Chocolate Cake – Back to Basics
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This classic chocolate cake is a traditional, fail-proof sponge based on a classic Victoria-style ratio, where a portion of flour is replaced with premium cocoa powder. Prep takes 10 minutes, it bakes in 28 to 32 minutes, and it is filled with a silky, stable chocolate buttercream frosting.
Understanding the back to basics Chocolate Sponge
This recipe is essentially a chocolate version of a traditional Victoria sponge. It operates on the golden rule of equal proportions: equal weights of fat, sugar, eggs, and dry ingredients. To transform it into a chocolate masterpiece, simply remove a small portion of the self-raising flour and replace it with high-quality cocoa powder.
Because the ingredient list is so beautifully minimal, the quality of your cocoa powder is paramount. Always use a premium, 100% cocoa powder rather than a drinking chocolate mix. This ensures your sponge achieves a rich, deep mahogany colour and a punchy chocolate flavour without adding unnecessary sweetness.
Making basic but beautiful 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.
Changes and flavour swaps
This hardcore classic serves as an exceptional blank canvas for customisation. Here are a few ways you can easily adapt the recipe:
Fondant decorating: Because this sponge is structurally stable and reliable, it serves as the perfect sturdy base for carving or covering in heavy fondant for novelty celebration cakes.
The sugar choice: I love using light brown sugar in the sponge because it adds a subtle caramel undertone and extra moisture, but caster sugar or golden caster sugar work perfectly fine.
Flavour extracts: You can instantly change the profile by adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of peppermint or orange extract to the batter or frosting to create a mint chocolate or chocolate orange twist.
More chocolate: If you want an even softer, more modern fudgey chocolate cake, you can use dark chocolate in place of the cocoa powder if you wish – use 100g for the sponge, and 100g for the buttercream.
FAQs
Chocolate cakes can dry out quickly because cocoa powder is highly absorbent. The two most common culprits are over baking and over mixing. Check your cakes with a skewer at the 25-minute mark; as soon as it comes out clean, remove them from the oven. Also, ensure you only beat the batter until the ingredients are just combined, over mixing develops the gluten, resulting in a dense, dry sponge.
This usually happens if the oven door is opened too early during baking (never open it before the 25-minute mark!), or if too much air was whipped into the eggs during mixing, causing the structure to over-inflate and then collapse.
If your buttercream feels too firm or gritty, your block butter was likely too cold when you started mixing, or the icing sugar wasn’t beaten in well enough. To fix it, keep beating the mixture on high speed and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of boiling water. The heat from the water will slightly soften the butter fat, dissolving the sugar crystals and creating an ultra-smooth, glossy frosting.
Absolutely! This batter makes fantastic cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 18 to 24 cupcake cases and fill them about two-thirds full. Bake at the same temperature (180°c / 160°c Fan) for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops spring back when gently pressed.
Chocolate Cake Recipe
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.
- This cake can freeze for 3+ months
- I use these 8″ cake tins in this recipe
Storage and freezing
The beauty of this back to basics cake it that it will last at room temperature (not in the fridge as it will go hard) for three days. I use a cake tin or an air tight cake box to store it. You can freeze this cake before decorating for up to three months, thaw out thoroughly before finishing off with the buttercream icing.
Other “back to basics” recipes
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.
Hi Jane, I always use your recipes thank you.
I made this chocolate cake for my father in laws birthday and then my mother in law decorated it with whipped cream and dark chocolate ganache. It went down very well with everyone x
Would you be able to decorate this cake with fondant (holding shape under the weight)?
Please and thank you 🙂
It was my first time baking the cake. And although the decorations did not go as beautiful as I would have liked, it turned out very good! I would reduce the sugar slightly, next time I bake this as its a tad too sweet.
Hi Jane.
Would I be able to use golden caster sugar for this cake?
Thank you!
Yes, you can!
Hi Jane.
Would I be able to use golden caster sugar for this cake?
Thank you!
Yes!
Our favourite chocolate cake – just wondering how many cupcakes this wiuld do and how long you would bake them for thanks
Just made 27 with approximately 40 grams of mixture in each. Cooked for 20 mins in a fan oven at 180.
Can you use stork (fluffy cakes) instead of block butter ??
She already said no to this
Yea you can, as Jane says, stork for cakes and real butter for butter cream
My son made this and the cake has gone so crumbly, what did he do wrong??
Usually for a basic sponge if it is crumbly it means it is over baked – as long as the recipe/method was accurate and not altered xx
I only have 2x 6×4 cake tins. How would I use the ingredients to make a cake this size?
Can this chocolate sponge be frozen?
Yes, it can!
Hi Jane! I’d like to make this for my daughters 3rd Birthday, I was wondering would it be enough buttercream to spread around the whole cake? as I want to make a farm cake and stick chocolate fingers around the edges. Do you think this would work?
Great recipe and turned out perfectly! I adapted the recipe and made it dairy free using stork block for the sponge and flora plant butter for buttercream (but did add sml amount of warm water to buttercream). Amazing!
I have also made the sponge and used the buttercream recipe from Jane’s Vegan Biscoff cake. Highly recommend this as an option.
Can anyone tell me though if I was planning on making it as a tray cake what size of dish I should use? Need to make a work treat again soon and thought that I might make it with Biscoff topping.
So glad you love this recipe – take a look at my chocolate school cake recipe for a traybake! Hope this helps! x
This is an excellent recipe, I used for a 5 birthday cake and did extra buttercream to make a crumb coat. Just thought I’d note that I made this using milk free substitutes for the butter, straight swap quantity wise and it turned out great. I used a spread in the sponge. For the buttercream I used a brand called Violife who make a plant based product called Vioblock. It behaves pretty much like butter, as I was making in January I did use the boiling water tip as room temp was still pretty cold. There are great vegan buttercream recipes out there but they’re a bit more time consuming. Thought I’d share in case it makes anyone’s life easier!
Hiya I wanted to make this cake but make a 3 layer 9inch cake.. How much of everything would I need please?
Also wanted to cover the whole cake with buttercream instead. Again how much of the ingredients would I need please? X
Hi. I’ve made this as a 3 layer and a 4 layer for a wedding cake.
3 layer was 500g of flour, sugar, stork and 10 eggs..
Though I swapped some flour for cocoa powder and altered sugar ratio with some light muscavado sugar.
I didn’t use ordinary buttercream. Instead Swiss meringue buttercream
Hiya! I am making my niece’s birthday/christening cake for this Sunday and I’d like to make this using a 10×3 inch tin. Please can you advise how much I need to increase the ingredients and cooking time by and if I can cook it all in the one tin? Thank you so much 😊 xx
I want to make an 8 inch square cake. Would this recipe work? If not which of your recipes would please X
I did this recipe for my grandsons birthday it turned out great will definitely use this recipe again