Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Recipe ⬇️ or print: recipetineats.com/birthday-cake
With three layers of soft, fluffy Vanilla Cake slathered with My Favourite Chocolate Frosting, this is the Birthday Cake I always wished I had as a kid. The kind every “normal” kid seemed to get, and I was quietly jealous of!
The frosting is totally dreamy - rich chocolate flavour, way less sweet than buttercream, completely smooth, it tastes like the best chocolate mousse you've ever had. The perfect all-rounder - spread, layer, pipe tall swirls, stays creamy even when refrigerated, rich but not overly so.
Finish your cake with a generous shower of sprinkles. Because, birthdays! 🎉 - Nagi x
-------------------
BIRTHDAY CAKE!
Vanilla Cake Layers – plush, fluffy, stays moist 4 days!
2 cups plain flour / all purpose flour (do NOT sub with cake flour)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs (50-55g / 2 oz each), room temp
1 1/2 cups caster sugar (superfine sugar)^
115 g / 1/2 cup unsalted butter , cut into 1.5cm / 1/2” cubes (or so)
1 cup milk (full fat) 3 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tsp veg or canola oil
1 batch My Favourite Chocolate Frosting (below)
DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt in large bowl.
2. Beat eggs speed 6 for 30 sec, then pour in sugar over 45 sec with mixer on. Beat on speed 8 for 7 min until tripled in volume (for hand beater, use highest speed and add 1 min).
3. Meanwhile, put milk and butter in microwave 2 min on high or until butter is melted.
4. Add 1/3 flour into egg, beat on speed 1 for 5 sec, repeat then finish with 5 to 10 sec beating until you can no longer see flour – stop beating.
5. Pour hot milk into bowl. Add ~1.5 cups batter (don’t need to be super accurate here). Whisk vigorously until smooth. With beater on Speed 1, pour into batter over 15 sec then stop beating.
6. Scrape down bowl, beat on Speed 1 for 5 – 10 sec until batter is smooth. Pour into 3 x 20 cm / 8 ” LINED cake pans (preferably not loose base), bang each pan 3 times on surface**, bake 23 min. Cool 10 min, then turn out upside down on rack – once cool, will be near perfect flat. Fully cool then immediately frost! Use 1 cup frosting per layer inside, use the rest for top, sides and reserve a bit for piping. Cake keeps 99% perfectly for 4 days – soft, moist and fluffy!
--------------
MY FAVOURITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING
CHOCOLATE BASE:
200 g / 7 oz dark chocolate chips or melts (semi-sweet chocolate chips), or chopped block (or bittersweet/70%, not milk chocolate or white chocolate)
3/4 cup thickened cream / heavy cream, or other whipping cream 35 – 40% fat
1/3 cup dutch processed cocoa powder (no need to sift), or regular unsweetened cocoa powder (will be a bit paler)
1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
CHOCOLATE FROSTING:
100 g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
250 g soft icing sugar / powdered sugar, sifted
250 g / 8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese block (not tub), at room temperature*
1/2 cup thickened cream / heavy cream, fridge cold
DIRECTIONS
1. Bloom cocoa – heat cream until hot, whisk in cocoa until lump free, leave 5 min.
2. Melt chocolate until smooth. Whisk in bloomed cocoa paste until lump free, cool 15 min. In separate bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy, beat in icing sugar (will look like sand). Beat in cream cheese just until smooth. Beat in chocolate mixture. FRIDGE 2 hours to stabilise.
3. Add cold 1/2 cup cream, whip on high 30 sec to 1 min until creamy and softly spreadable, but stick peaks (ie upright Santa hat, not floppy elf hat). Use immediately – pipe or spread. To loosen, just beat a bit more, to stiffen, fridge 5 min.
#birthdaycake
Recipe ⬇️ or print: recipetineats.com/birthday-cake
With three layers of soft, fluffy Vanilla Cake slathered with My Favourite Chocolate Frosting, this is the Birthday Cake I always wished I had as a kid. The kind every “normal” kid seemed to get, and I was quietly jealous of!
The frosting is totally dreamy - rich chocolate flavour, way less sweet than buttercream, completely smooth, it tastes like the best chocolate mousse you've ever had. The perfect all-rounder - spread, layer, pipe tall swirls, stays creamy even when refrigerated, rich but not overly so.
Finish your cake with a generous shower of sprinkles. Because, birthdays! 🎉 - Nagi x
-------------------
BIRTHDAY CAKE!
Vanilla Cake Layers – plush, fluffy, stays moist 4 days!
2 cups plain flour / all purpose flour (do NOT sub with cake flour)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs (50-55g / 2 oz each), room temp
1 1/2 cups caster sugar (superfine sugar)^
115 g / 1/2 cup unsalted butter , cut into 1.5cm / 1/2” cubes (or so)
1 cup milk (full fat) 3 tsp vanilla extract, 3 tsp veg or canola oil
1 batch My Favourite Chocolate Frosting (below)
DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt in large bowl.
2. Beat eggs speed 6 for 30 sec, then pour in sugar over 45 sec with mixer on. Beat on speed 8 for 7 min until tripled in volume (for hand beater, use highest speed and add 1 min).
3. Meanwhile, put milk and butter in microwave 2 min on high or until butter is melted.
4. Add 1/3 flour into egg, beat on speed 1 for 5 sec, repeat then finish with 5 to 10 sec beating until you can no longer see flour – stop beating.
5. Pour hot milk into bowl. Add ~1.5 cups batter (don’t need to be super accurate here). Whisk vigorously until smooth. With beater on Speed 1, pour into batter over 15 sec then stop beating.
6. Scrape down bowl, beat on Speed 1 for 5 – 10 sec until batter is smooth. Pour into 3 x 20 cm / 8 ” LINED cake pans (preferably not loose base), bang each pan 3 times on surface**, bake 23 min. Cool 10 min, then turn out upside down on rack – once cool, will be near perfect flat. Fully cool then immediately frost! Use 1 cup frosting per layer inside, use the rest for top, sides and reserve a bit for piping. Cake keeps 99% perfectly for 4 days – soft, moist and fluffy!
--------------
MY FAVOURITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING
CHOCOLATE BASE:
200 g / 7 oz dark chocolate chips or melts (semi-sweet chocolate chips), or chopped block (or bittersweet/70%, not milk chocolate or white chocolate)
3/4 cup thickened cream / heavy cream, or other whipping cream 35 – 40% fat
1/3 cup dutch processed cocoa powder (no need to sift), or regular unsweetened cocoa powder (will be a bit paler)
1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
CHOCOLATE FROSTING:
100 g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
250 g soft icing sugar / powdered sugar, sifted
250 g / 8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese block (not tub), at room temperature*
1/2 cup thickened cream / heavy cream, fridge cold
DIRECTIONS
1. Bloom cocoa – heat cream until hot, whisk in cocoa until lump free, leave 5 min.
2. Melt chocolate until smooth. Whisk in bloomed cocoa paste until lump free, cool 15 min. In separate bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy, beat in icing sugar (will look like sand). Beat in cream cheese just until smooth. Beat in chocolate mixture. FRIDGE 2 hours to stabilise.
3. Add cold 1/2 cup cream, whip on high 30 sec to 1 min until creamy and softly spreadable, but stick peaks (ie upright Santa hat, not floppy elf hat). Use immediately – pipe or spread. To loosen, just beat a bit more, to stiffen, fridge 5 min.
#birthdaycake
