Happy Birthday Linus!

My son Linus turned 9 on New Year’s Day and when I asked him what type of cake he wanted, he asked for a chocolate cake without any icing, as he doesn’t really like it. I thought he might be a bit disappointed with a plain cake so made the executive decision to use as little buttercream as possible while also getting as much chocolate onto the cake as possible… This is the result and it seemed to be a success!

Linus took a few friends bowling as a birthday treat and I made some matching cupcakes to give the boys, again with as much chocolate on top as I could fit:

Chocolate overload

and I loved the way they looked packaged up:

Cupcakes for chocolate-loving friends!

For the cake, I started out with a two layer 8″ chocolate Victoria sponge (I would usually use three layers for a birthday cake but that would have just required more icing!). I filled it and covered it with as little buttercream as I could manage. You need a certain amount to smooth out the sides and also for the chocolates to stick. I didn’t use Maltesers on the sides as you need a lot more icing for them (click here for tips on Malteser cakes!).

Ice your cake with a layer of buttercream

You don’t need to level your cake as long as it is relatively flat, or worry about getting the icing perfect, as the decorations will hide the icing and the base of the cake. Start with a row round the base:

First row of chocolate buttons

and then work upwards:

Build up rows of buttons

Although the buttons probably look better offset above the first row, the cake is much easier to cut (and portion) if they are placed in columns. Something I’ve learnt from experience! If you have made a deeper cake or filled it with more buttercream you might get more rows.

Decorate the top with chocolates of your choice!

I chose chocolate stars and Maltesers for the top of the cake. I love the little faces on the stars and always try to make sure they are the right way up. I stuck a Malteser in the centre to mark it and make it easier to set out the chocolates, even though I was planning to put a spray of chocolate stars there.

And then it needed a bit of colour and contrast so I sprinkled over some gold sugar stars and some white chocolate stars just to finish it off:

A bit of bling for the top of the cake

A topper is a really good way to make a cake a bit more special and give it some height. You could use Maltesers, Oreos, Aero bubbles, chocolate stars: anything you can stick bit of floristry wire into that isn’t too heavy or too delicate.

Chocolate star cake topper

I used the chocolate stars this time – who could resist those faces!

So the only thing missing was candles. Luckily I had been given some candles that burn with coloured flames and a number 9 sparkler. (Thanks Tracy!). Don’t forget to remove your topper before you light the candles…

Finishing touches…

Obviously we don’t start the New Year with a diet or a healthy eating plan…

Happy 9th Birthday Linus!

Categories: Baking, Birthday cakes, Cakes, Chocolate, Cupcakes, Recipes

Tags: baking, birthday, birthday cake, cake, chocolate, chocolate buttercream, chocolate cake, cupcakes, frosting, icing, recipe, Victoria sponge