Name: Chocolate Tray bake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 250 grams flour (plain, all-purpose, standard grade); 4 teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 250 grams milk; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso; 3 eggs (large - number 7); 300 grams white sugar; 125 grams butter (melted); 50 grams cocoa powder; 300 grams cream (heavy, whipping); 200 grams milk chocolate; 100 grams dark chocolate

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This super easy, delicious, moist chocolate tray bake consists of a soft chocolate sponge that is topped with a whipped milk chocolate ganache.

Sliced chocolate tray bake showing milk chocolate ganache.

This particular chocolate cake recipe is a variation of my Vanilla Tray Bake. Over the years I have experimented with turning my Vanilla cake into a chocolate one.

These experimentations included simply adding cocoa powder, to blooming the cocoa powder - of which I decided for simplicity's sake that the cocoa powder does not need to be bloomed. However, I am a big believer that a few teaspoons of instant coffee or espresso coffee go a long way in creating a really great chocolate cake.

I also decide on a whipped chocolate ganache over a chocolate buttercream to really take an old school chocolate traybake and kick it up a notch.

Jump to:

Ingredients
Making the Chocolate Tray Bake Sponge
Making Chocolate Cupcakes
Making a 2 Layer Chocolate Cake
Pro Tips for this Recipe
Pin for Later
Other Cakes and Cupcake Recipes to Try
📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Here are some notes on the ingredients used in this recipe. Please see the recipe card for quantities.

Cocoa powder: Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
All-purpose, plain, standard grade or cake flour (South Africa)
Butter
Eggs
Milk
Granulated coffee or espresso powder
Baking Powder
Eggs
Cream - heavy, double or whipping cream for the ganache
A mix of milk and dark chocolate

Plain/all-purpose/standard grade flour can be substituted on a 1 to 1 basis for recipes that have ½ to 1 teaspoon of baking powder per 125 grams/1 cup of flour. If the recipe requires more than 1 teaspoon per cup, simply add the extra baking powder to the recipe to make up the difference. Self-raising/rising flours may already contain salt so this may need to be omitted from the recipe as well.

Test the freshness of your baking powder or baking soda (bicarbonate of soda or bread soda) by placing a small amount in some boiling water. If it bubbles and fizzes, it's good to use!

Salt is a crucial ingredient in all baked goods. I use table salt in all my recipes. One teaspoon of table salt equals 1.5 teaspoons of Morton Kosher Salt equals 2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal.

Room Temperature Ingredients

Use room temperature ingredients! Using room temperature ingredients ensures that ingredients in the batter or dough will incorporate easier. Take note that room temperature refers to around 20°C/68F.

To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place them into warm water for about 10 to 15 minutes.
To bring butter to room temperature quickly, cut the butter into cubes and zap in the microwave at 20% power in 10-second intervals. Or place the cubes in a bowl over warm water (such as with a double boiler) over low heat for 1 minute!
Milk, buttermilk, and cream can be brought to room temperature by zapping in the microwave at 20% power in 10-second intervals. Or on a low heat for a minute or two swirling every 10-15 seconds.

Weighing Ingredients

Weighing ingredients is more accurate than measuring cups overall, and this is my recommendation for my recipes as they are all developed and tested using grams only.

However, I have activated the grams-to-cup conversions on the recipe card. Simply click on "cups" underneath the ingredient list. For these conversions, cups are equal to 236mL/8 fluid ounces, tablespoons are 15mL and teaspoons are 5mL.

Measuring cups and spoons are an essential addition to every kitchen! Especially if you don't use a kitchen scale. Invest in a set to ensure you add the correct ingredients for accurate measuring. When in doubt - always use a level spoon or cup measure.

Making the Chocolate Tray Bake Sponge

Step 1 - Preheat the oven the 170°C/340F. Grease and line a 9"x13" (23cm x 33cm) rectangular cake tin.

Step 2 - Toss the vanilla extract and granulated instant coffee or espresso powder into the milk. The coffee will dissolve into the milk, making it easier to mix in with the rest of the ingredients.

Flour, baking powder and salt whisked together.

Step 3 - Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Melt the butter and allow it to cool while moving on to the next step.

Step 4 - In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy and have doubled in volume. About 3-5 minutes using an electric hand mixer/stand mixer.

Butter and milk added to the egg mixture.

Step 5 - Pour the butter slowly down the side of the bowl with the mixer running. Mix until well combined. Similarly, add in the milk and mix through.

Step 6 - Sieve the cocoa powder over the egg mixture. Add in half the flour and whisk together until just combined. Add in the rest of the flour and mix until just combined.

Baked chocolate tray cake on a cooling rack.

Step 7 - Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin. Smooth to the edges. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean from the centre of the cake. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to completely cool.

Step 8 - While the cake is baking and cooling, heat up the cream either over medium heat in a small saucepan or in a heatproof bowl in the microwave.

Step 9 - Once the cream is hot and bubbling around the edges, toss in the blocks of chocolate. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes, then whisk the mixture together until the ganache is smooth and creamy.

Step 10 - Allow the ganache to cool in the fridge, stirring it every 15 minutes to check on how much the ganache has set.

Step 11 - Once the ganache is set, meaning the ganache is firm yet still slightly stirrable. Beat the ganache either in a stand mixer or with an electric handheld mixture until the ganache has lightened in colour and is a bit fluffy.

Step 12 - Plop the frosting/icing over the top of the completely cooled cake, smooth until mostly even using an offset spatula or the back of a dessert spoon. Then create swirly patterns on the top if desired.

Making Chocolate Cupcakes

This cake recipe also makes great cupcakes! This particular recipe makes about 18 cupcakes. I say about because cupcake liners can vary slightly in volume, and is also dependent on how far the liners are filled.

To make regular-sized cupcakes, follow the instructions to make the cake batter. Then divide the batter equally among the cupcake liners, filling each cupcake liner about ⅔ full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean from the centre of the cupcakes. Allow cooling completely on a wired rack before frosting/icing the cupcakes.

Making a 2 Layer Chocolate Cake

This cake recipe can also be used to bake a two-layer cake. Line and grease two 8" or 20cm cake tins. Follow the instructions to make the cake batter then divide the batter equally between the two cake tins.

Smooth out the cake batter and bake on the centre rack for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean from the centre of both cakes.

Pro Tips for this Recipe

Ovens

The temperatures stated are for conventional ovens. For convection, fan-forced, fan-assisted, or air-fryers, the temperature must be reduced by 20°C/25°F, or the gas mark by 1.

For baking, a general rule is to have the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

For best baking results invest in an oven thermometer, as the temperature dials on the oven may not be accurate. Place the thermometer in the middle of the center rack for the most accurate results. I hang my oven thermometer off the center of my oven rack.

Keep in mind that all ovens work slightly differently and bake times may need to be adjusted slightly for your specific oven.

Bakeware

Metal bakeware is superior when it comes to baking biscuits, cookies, brownies, muffins and quick bread, scones, cakes. These heat up and cool down faster than glassware. Glassware is heavier, heats up and cools down slower than metal and is more suited for bread puddings, pies, crisps, crumbles and cobblers.

How to Bake Flat Cakes

To ensure you get layers or a sheet cake as flat as possible, check the following:

The oven temperature. Ovens that are too hot will result in domed cakes. To check if your oven is calibrated to the correct temperature use an oven thermometer.

Place the rack in the middle of the oven.

The sides of the cake tin should be greased to allow the cake to rise up the sides without gripping the edges.

Baking strips help keep the walls of the cake tin cooler which results in an even bake. Either use damp baking strips or simply create your own by folding a length of foil 4 to 5 times to create a strip. Wrap this strip around the outside of the cake tin. My sheet pan tin is rather dark, so I also wrapped my tin in foil to allow an even bake.

Finally, the cake can be trimmed either using a serrated knife or a wired cake trimmer.

Pin for Later

Slice of chocolate tray bake on a plate.

Other Cakes and Cupcake Recipes to Try

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Chocolate Tray Bake