Ingredients

For the cake

7 heaped tbsp All purpose flour

10 - 12 tbsp Sugar

3 heaped tbsp Unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp Baking powder

16 - 22 tbsp Room temperature milk (check video to see the batter consistency you’re looking for)

1 Stick (10 tbsp) of hot melted butter

2 Room temperature eggs

1 tbsp Coffee (optional)

For the frosting

Nutella

Heavy cream

Introduction

Many people will tell you that getting good results in baking requires you to use precise measurements, that you can’t just “eye-ball” recipes like you can with regular cooking. Well, it’s not true. Yes, it's often better to use a precise recipe when making many baked goods, but I’ve designed this chocolate birthday cake recipe to be easy for you to estimate by eye. This is how Italian grandmothers used to make cakes back in the day - just eye-balling recipes. So for all of you people who hate weighing out ingredients, this is the perfect cake for you. Follow the tips in the video, and you can’t go wrong!

Method

For the cake

In a bowl mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

To the dry ingredients add: the room temperature milk; hot melted butter; 2 room temperature eggs; and coffee. Mix to combine.

The batter should look like a loose pudding - please check the video to see the consistency you’re looking for. If your batter is too thick, add some additional milk.

Transfer the batter into two buttered, floured 8 inch (20 cm) cake pans, lined with parchment paper. Bake the cakes in a preheated oven at 170 °C 340 °F for around 18-20 minutes. Do the toothpick test: if the toothpick comes out clean, the cakes are ready.

Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer onto a rack and allow to cool completely.

When ready to assemble, soak each cake sponge with 3 tbsp of milk and coffee (or just 3 tbsp of milk if you don’t want to use coffee).

For the frosting

Bring the heavy cream to a gentle simmer (do not boil), and pour the cream over the softened Nutella.

Mix well to combine. For a looser frosting add more cream. For a thicker frosting add more Nutella.

Follow the tips in the video for frosting the cake.