This super cake would be the ideal party cake for children of all ages, plus any adults who are quick enough at the party before it all goes.

Makes: 10 -12 slices

Time: Prep: 25 – 30 min; bake: 30 – 37 min; decorate: 15 min.

Level: Quite easy

Need: Two 20cm/8” round cake tins with loose bottoms and a circular cutter (About 75mm/3”)

Cake Ingredients

100g/3½oz chocolate (dark or milk) broken into pieces
225g/8oz unsalted butter, softened
200g/7oz self-raising flour
30g/1oz cocoa powder + a little to dust the tins
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
125g/4½oz golden caster sugar
100g/3½oz soft light brown sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
A little milk, as needed

Fudge icing ingredients* + decorations

50g/1¾oz cocoa powder
150g/5½oz icing sugar
50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, melted
50ml/1¾fl oz milk
Lots of smarties (or other sweets/chocolates of your choice) Around 200g/7oz should be more than enough unless you want a lot more on top.

* These measurements give a moderate layer of fudge icing. For a much thicker layer, increase all by 25 – 50%. Also, I ran out of cocoa powder, so used some drinking chocolate which worked well even though it made the mixture a little grainy.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / Fan 160°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Grease and line the tins with baking parchment then dust lightly with cocoa powder.

2. Melt the chocolate over a bain marie and set aside to cool a little. Also soften the butter if necessary.

3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder into a large bowl and mix. Stir in the sugars, making sure there are no lumps. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, softened butter and melted chocolate. Beat well either by hand or with a mixer. Add enough milk to obtain a dropping consistency.

4. Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Tap on the work surface a couple of times to release any trapped air and smooth the surface.

5. Bake for 30 – 37 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean and dry. Leave in the tins for 5 – 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

6. While the cake is cooling make the fudgy icing. Sift the cocoa powder and icing sugar into a bowl, add the butter and milk then mix until smooth and well combined. If necessary add a little more milk to obtain a mixture that will spread easily, but not run off the cake. Set aside.

7. When the cakes have cooled, use a cutter to create a hole in one cake, which will be the bottom cake. Fill the hole with smarties and then attach the top cake using about 40% of the fudgy icing. Spread the remaining fudgy icing on top and decorate with smarties. (Don’t forget to leave room for the candles.)

I hope you enjoy this lovely cake. If you want more cake recipes click this link, or have a look at my site for lots of other great recipes, both sweet and savoury.

Below are some cakes that I’d love you to try:

Adaptable Chocolate Cake