Super quick and simple: Chocolate Brownie Birthday Cake for busy CareerMoms

I am always impressed by mothers who create spectacular, cartoon-themed birthday cakes for their little children. I have seen incredibly creative Frozen or Winnie the Pooh themed works of art – which I assume came from a shop – but no. Dedicated mom’s create them from scratch – and their skills and the imagination appears to increase exponentially each year!

I would love to be just such a mum – but, reality is I simply don’t have the time. However, I do nonetheless want my girls to have a homemade birthday cake.

So – here is my compromise:

A super simple, chocolate brownie cake, decorated with raspberries. A crowd pleaser that works for toddlers and adults alike!

This weekend we fed four toddlers, three parents, two grandparents and an au pair with this. No frills – but no complaints – and completed from start to finish within 30 minutes! Quicker probably than going to the shops to buy one.

Now – that is a more realistic goal for this CareerMom…

Ingredients

100g 70% dark chocolate

150g butter – softened to room temperature

150g golden caster sugar

2 large (or 3 small-medium) organic free range eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

70g self raising flour

Raspberries to decorate

🍫

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C or Gas Mark 4
2. Break the chocolate into chunks and melt in a bowl. It’s winter, so I put it on the radiator for ten minutes. Alternatively you can melt it slowly in the microwave: heat for 20 seconds, take out and stir – repeat until smooth.
3. Beat the butter until smooth.
4. Add the sugar, continuing to beat the mixture until light and fluffy.
5. Whisk in the eggs and then the vanilla essence.
6. Finally mix in the melted chocolate and flour until completely combined. Check the chocolate isn’t too warm or it will cook the eggs.
7. Pour the mix into a buttered 23cm diameter cake tin.
8. Cook for 15 minutes and check the mix. The brownies should be a bit gooey but possible to eat without a spoon. If necessary, cook for another couple of minutes. Leave to cool and then decorate with raspberries.

The cake is quite flat, as you would expect for brownies, but this works well for little children. I had one vegan guest who seemed quite happy with a bowl of raspberries as an alternative!

Enjoy!

Learn about making homemade chocolate hearts here!

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