About the bake
The base of the cake is a simple chocolate sponge cake which we've decorated with Smarties. Smarties are really easy to stick onto the cake because we've included a little golden syrup into the icing mixture. The smarties stick really well and don't bleed on the icing. Don't worry if you haven't got any Smarties, you can always use M&Ms or Skittles, just use your imagination. Lining up the Smarites in a uniform way across the cake makes for a lovely rainbow effect.
Method
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C, 350°F, gas mark 4). Grease and line a 20cm square baking tin.
Step 2:
Mix the cocoa with the boiling water. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda and set aside to cool.
Step 3:
Whisk the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla in a mixing bowl until blended. Fold in the flour and the cocoa mixture until smooth.
Step 4:
Pour into the tin and bake for 40 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Step 5:
For the icing, melt the butter and golden syrup together with 1 tbsp water. Beat in the icing sugar, to make a smooth icing. Add a little extra boiling water if needed. Spread over top and sides of the cool cake.
Step 6:
Decorate the top and sides with a pattern of Smarties and leave to set.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 75g Cocoa powder
- 200ml Boiling water
- 3 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 4 Eggs
- 370g Billington's Unrefined Dark Muscovado Sugar
- 180ml Sunflower oil
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
- 275g Allinson's Self Raising White Flour
For the Decoration
- 2 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 50g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 tbsp Golden syrup
- 300g Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
- 300g Chocolate decorations (approx 8 tubes)
Utensils
- 20cm square baking tin
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Cooling rack
Recipe Reviews
the best
5 star cause i can
Really good results.I got a rich,chocolate skittle cake!
Really surprising results.
I love this recipe and have made it several times and decorated just with icing and sprinkles.
This is a very moist chocolate cake ❤️
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 75g Cocoa powder
- 200ml Boiling water
- 3 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- 4 Eggs
- 370g Billington's Unrefined Dark Muscovado Sugar
- 180ml Sunflower oil
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
- 275g Allinson's Self Raising White Flour
For the Decoration
- 2 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 50g Unsalted butter (softened)
- 2 tbsp Golden syrup
- 300g Silver Spoon Icing Sugar
- 300g Chocolate decorations (approx 8 tubes)
Utensils
- 20cm square baking tin
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Cooling rack