A fudgy and moist Chocolate Sprinkle Cake covered with thick chocolate buttercream icing. This easy traybake is amazing for when you need a birthday or special occasion cake.
Who needs layer cakes anyway?! Traybakes - otherwise known as sheet cakes - are where it's at. Take my Jam and Coconut Sponge and Tottenham Cake as an example.
Oh and by the way, I do have a recipe for School Cake on the way, you know the one with white icing on top and hundreds and thousands? It has to be one of my most highly requested recipes ever so watch this space.
I am all for baking cakes in a tray, on one layer. They are so much simpler to pull off than their double, triple or even quadrupled layer cake cousins!
The best cake tin for this type of recipe is a 13" x 9" aluminium cake tin. This size tin is brilliant for traybakes and the resulting cake will be the perfect depth for icing and slicing!
If you don't have an aluminium tin like mine, you can use metal, glass or ceramic instead.
Speaking of old school puddings, I wouldn't say this chocolate sprinkle cake is the same one you had at school. I've got an inkling that back in the school days a portion of the flour (usually about 25%) would have been replaced with cocoa to create a chocolate sheet cake.
Now there's nothing wrong with adding cocoa powder to your usual sponge mix of eggs, butter, sugar and flour. You'll end up with a lightly flavoured chocolate sponge but it won't be the sort of sponge where people ask you for the recipe.
In a nutshell, without adding the special ingredients you are not going to end up with a rich and fudgy chocolate cake that sticks to the roof of your mouth!
This chocolate sprinkle cake is so quick and easy to make. Pair it with the chocolate buttercream and you will get the ultimate cake to icing ratio in every single bite.
Special ingredients
Special ingredients, you say? Tell me more...
To make this chocolate sprinkle cake extra delicious I've used three ingredients that really kick things up a notch in terms of taste and texture.
- Sour cream - the fat content of sour cream makes this cake incredibly moist and rich.
- Sunflower oil - this flavourless oil gives the cake extra moistness and also helps to keep the crumb light. Think Carrot Cake texture with an intense chocolate flavour!
- Freshly brewed coffee - the coffee does an incredible job of intensifying the chocolate flavour. Your finished cake won't taste anything like coffee but using it will definitely improve the overall flavour of the chocolate sprinkle cake.
Substitutions
- You can substitute the sour cream for the same amount of buttermilk and expect similar results.
- You can use any flavourless oil such as sunflower oil or vegetable oil. However, olive oil should be avoided because it is too strong in flavour.
- I made a double shot of espresso coffee in my coffee machine and mixed it with water. You can use espresso powder or instant coffee. If you'd prefer not to use coffee at all, you can simply use hot water instead.
How to make it
The process of making the sponge is very easy. Simply sieve the dry ingredients into a bowl then mix them together. Make a well in the centre and pour all the wet ingredients in.
You will have a very runny cake batter, which is perfect for baking in a tray because we've all had disasters of chocolate cake running out from underneath loose-bottomed cake tins!
To bake this cake I used a 13" x 9" cake tin which I lined with a sheet of baking paper.
The batter is then poured into the cake tin, there's no levelling needed because of how runny it is.
It only takes 25-30 minutes in the oven. You will know it's cooked when it springs back to the touch and is slightly shrinking away from the sides of the tin.
Whenever I bake a large traybake like this, I always leave it to cool in the tin, then I invert it so the flattest side is facing upwards.
At this point, when the cake is completely cool you can slather on the chocolate buttercream and add the sprinkles!
The chocolate sprinkle cake can then be cut into squares - 24 in total if you used a 13" x 9" tray.
Storage
Keep the cake in the tin and wrap it in clingfilm or kitchen foil. It will keep for 4-5 days stored in a cool dry place or at least a week if stored in the fridge. Wrapped well, Chocolate Sprinkle Cake can be frozen for 3-4 months.
More traybake recipes you'll love
- Galaxy Caramel Blondies
- White Chocolate Blondies with Gold Bar and Caramac
- Wagon Wheel Brownies
- Chocolate Tiffin with Crunchie
- Jammie Dodger Blondies
- Mars Bar Slice
Chocolate Sprinkle Cake Traybake
A fudgy and moist chocolate cake covered with thick chocolate buttercream icing. This easy traybake is amazing for when you need a birthday or special occassion cake.
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake
- 250g (1.5 cups) plain flour
- 85g (0.75 cups) cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 325g (1.5 cups) light brown soft sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 100ml (0.25 cup + 3 tbsp) sunflower oil
- 250ml (0.75 cup) sour cream
- 225ml (0.75 cup) freshly brewed coffee, (double shot of espresso or 2 tsps instant coffee mixed in water)
For the chocolate buttercream
- 150g (0.50 cup) salted butter
- 450g (3 cups) icing sugar
- 120g (1 cup) cocoa powder
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 120ml (0.50 cup) double cream or milk
To decorate
- Sprinkles of your choice
Instructions
To make the chocolate cake
- Preheat the oven to 180ºc/160ºc Fan/Gas 4/350ºF Line a 13" x 9" baking tin with baking paper.
- Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix together using a whisk.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the eggs, sunflower oil, sour cream and coffee. Use an electric whisk to beat together until smooth or beat well with a handheld whisk.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch and is slightly shrinking away from the sides of the tin.
- Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin. Then invert so that the flattest side is facing you.
To make the chocolate buttercream
- Beat the butter on a medium speed until smooth and creamy. Turn the speed down to low then add the icing sugar a bit at a time (so you don't end up in a cloud of icing sugar!) add the cocoa powder and beat on a medium speed until the mixture comes together. Slowly pour in the double cream and vanilla then when it's incorporated turn the mixer up to high speed and beat for 5 minutes until the icing is light and fluffy.
Assembly
- When the cake has completely cooled, use a palette knife or similar to spread the chocolate buttercream on top of the chocolate cake. The add sprinkles. Slice into 24 squares and serve.
Notes
- The batter is supposed to be runny so please don't worry!
- You can substitute sour cream for the same amount of buttermilk
- Use any flavourless oil such as sunflower or vegetable oil
- You can use instant espresso powder or instant coffee. If you don't want to use coffee use 225ml of hot water instead.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 306Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 202mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 3gSugar: 32gProtein: 3g
Siobhan Tate
can’t wait to bake this!
Amy Treasure
Yay! So exciting, can't wait to see your entry Siobhan! x
Therese
I made this cake last week for my husband, father in-law and my grandchildren and they absolutely loved it. My father in-law said I’ve had lots of chocolate cake, my mum’s, nanna, auties and they have never been as nice as yours, the best compliment ever. This is now my go to cake and I’ve been told do not change the recipe as it can never get any better. Thank you so much for sharing
Amy Treasure
This is the best comment. Honestly made my day. I am so glad you all enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for letting me know!
Rachel Hicks
Just made this today mint aero as my choice of sprinkles ... its on your page
Amy Treasure
It looked so amazing!
Hilary
I baked this today. Delicious. Chocolatey, light, fluffy and easy.
Amy Treasure
It looked absolutely wonderful, Hilary!
Heidi
Hi Amy I’ve made this many times and it’s fab I was wondering if I cut out the cocoa powder and increased the plain flour to the same amount of sugar and left the coffee out and just used hot water. Added a splash of vanilla and used either golden granulated sugar or caster instead do you think this would make a lovely moist vanilla sheet cake ???
Heidi
Hi Amy do you think I could make a vanilla sheet cake from this recipe but leave out the cocoa powder (and increase the plain flour) and the coffee. I want to try a recipe to make a number cake I can cut from a template but need quite a sturdy recipe so the cake doesn’t crumble. Will this work with this recipe to cut a number from the sheet cake ??
Amy Treasure
I think this one might be a bit soft. Maybe try doubling this for a 9" x 13" vanilla sheet cake. It's quite sturdy but very tasty: https://www.amytreasure.com/vanilla-loaf-cake/