Polka dot chocolate party cake
Serves: 12-16
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Hannah Rose Hughes
Polka dot chocolate party cake
This is such a fun and easy traybake cake for celebrations, and is sure to delight young and old. We’ve topped it with sweets, but you could pipe on a message or add toy figurines, fresh fruit or edible flowers, depending on whom you’re making it for
Serves: 12-16
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
523Kcal
Fat
31gr
Saturates
15gr
Carbs
54gr
Sugars
39gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
6gr
Salt
0.9gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 50g cocoa
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 225g granulated or caster sugar (or use half white and half brown sugar for a richer flavour)
- 225g baking spread or soft butter, plus extra to grease
- 4 medium eggs
For the icing
- 150g dark chocolate (about 50% cocoa solids), chopped
- 150g soft salted butter
- 150g icing sugar, sifted
To decorate
- a variety of round- shape sweets of your choice*
- birthday candles (optional)
Step by step
Get ahead
The cake keeps for up to 4 days in an airtight container, or slices can be frozen.
- To make the cake, first grease and line a 20cm x 30cm traybake tin with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4.
- Sift the cocoa into a large mixing bowl then whisk in 100ml freshly boiled water to give a thick smooth paste – if it’s very stiff, add a little more water. Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking spread or butter and eggs, then whisk together for 2-3 minutes until paler and fluffy. Spread out in the tin then bake for 30-35 minutes until the centre is set and springy, and the cake is starting to come away from the edges of the tin. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then use the lining paper to lift the cake out to a wire rack to cool fully.
-
For the icing, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Remove and stir until smooth then leave to cool. Beat the butter in another bowl until very soft, then mix in the icing sugar in two batches, followed by the cooled melted chocolate.Make it gluten-freeUse gluten-free self- raising flour and baking powder, and add ½ tsp xanthan gum plus 2 tbsp milk to the cake mixture.
-
Spread the icing all over the top of the cooled cake then add the sweets as polka dots, plus candles if it’s a birthday cake.
*Check your chosen sweets are suitable for vegetarians, if required.
