The childhood chocolate cake is a classic, easy to make cake perfect for kids baking. It can be made with no equipment and also makes good cupcakes.

The childhood chocolate cake

Something strange happened the year I turned 29. Something really strange. The day before a very special day on my calendar, for the first time in my whole life I kept forgetting about it.

The special day was my Birthday. Usually I count down the days from at least two weeks out and anyone who sees me in that time knows it’s nearly the big day.

If a rich cake is more your thing then you might want to have a look at my best ever chocolate mud cake recipe.

That year, our then 10-week old little man was stealing all my attention and I couldn’t even remember my Birthday. Maybe it was denial about it being the last Birthday starting with a 2?

I may have kept forgetting that I was turning 29 but the cake was all sorted early.

A few weeks before, the recipe to my all time favourite store-bought cake was published and mum is made it for me (such a lovely mother I have). We were heading up the coast for our first trip away with the little man and couldn’t wait.

Of course I also couldn’t let a Birthday pass without a blog cake too (I think that might have been the last year).

I think my sister named this cake a few years back. It’s the first chocolate cake we ever made and was a regular feature in our childhood hence ‘the childhood chocolate cake.’

The best thing was the week after a Birthday when we’d sometimes get a slice for morning tea in our school lunch boxes.

You might also like to try The best ever flourless chocolate cake

It’s unbelievably easy to make and can be mixed up by hand if you don’t have a mixer or the kids want to make a cake all by themselves.

My sister and I used to make it with a little help from mum to measure out the ingredients and probably crack the egg.

The chocolate flavour in the childhood chocolate cake comes from cocoa so it’s not very rich and I think it’s best eaten when it’s still a little warm (so you get that lovely crunch), drizzled with the icing.

It’s best eaten on the day of baking and makes lovely little cupcakes too – a classic, easy chocolate cake to please all ages.

Just don’t forget to grease and line the cake tin so it doesn’t stick!

Enjoy!

p.s. if you really love chocolate then I’d love to offer you a free copy of my chocolate recipe eBook. Click here to get your copy.

The childhood chocolate cake

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients

• CAKE
• 2 tbsp butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 free-range egg
• 1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
• 3 tbsp cocoa, sifted
• ½ cup milk
• ICING
• 1 cup icing (confectioner's sugar)
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp butter
• Boiling water
• Sprinkles

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175C (380F) fan-forced and grease and line a 20cm (9") cake tin.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy then add the vanilla.
3. Scrape down the sides and mix in the egg.
4. Add half the flour and cocoa and mix it through then add half the milk. Repeat with the rest.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Leave the cake to rest in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make the icing, combine all the ingredients and add a little extra water at a time until it is spreadable.
8. Ice the cake then decorate with sprinkles.

Are you a chocoholic? Check out my post on Chocolate Lover Class