Chocolate birthday cake

This cake is so, so simple to make. The cake is lovely and light whereas the icing is rich and fudgy. It will last for 4 days in a fridge, but hopefully it won’t last one day!

For the batter

300g plain flour

375ml milk

250g sugar

70g unsweetened cocoa

170g butter

4 Eggs

2 tsps vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

For the icing

220g cream cheese, softened

50g butter, softened

3 tbsps milk

450g caster sugar

100g unsweetened cocoa

2 tsps vanilla extract

Firstly prepare your tins. Take 2 x 8 inch cake tins and lightly grease with butter, then dust with flour and tap the tin to remove any excess flour. This will ensure that the cake doesn’t stick to the tin. Then make the batter by sieving the flour into a large bowl and place in a mixer, then add each of the rest of the cake batter ingredients, starting on a low

speed and then increase to medium for 4 minutes. Divide the cake batter between the 2 tins and tap gently to remove any air bubbles. Then place in a pre-heated oven at 180oC for approx. 45 minutes. Then remove and allow the cake to cool in the tins on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing the cake from the tins and leaving to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling make the icing. Using an electrical whisk or a mixer combine all the ingredients together, until you have a delicious light fudgy icing. Ice the first layer of cake, and then place the second layer on top and completely smother the cake with

icing.

Serves
Makes 1 cake

Main ingredients
Dairy, Flour, Chocolate

Recipe Type
Party Food, Cakes & Baking, Kids Food, Classics

Special Info
Vegetarian

Level of Difficulty
Easy