Your guide to the most indulgent chocolate recipes around — plus some chocolatier tips for World Baking Day
This year, world baking day will be on Wednesday the 17th of May 2023. Mark it in your calendars, because it’s the perfect excuse to take over the kitchen and bake up a storm. As chocolatiers, we like to make World Baking Day all about finding the most heavenly ways to use our high-cacao, sustainable chocolate. And that leads us to one particular baked good…
In the UK, the quintessential chocolate dessert is none other than the legendary chocolate cake. It’s impossible to forget that image of Miss Trunchbull’s enormous chocolate cake in Roald Dahl’s Matilda, and it’s the cake that we all tucked into as kids at countless birthday parties. Above all, it’s pretty easy to adore a dessert that combines two of the most irresistible treats in the world — rich chocolate and soft sponge cake.
We can’t dwell on the scrumptiousness of chocolate cake for too long without wanting to whip out the measuring scales and rustle one up — and we’re sure you’re the same. So, without further ado, we’ve compiled this list of our favourite chocolate cake recipes. We’ll tell you what we love about them, plus how to incorporate our chocolate into your cake baking.
What makes a good chocolate cake?
Now, this is a good question. Before choosing which chocolate cake recipe to transform into reality, it’s important to get your chocolate cake priorities in order. The truth is, there’s no such thing as ‘the perfect chocolate cake’. It all comes down to what you want from your cake. You might prefer a classic chocolate sponge cake, perhaps in two tiers with a sandwich filling of buttercream icing. Alternatively, you might be craving a rich, dark, and dense chocolate cake experience, with a focus on thick, silky ganache, and nothing light and airy about it.
Why not try a few different varieties for World Baking Day?
Our top chocolate cake recipes for World Baking Day
Browse these chocolate cake recipes and see what stands out to you. We’ve split this selection into categories to make deciding a little easier. But whichever you choose, we think you’ll end up with something pretty divine.
Classic chocolate cakes
If you’re not a confident baker or want something simple to make with the kids, we recommend this Easy Chocolate Cake recipe from BBC Good Food. This is a light sponge and rich buttercream kind of cake — and we will never argue with that. Sometimes it’s nice to bring things back to basics.
Are you someone who has been inspired by The Great British Bake Off and wants to try something approved by professionals? Have a go at Mary Berry’s Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe. This cake is richer than the recipe above, as it switches buttercream for a fabulous dark chocolate ganache.
Chocolate fudge cakes
Maybe it’s time to challenge yourself beyond the classics. This Chocolate Fudge Cake by Nigella is admittedly still an easy bake, but it’s one step up from your simple sponge. Thickly iced with a chocolate sponge, you’ll be using ingredients like sour cream, corn oil, and two types of sugar to raise your cake game to new heights.
This Chocolate Fudge Cake from Olive Magazine is similar to Nigella’s on paper. But follow the fine details and you’ll end up with a tiered showstopper decorated with fine chocolate curls.
White chocolate cakes
Prefer white chocolate to milk or dark? There’s no sign of anything other than the white stuff in this White Chocolate Cake recipe by Liv For Cake. It’s a light, creamy dream bake. Top with our Simple White Chocolate Truffles to make it look just like the photos.
To bring a touch of summer fruitiness to your baking, recreate this White Chocolate Cake by BBC Good Food. Silky white chocolate ganache pairs beautifully with fresh raspberries within the filling and scattered on top of the icing. Our Raspberry Panna Cotta bites would look fabulous as decorations, too.
The best chocolate for baking chocolate cakes
Regardless of which chocolate cake recipe you choose, the most important ingredient you’ll need to buy is, you guessed it, chocolate. While many other cake recipes use a dash of cacao or chocolate to add some flavour, chocolate cakes use a lot.
Because you’re using so much chocolate, your cake will take on the flavour of the variety you use to make it with. There’s no avoiding it. If you want to make a truly stand-out dessert for World Baking Day, you’ll need to invest in a high-quality chocolate. Get this right and you’ll be whipping up a winner.
Cacao content
What should you look for in your chocolate? Well, we always recommend choosing high-cacao chocolate (for nibbling and baking) as you get much more bang for your buck in terms of flavour. Even if you’re making a white or milk chocolate cake, you can still find chocolates with a strong cacao percentage. Take a look at our White Chocolate Batons (which also contain a high amount of cocoa butter for extra creaminess) and our 40% Milk Chocolate Slabs.
Many chocolate cake recipes call for dark chocolate, as it contains the highest cacao percentage. In which case, you can browse for chocolates ranging from 70-100% (depending on what the recipe specifies or how intense you want to make your cake). Our 70% Dark Chocolate Slab is versatile dark chocolate with deep cacao notes, while our 100% Dark Chocolate Flakes can be used when some absolute bitter richness is required (these flakes are made from real 100% chocolate, so they can be used for more than just hot chocolate). For something between the two, our 85% Dark Chocolate Batons are a rare example of a high-cacao yet sublimely mellow chocolate.
Remember, you don’t have to use chocolate explicitly labelled as ‘cooking chocolate’ in your baking. In fact, it’s often better to choose a premium chocolate; one that tastes great on its own. While lots of supermarket chocolates are marketed as cooking chocolates, their quality and cacao content doesn’t tend to be the best.
More baking inspiration from Hotel Chocolat
Has this article got you in the baking spirit? Don’t stop at chocolate cakes. Take a look at some of our other articles for some more World Baking Day inspiration. You might not get through all our recipes in one day, but you can give it a go. Try these Chocolate Steamed Puddings, our heavenly cookie-brownie Crownie, and our White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake. Our Bread and Chocolate Pudding recipe also provides a simple dose of indulgence and our Chocolate Praline Strawberry Tart brings some exciting fruity flavours into the mix.
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