Last minute cake advice needed please

[Coffeeanddarkchoc]

DS is 8 tomorrow and I had a cake ordered for him. Unfortunately the lady has had to cancel my order as she has COVID, so I'm now going to try to make one

I am not a baker at all. I can cook dinners but don't have the patience to bake.

Please help me with a simple chocolate sponge recipe that I then plan to cover in chocolate fingers and m&ms to hide the imperfections. (I'm sure there will be many).

Should I make the sponge today, or would it be best to make it in the morning?

I've taken a half day from work to get ingredients/possibly start baking.

Hes had a tough time over the last 6 weeks so I really want to do the best I can for him and make something edible.

Do you have kitchen scales and sponge tins for starters?

If you don't have weighing scales. You could make life easy for yourself and buy the packets from the supermarket?

If you do want to bake Tesco's have some easy recipes to follow.

If you’re really not a baker then I would say reduce your stress by buying a supermarket chocolate cake and adding decorations.

If you want to bake then www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/naughty-chocolate-fudge-cake this recipe gets lots of good reviews although I haven’t tried it myself

@WeAreTheHeroes

Do you have kitchen scales and sponge tins for starters?

I have kitchen scales and dont have sponge tins but will be buying sponge tins today. (I really am that hopeless). For different layes, should I buy 2/3 tins? Or do people usually bake one at a time?

But agree you do need the kit like cake tins, scales, sieve, electric mixer

Make the sponge today and let it sit until tonight. Fresh sponge tends to tear when you try to ice it.

@mumtoallbhoys

If you don't have weighing scales. You could make life easy for yourself and buy the packets from the supermarket?

If you do want to bake Tesco's have some easy recipes to follow.

I was considering that, if I got that would it be best to make it today/tomorrow?

Ingredients need to be measured precisely. I bake quite a bit because it is hard to find nice gluten free cakes which aren't just another brownie.

In your position I would get something like this , hide the wrapping. Put M&Ms on the top, and pop my feet up with a cuppa for the afternoon.

Thanks @Willow231
So make the sponge today, ice tonight, then it would be good for tomorrow? Should it be left at room temp?

Straightforward recipe: 150g self raising flour less two tablespoons then add two tablespoons cocoa powder, 150g softened butter or use margarine (not low fat), 150g caster sugar and 3 eggs. Teaspoon baking baking. Whisk everything together using either a hand whisk or a stand mixer until well blended. Cake mixture should drop off a spoon held above the mixing bowl. Add a splash of milk or two to loosen if it doesn't.

Divide between two sponge tins you have base lined with baking parchment/greaseproof paper. Gently smooth tops. Bake at 190C for about 20 minutes until springy on top and slightly shrunken away from the sides of the tin. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean.

Wait 5 minutes then take the two sponges out of the tins and cool on a wire rack.

Buy two tins - bake both layers at the same time. Set a timer!

It should be fine overnight, I would probably slap a chocolate ganache on it tonight and leave it somewhere cool, ideally a fridge.

That looks good @Cattitudes will look out for something like that in my local supermarket

Thanks @WeAreTheHeroes that doesnt sound too difficult, I might actually be able to manage that.

I'd go to M&S and buy it!!

Once the cake has cooled, put it in a tin and leave at room temperature. If you don't have a tin, put baking parchment between the layers and on top then wrap in foil. The parchment will stop the cake sticking to the foil. Or, put one layer on a large plate, piece of parchment, second layer, piece of parchment and cover with cling film. Fill and ice it tomorrow.

Just buy a betty Crocker kit

Honestly OP, why put yourself through all this stress? I know you said your son has had a tough time recently, but a shop-bought cake can be gussied up with M&Ms and chocolate fingers too. If you're not a baker, you won't need the baking tins and sieve again. Buy a cake and enjoy it!

@Cattitudes

It should be fine overnight, I would probably slap a chocolate ganache on it tonight and leave it somewhere cool, ideally a fridge.

I wouldn't do that because if you put a sponge cake in the fridge it can go hard and the ganache would be solid.

Buy a tub of cake frosting - it will make things easier for you.

Honestly I'd buy a simple cake and then add a load of fun decorations. If you're determined to bake it though, this recipe works every time for me.

Weigh 2 eggs in the shell and make a note of how much they weigh.

Then just match that weight for:
Butter
Castor sugar
Self raising flour

For example if 2 eggs weigh 120g then add 120g of flour, 120g of sugar, 120g of butter.

If you want to make it chocolate flavour then replace put a healer table spoon of good quality cocoa powder in when your measuring the flour so you end up with total 120g flour/cocoa mix.

You'll need to make 2 lots of mix and have one lot in each of the 2 tins if you want to layer it and end up with a good thick cake.

Gas 4 oven temp anything from 25 - 40 mins, just check it regularly. You want it to be bouncy on top so if you lightly press in the middle it rebounds or if you stick a skewer/cocktail stick in it comes out clean.

Honestly, take the stress out of it. Just go to the supermarket and buy the basic birthday cake with Victoria sponge and white icing then add your own decorations. The basic ones are simpler, so less sickly. The supermarket doesn't really matter, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda all have them, and they are probably made in the same factory but to very slightly different recipes and packaging.

I'd keep it simple and make one mix you split between the tins. Less scope for missing something out, etc.

@minipie

If you’re really not a baker then I would say reduce your stress by buying a supermarket chocolate cake and adding decorations.

If you want to bake then www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/naughty-chocolate-fudge-cake this recipe gets lots of good reviews although I haven’t tried it myself

This cake is very nice. Cakes that use sunflower oil are actually better the next day. They actually toughen up a little bit which makes them easier to ice. If you lightly beat the eggs before adding them you will get a lighter cake. Shop bought butter icing might be easier to apply. Make sure you do not store the cake in the fridge. The cake will be fine out at room temperature for a few days in a cool part of the house.

Could you borrow all the stuff off someone instead of buying it all? It is expensive if you are not a baker, if you enjoy it you can buy the stuff yourself

Another vote for buying a cake. You can get theme ones with really sickly icing that look great or a plainer sponge you can decorate yourself. If you google, I'm sure one of the supermarkets does an M&Ms one if that's what you're after.

I wouldn't do that because if you put a sponge cake in the fridge it can go hard and the ganache would be solid.

I like a hard ganache, take it out a couple of hours before serving, saves it running away on a warm day. To be fair though because I am baking gluten free I don't make true sponges but rather a brownie type mixture which is much more forgiving! I forget what it is like using wheat.

Betty Crocker Devils food cake all the way with a big tub of chocolate fudge icing