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This Spiced Chocolate Bonfire Cake is the perfect cake to celebrate bonfire night! Not only does it look like a cosy campfire, but it's also flavoured with spices to keep you feeling warm inside. This spiced chocolate cake has ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice in the sponge for plenty of autumn flavour. The colourful buttercream is orange for a bit of zest, and I've decorated the cake with orange chocolate sticks too. It's a flavour explosion that's perfect for eating while watching the fireworks!

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Ingredient Tips & Equipment Information

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
I used a baking spread for the cake and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
If you can, do use dark brown sugar for the cake as it makes it extra fudgey. Light brown sugar will also work well. But, you can use caster sugar if you can't get hold of either of them.
I decorated the cake with orange matchmakers to match the orange buttercream, and to represent wood on the bonfire. Chocolate fingers could also work, although they are a bit chunkier. You could also use some chocolate strand sprinkles.
You can use any cocoa powder for this cake, of course the better quality it is, the better flavour it will have. Also do make sure you are using cocoa powder and not a hot chocolate powder.
Mixed spice is a British spice blend containing cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, pimento, and ground ginger. If you can't get hold of it where you're based, you can use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead or add more of the other spices.
For the buttercream I used professional grade food colourings. These types of food colouring not only provide excellent colour results, but they are gel based so they do not make the buttercream sloppy. They are also easily available for purchase online. My favourite brands are Pro Gel and Sugarflair. Other good quality brands are Colour Mill and Americolor.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to make Spiced Chocolate Bonfire Cake

To make the sponges, mix the baking spread and dark brown sugar together for about three minutes until fluffy, then mix in the eggs and milk. Add the self raising flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice, and whisk or fold in gently.

Divide the mixture between the cake tins. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a thin skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely.

Once the cakes are fully cool, level them off using a sharp knife. Make the buttercream by mixing together the butter, icing sugar, orange extract and milk. Divide it into three bowls, colour one red, one orange and one yellow using food colouring. Lay the three colours of buttercream out onto some cling film, then roll into a sausage shape. Snip off the cling film at one end and feed that end into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle. Pipe the buttercream onto the first layer of cake, cover with the second layer and pipe more buttercream on top. Decorate with the orange chocolate sticks.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

What is the best food colouring to use?

To get bright shades you need use a professional grade gel food colouring. You can buy these easily from many online shops, including Amazon. I used the brand Sugarflair for this cake. Pro Gel, Colour Mill and Americolor are other popular brands.

How long does the cake last for and can you freeze it?

The cake will keep in an airtight container for 3 days in a cool place. You can freeze the sponges either alone, or decorated. Once the sponges are fully cool, wrap them well with cling film or put them in an airtight container with some baking paper between them. You can freeze the buttercream on it’s own in a tub, or you can decorate the cake and freeze it fully assembled. To do this and avoid damage to the decoration, freeze it in an airtight container. Or let it freeze solid on a cake board or plate, then wrap in cling film. Remove the cling film when you take it out to defrost it, if you don’t it could damage the appearance of the decoration as it defrosts and softens. You can also freeze slices of the cake, again well wrapped in cling film or in airtight containers.

Can this cake be made in different size cake tins?

If you would like to make this cake in different size tins, please check my Conversion Guide to find out how to adjust the recipe.

Can you make the cake with plain/all purpose flour?

Self raising flour, which is very commonly used in the UK where I am based, already contains a raising agent and a little salt too. Therefore if you want to swap it for plain or all purpose flour, you will need to add some additional baking powder and also a little salt if you like. Some people like to add salt to cake recipes and some don't, so I'll leave that up to you as it won't affect the bake. The general advice is to add 2 teaspoons baking powder (a measuring teaspoon, not the kind you stir your coffee with) per every 200g plain or all purpose flour. So for this recipe you'd need to add 3 additional teaspoons baking powder. Please note, I have not tested this recipe using plain or all purpose flour.

Can this cake be made into cupcakes?

Yes, check out my Spiced Chocolate Bonfire Cupcakes for details.

Can this cake be made gluten free?

Yes! For gluten free you can replace the self raising flour with a gluten free self raising flour blend. If you only have a gluten free plain flour blend, you will need to add additional baking powder. The general advice is to add 2 tsp baking powder per 200g flour, so for this recipe you'd need to add 3 additional teaspoons baking powder. You may also like to add ½ tsp xanthan gum for better texture. Please do check the labels for everything you use to make the cake if you are serving it to someone with an allergy or intolerance.

Can this cake be made dairy free?

For a dairy free version, use a dairy free baking spread and dairy free milk for both the cake and buttercream. I recommend Flora Plant or the Stork Baking Block for the buttercream, as they give the best texture. You will also need a dairy free alternative to the orange chocolate sticks I've used for decoration. Please do check the labels for everything you use to make the cake if you are serving it to someone with an allergy or intolerance.

Do you need an electric mixer to make this recipe?

While you can absolutely make this recipe with a wooden spoon and some elbow grease, I do recommend using an electric mixer for the best results. The cake will be lighter and fluffier when made with an electric mixer. The buttercream will also be smoother. You don't have to use an expensive stand mixer either, you can get electric hand whisks for as little as £10!

More tips for making the Spiced Chocolate Bonfire Cake:

If you just want a plain chocolate cake, omit the spices and reduce the milk to 2 tbsp.
You can swap the orange extract in the buttercream for vanilla extract if you prefer.
For piping the buttercream, I used a Wilton 2D nozzle.
You can spread the buttercream onto the cake if you don't want to pipe it.

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions about this recipe, or if something went wrong and you need help, please use the comment form below and I will get back to you. You can also get in touch with me on my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear from you!

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