rise up to that, but I don’t tend to use thinner tins in general!
Hi I want to use this recipe but turn it into a drip tier cake how much do I use for 3-4 tiers x
The easiest thing would be to look at my drip cakes, as they’re already 3/4 tiers and most are chocolate cakes with the same style recipe! X
Hi Jane, with this recipe do you not add the eggs one at a time? It suggests that you just put all dry ingredients and eggs at the same time, but I’ve never done it like that. Thanks
I do it always as mentioned – for cakes, I cream the butter and sugar, and then add in all the eggs and flour at the same time! x
Hi I only have large eggs I was just wondering how many should I use and should I adjust anything else?
For this cake you can just swap to 5 large eggs, instead of 6 medium!
Hi Jane, just in the process of baking this cake. The top of the sponges have split whilst cooking, any idea why? It doesnt ultimately matter for this one as I’m covering with buttercream anyway but it has frustrated me and will doing me another for my daughters birthday friday.
This can be down to how it’s mixed, or even your oven and so on – there are a few reasons it can happen, but trimming off the top isn’t a bad thing! Offcuts are always tasty!