Photo: Natalie Levin
My favorite birthday chocolate cake is most definitely a chocolate cake with Funfetti or any other colorful candy on top. For me this is the ultimate birthday cake, ever since I was a little girl, and even a festive, over-the-top layered mousse cake – will not win the battle if I have to choose.
Birthday chocolate cake that is topped with colorful candy is a sweet nostalgia I don’t know anyone who can resist, so every time friends or family members have birthdays – this is most of the times the cake I’ll make them.
The following recipe is a modern twist to the classic birthday chocolate cake, inspired by the modern chocolate nut pie I made recently. Instead of using different types of nuts and arranging them neatly on top of the cake slices, I chose to decorate the cake with colored candy and separate the different colors for a particularly neat look.
Photo: Natalie Levin
Colorful Birthday Chocolate Cake
For the chocolate cake:
- 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 200 grams (1 cup) sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 200 grams dark chocolate
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) butter
- 140 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour or cornstarch
- 1 tsp. baking powder
For chocolate ganache:
- 150 grams dark chocolate
- 125 ml. (1/2 cup) whipping cream
For decoration:
- Colorful chocolate candy
Chocolate cake:
- Preheat oven to 180c degrees and grease the pan.
- In a bowl of an electric stand-mixer with whipping attachment, place eggs, sugar and salt and beat at high speed for 4-5 minutes until you get a swollen, airy and bright batter.
- In a separate bowl, place chocolate and butter and melt together in the microwave or over double steam pot until everything melts.
- Add the melted chocolate mixture into the beaten eggs mixture and fold gently until almost uniform.
- Add flour and baking powder and fold gently but constantly until you get a uniform batter with no lumps of flour.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the cake is swollen, set, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out with crumbs.
- Cool at room temperature.
Chocolate ganache:
- Chop the chocolate and put in a bowl.
- Add the cream and melt together in the microwave or over double steam pot until everything melts.
- Pour the coating over the cake and straighten the top.
- Refrigerate the cake for 3-4 hours in the refrigerator for complete stabilization of the ganache.
- Cut the cake into 6 large slices (or according to the amount of chocolate candy colors) and decorate each slice with uniform colored candy.
- Keep the chocolate cake in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- It is highly recommended to serve the cake at room temperature and not cold from the refrigerator.
- Nondairy version: In the cake use 120 grams of coconut oil instead of the butter and in the ganache use 125 ml. coconut cream instead of whipping cream.
- You can also decorate the cake with different types of nuts.
Photo: Natalie Levin
Photo: Natalie Levin
Photo: Natalie Levin