Chocolate Cake Recipe

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Hello, I’m looking for a chocolate cake recipe: not a sandwich cake and one that has decent structure!
I want to make a number cake for DDs birthday and I don’t think a cake could stand up to being iced in the middle and then carved into a number, so wanting to just do one sponge and then buttercream it. I’m a decent-ish baker but would appreciate any recipe recommendations as mine are all for sandwich cakes. Thanks!

The ultimate chocolate cake on
www.bbcgoodfood.com
is gorgeous.
I actually use 3 tins & weigh the mixture in to give even layers.
It's dense enough to withstand carving I think.

I reduce the sugar by 100g & just use milk instead of buttermilk.

@CoffeeBeansGalore Thanks so much, do you think it would be ok to carve even if it was two layers sandwiched with the ganache?

The cake that @CoffeeBeansGalore said is absolutely delicious. Definitely the best chocolate cake! I’ve never carved it but I imagine it would be stable enough for two layers.

Yes I do. You will have to watch cooking time. In 3 tins I leave for 45 mins. 2 tins will probably take closer to an hour so do the clean skewer test.

Leave cake to cool to room temp & shove ganache into fridge for an hour once at room temp.

Hope it goes well 🤞😊

What age?
Can you hire a number tin? Or buy one?

3, I looked at the number tins but I need it to be quite big so was thinking about just baking the cakes in a circular tin with a hole in the middle, then just cutting a bit out of each and sticking them together. The YouTube videos make it look very easy 😂

I used this recipe for my DS's 2nd birthday - it was double layer with buttercream between the layers & on top/sides. I used a lot more buttercream than the recipe.
I just used standard round & square tins & shaped it together.

https://www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/recipedirectory/c/chocolate-silk-cake.htmll_

@APurpleSquirrel Oh wow! That looks amazing, thank you. I’ll be delighted if mine is even half that good!

Thank you!
For a 3 you just need 2 round cakes; removing a centre circle & cut the cakes to form a 3. Should be pretty simple.
I'd advise baking the cakes the day before icing so they firm up a bit & do a crumb coat of buttercream first & chill; it makes it much easier to ice.