This Cadbury's Dairy Milk Cake is pure, sweet, nostalgic indulgence for all lovers of Cadbury's chocolate. The sponge is flavoured with Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate and comes filled & topped with Dairy Milk buttercream. Garnishes can be as understated or extravagant as desired, but this Cadbury's cake cries out to be decorated with at least a few chocolate treats.
This bake goes nicely with malted drinking chocolate or even a glass of Mars bar chocolate liqueur for the grown-ups.
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What makes this cake so special?
I can't imagine I really need to do much persuading to encourage the average person to embark on making this Cadbury's cake. But just in case, here's what you can expect from this recipe:
- It's a quick and easy cake to bake.
- And it really doesn't need to be iced in a fancy fashion. The rustic approach adds extra charm to this cosy drinking chocolate cake.
- The lighter chocolate flavour makes it an ideal option for those who find many chocolate cakes too rich.
- Using a variety of different Cadbury's products for decoration can add extra interest to this Dairy Milk chocolate cake.
Whether you intend to turn this fun Cadbury's cake into a celebratory birthday cake or just to enjoy it for the love of cake, it's bound to be a hit.
Jump to:
The inspiration behind this Cadbury's Dairy Milk cake came about directly from a reader's question regarding the potential use of drinking chocolate powder in cake making. So if you are that inquisitive reader, thank you!
Using drinking chocolate powder in place of cocoa powder in a cake wasn't something that had crossed my mind until reading that question. But I could immediately see the merits of it for producing an entirely different, less intense, chocolate offering.
Of course, once recipe testing on the drinking chocolate cake began it wasn't long before I got sucked down the Dairy Milk route. Drinking chocolate and Dairy Milk ended up being such naturals together in this Cadbury's chocolate cake. In fact, it's impossible to identify which one deserves the title of star of the show. It really is a joint act.
I've also got a recipe for hot chocolate cupcakes with a few creative ways to adorn them with Cadbury chocolates. Find this and many more treats in my collection of chocolate recipes.
What is Dairy Milk?
Cadbury's Dairy Milk is a brand of milk chocolate manufactured by Cadbury since 1905. Cadbury is a British company, first established in Birmingham in 1824. The Dairy Milk chocolate bar is their top-selling bar and it's popular throughout the world, not just in the UK. Dairy Milk is made with at least 20% cocoa solids and copious amounts of milk (a glass and a half as the advertising slogan boasts).
The chocolate has a creamy and sweet taste and a smooth consistency that melts in the mouth superbly well. It may not be high-end chocolate but it is undeniably tasty and a square or two is always hard to resist.
Of course, Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate is also at the heart of numerous other Cadbury's chocolate products including Dairy Milk Buttons, Dairy Milk Fingers, Freddos and the Dairy Milk caramel bars.
And while we're talking about all things Cadbury's, let's answer another question: what is Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate? Also known as Cadbury's Hot Chocolate, it is a powder made from sugar and cocoa powder. This drinking chocolate is intended to be swirled into hot milk to make a quick, easy and cheap hot chocolate drink.
Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate has been knocking around for decades. In fact, it was my daily hot drink of choice before I discovered the delights of tea at 19 years old - so you could say I grew up on this. I'm still partial to a mug to this day so it was probably written in the stars that I'd eventually devise a drinking chocolate cake for LittleSugarSnaps.
Ingredients notes
Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate powder is essential for this cake. It adds the perfect level of sweet and milky chocolate flavour to the sponge. I don't advocate using any other brands - this is, after all, a Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate cake.
Please don't use Cadbury's Highlights chocolate powders. Over the years I've read countless horror stories about the results of baking with low-calorie chocolate powders. I haven't tested this recipe with Highlights and I don't intend to. This cake is far from low-calorie so there's really no point in risking inferior results by using a skinny chocolate powder.
Please also avoid the version of hot chocolate that is designed to be mixed with hot water rather than milk. Again, I've not tested the recipe with this product.
I've snuck a little buttermilk into the sponge cake mixture. This lends a delicately moist and soft texture to the cake given that there's quite a bit of drinking chocolate powder also landing in the bowl. It works wonderfully well and leftover buttermilk can be used to make blueberry scones or fudgy chocolate mint cake.
To be in keeping with the Dairy Milk theme of this cake, use only Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate when making the buttercream. The recipe for the buttercream has been devised with this chocolate in mind. It includes less icing sugar to counterbalance the sweetness of this chocolate and a dash of cream to amplify its creamy nature.
Decorations are where you can have some fun and let your imagination run riot. I've stuck with the Dairy Milk theme and opted for Cadbury's Giant Buttons and I've also crushed up some Cadbury's Flake and used it in a couple of places.
If anything, I've been intentionally understated in my choice of garnishes (regrettably my eyes are always bigger than my dessert tummy these days). But I've included a section on ideas for decorating this Cadbury's Chocolate cake more extravagantly towards the end of this blog post.
Equipment notes
To ensure this recipe is quick and simple to prepare I opted for a 2-layered Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate cake sandwiched together and decorated with buttercream. Using 8-inch (20cm) cake tins provided a perfectly proportioned cake for this set-up.
Step by step instructions
There are 3 stages to making this Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate cake, but they are all quick and simple.
Make the Drinking Chocolate Cake
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
- Mix the flour, baking powder and drinking chocolate together and sieve half into the butter mixture. Fold in.
- Mix in the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
- Sieve the rest of the flour mixture in and fold in until thoroughly combined and no streaks of flour remain.
- Divide equally between the cake tins (greased and lined) and bake until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Turn out of the tins onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
Make the Dairy Milk Buttercream
- Melt the Dairy Milk chocolate gently either over a Bain-Marie or in the microwave on low heat in 15-second bursts. Stop heating when a few lumps still remain then stir until smooth and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile beat the butter until smooth then sieve the icing sugar in, bit by bit, beating well between each addition.
- Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Take 1 spoonful of the buttercream and quickly beat it into the melted chocolate. It will get quite firm and have a dull appearance.
- Transfer the chocolate mix to the buttercream and beat until smooth.
- Finally, pour the cream into the bowl and beat once more until everything is smooth and creamy.
Assemble the Dairy Milk Cake
- Put ⅓ of the buttercream into a small bowl. Crumble the Cadbury's Flake into pieces and mix half of it into the ⅓ buttercream.
- Spread this buttercream over 1 of the sponge cakes and top with the second layer.
- Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the top of the cake then use the remainder to pipe 14 buttercream rosettes on top of the cake.
- Scatter the remaining crumbled Flake into the centre of the cake and wedge a Dairy Milk Giant Button into the centre of each rosette.
Expert tips
- The sponge cake layers must be completely cold before assembling this Dairy Milk cake. If the cakes are still warm when the buttercream is applied it will melt and the cake will be ruined.
- A common mistake in baking is inaccurately measuring (or not measuring at all) the ingredients. Get around this potential pitfall by using digital scales. They are so much more accurate than the cup system, which is an infuriatingly inaccurate method because cups can vary in size and one person's method of filling a cup can be quite different to another person's.
- Use the tin size specified (two 8-inch round tins). Don't try to cram the mixture into tins that are too small or large as bake times will vary, the batter may spill over the edge in the oven (messy) and the thickness of the finished cakes may not be useful.
- Ensure the butter is at room temperature and soft. Eggs should also be at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven and prepare the baking tins before baking commences. This way the cake can go into the oven as soon as it is mixed and the raising agents are activated.
- Even if your tins are non-stick always grease the tins and use a circle of baking parchment to line the bases. Getting your cakes out will be so much easier if you do this.
- Each ingredient has its place and purpose in this Dairy Milk chocolate cake. Leaving things out or making substitutions is really not advisable. If in doubt about something please send me a message, I may be able to advise before baking commences.
- When melting the Dairy Milk chocolate do so cautiously. It is very easy to overheat this chocolate, causing it to seize and/ or burn. I melt mine in a microwave (low-moderate heat) in 15-second bursts of power, stirring as the chocolate melts.
Frequently asked questions
I won't lie, it is a risk. When melted chocolate comes into contact with another substance that is significantly colder than itself, there is a chance that it will begin to set before it's mixed in.
To safeguard against this problem, I take 2 vital steps:
1. First of all, I ensure my butter is at room temperature before I begin making the buttercream. This helps close the temperature gap between the buttercream and the melted chocolate.
2. Secondly, I always mix a spoonful of the buttercream into the melted chocolate before adding it all to the rest of the buttercream. Again, this helps reduce the difference in temperature still further and it's key to ensuring a smooth and creamy buttercream.
Yes, you can. Though it keeps well at room temperature for up to 3 days.
To freeze assemble the cake then let sit in the fridge for several hours to firm up the buttercream. Then wrap in clingfilm and pop it into the freezer for up to 6 weeks. When ready to use, take out of the freezer, remove the clingfilm and defrost fully before slicing.
Alternatively, wrap individual slices of the cake up in clingfilm and pull out as required.
Yes, you can. Simply make the cake batter as instructed then transfer to a 1-inch deep rectangular cake tin approx 12x8 inchs (30x20 cm). Decorate the top with the buttercream and the Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolates of your preference.
Decorating ideas
Gosh, there are so many options for decorating this Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate cake. Here are a few of my favourite daydreams on this subject:
- Add a layer of Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate spread under the buttercream when sandwiching the cakes together.
- Make a little extra buttercream and add a thin layer around the edge of the cake then press Cadbury's Dairy Milk Fingers into it.
- Snap several bars of Cadbury's Dairy Milk Caramel bars into pieces and wedge a rectangle into the top of each buttercream rosette in place of the Giant Buttons.
- Alternatively, if this cake is intended for a kid's birthday party, insert a Freddo into each rosette instead.
- Unwrap your favourite flavours from a box of Cadbury's Roses and use those to garnish the buttercream rosettes.
- Or pick a selection from a box of Cadbury's Milk Tray and do likewise.
- Alternatively use the colourful Roses still in their wrappers and pile them up inside of the piped buttercream to turn this rustic looking cake into an eyecatching showstopper.
- Give the cake an Easter theme by garnishing it with Cadbury's Mini Eggs or some mini Creme Eggs (these look especially good when cut open).
More amazing chocolate cakes
I have quite a bunch of chocolate cakes to pick from now. Whether you're after something lighter on the chocolate front or looking for a full-blown hit of chocolate, you'll find plenty to pick from in my cake recipes collection.
Have you made this Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate cake? I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know how you got along by leaving a comment or rating below - it would mean so much to me if you do. You can also show me your creation on Instagram by tagging me @jane_littlesugarsnaps.
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📖 Recipe
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Cadbury's Dairy Milk Cake
Equipment
- 2 8-inch round sandwich cake tins
Ingredients
For the Drinking Chocolate Cake
- 240 g Butter or baking margarine soft, room temperature
- 200 g Caster Sugar
- 4 Eggs large, free-range
- 4 tablespoons Buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 200 g Plain flour (all-purpose)
- 90 g Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate powder
- 2 teaspoons Baking powder
For the Dairy Milk Buttercream
- 150 g Butter soft, room temperature
- 225 g Icing sugar
- 1½ teaspoons Vanilla extract
- 150 g Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate
- 75 ml Double cream
Decorations
- 1 Cadbury's Flake
- 14 Cadbury's Dairy Milk Giant Buttons
Instructions
Make the Drinking Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ GM4 and grease and line the cake tins.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy using electric beaters.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Don't worry if the batter curdles, this won't affect how the cake bakes.
- Mix the flour, baking powder and drinking chocolate together and sieve half into the butter mixture. Fold in using a large metal spoon.
- Mix in the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
- Sieve the rest of the flour mixture in and fold in until thoroughly combined and no streaks of flour remain.
- Divide the batter equally between the cake tins and bake until a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean. This will take approximately 25 minutes.
- Once baked, turn the cakes out of the tins onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
Make the Dairy Milk Buttercream
- Melt the Dairy Milk chocolate gently either over a Bain-Marie or in the microwave on low heat in 15-second bursts. Stop heating when a few lumps still remain then stir until smooth and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, use electric beater to beat the butter until smooth then sieve the icing sugar in, bit by bit, beating well between each addition.
- Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Take 1 spoonful of the buttercream and quickly beat it into the melted chocolate. It will get quite stiff and have a dull appearance. This is normal, so don't worry.
- Transfer the chocolate mix to the buttercream and beat until smooth.
- Finally, pour the cream into the bowl and beat once more until everything is smooth and creamy.
Assembling the Cake
- Put ⅓ of the buttercream into a small bowl.
- Crumble the Cadbury's Flake into pieces and mix half of it into the bowl containing the third of the buttercream.
- Spread this buttercream over 1 of the sponge cakes and top with the second layer of sponge cake.
- Use a knife to spread a thin layer of buttercream over the top of the cake then use the remainder to pipe 14 rosettes on top of the cake around the edge.
- Scatter the remaining crumbled Flake into the centre of the cake and wedge a Dairy Milk Giant Button into the centre of each rosette.
Notes
- A common mistake in baking is inaccurately measuring (or not measuring at all) the ingredients. Get around this potential pitfall by using digital scales. They are so much more accurate than the cup system, which is an infuriatingly inaccurate method because cups can vary in size and one person's method of filling a cup can be quite different to another person's.
- Use the tin size specified (two 8-inch round tins). Don't try to cram the mixture into tins that are too small or large as bake times will vary, the batter may spill over the edge in the oven (messy) and the thickness of the finished cakes may not be useful.
- Ensure the butter is at room temperature and soft. Eggs should also be at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven and prepare the baking tins before baking commences. This way the cake can go into the oven as soon as it is mixed and the raising agents are activated.
- Even if your tins are non-stick always grease the tins and use a circle of baking parchment to line the bases. Getting your cakes out will be so much easier if you do this.
- Each ingredient has its place and purpose in this Dairy Milk chocolate cake. Leaving things out or making substitutions is really not advisable. If in doubt about something please send me a message, I may be able to advise before baking commences.
- When melting the Dairy Milk chocolate do so cautiously. It is very easy to overheat this chocolate, causing it to seize and/ or burn. I melt mine in a microwave (low-moderate heat) in 15-second bursts of power, stirring as the chocolate melts.
- The sponge cake layers must be completely cold before assembling this Dairy Milk cake. If the cakes are still warm when the buttercream is applied it will melt and the cake will be ruined.
MD says
nice recipe
Jane Coupland says
Thanks MD!
anne knox says
Fabulous, a great family favourite, used on several occasions for different people's birthdays. I would love to know how to make it bigger and the cooking times if possible, I have added another layer before but would like to make a larger version if possible.
Jane Coupland says
Hi Anne, thanks for your review. I'm so pleased to hear you are enjoying the recipe. To help with your query, what size tin are you hoping to use?
Deborah says
Hi Jane. This cake is in my repertoire!🥰😋. It’s so delicious and moist. Just as good second time of baking as first! Baked as before, cake layers perfectly level. The quantities of ingredients for the buttercream are just right giving a good amount for filling and decorating. It’s a win win 🍰 and prefect for anytime of the day all year! A slice (or 2) of heaven! Scrumptious!🥰👩🍳
Jane Coupland says
Thanks so mych Deborah - I could do with a slice right... now!
Anne says
my favourite chocolate cake ever, usually they are too rich but this one is perfect. Everyone's favourite birthday cake.
Jane Coupland says
Oh wow, thank you Anne. I love it too - just chocolatey enough.
Deborah says
Wow Jane! I’ve idolised over this cake for a few weeks so just had to make! It’s divine! Firstly thank you for posting and testing the recipe and such comprehensive instructions. It’s so so delicious, intensely Chocolatey 🍫and moist but not over rich. It’s defo Cadbury through and through the Cadbury drinking chocolate certainly makes this cake a dream so don’t skip it with anything less! It just intensified the amazing smooth mousse like buttercream. Loved the Addition of the crumbled flake in the buttercream sandwiching the cake. So eager to try a slice almost forgot this inclusion! Glad I didn’t as it’s a key part of the yumminess! Quantity perfect as used all. Cake layers baked perfectly level for 24 minutes and I rotated at 20 minutes for even baking! I see what you mean about immensely thick melted chocolate when adding the buttercream but rolled with it (my trust in you Jane!) and everything turned out splendidly so anyone idolising this cake now I say just make it and don’t wait as long as I did to do so! You certainly won’t be disappointed! It’s a showstopper! Every mouthful gets more delicious!🥰😋🍫
Jane Saunders says
Hi Deborah - thankyou so much for this amazing review. If you are who I think you are then I was just about to post your fab pics on my instagram stories when I hit a major snag this week and lost ability to do so... but I fully intend to when I'm up and running in that department again (fingers crossed). I'm about to put together a spin off version of this recipe, however, it might not make it onto the blog for another 10-11 months... think Easter themes...mmmmMini Eggs 🙂
Jan says
Lovely, indulgent cake. I didn't have as much drinking chocolate powder left so added about a third less. It worked well for my taste.
Jane Saunders says
Thankyou Jan, I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. I'll be making it again soon.