Cakes · Original home recipe
Easy Chocolate Traybake Recipe
A whisk-and-bake chocolate cake finished with a thin cocoa icing. The shallow rectangular pan makes it easy to divide into sixteen pieces for sharing.
An independent Baking Show Guide recipe for home baking.
Jump to the recipe ↓Original home recipe
Easy Chocolate Traybake
Bake it at home
Easy Chocolate Traybake
- Prep
- 20 min
- Bake
- 30 min–35 min
- Total
- 2 hrs 10 min–2 hrs 15 min
- Makes
- 16 pieces
Total time includes cooling 1 hr, and icing set 20 min. Bake times and oven settings are estimates; follow the doneness cues in the method.
Ingredients
- 5 g neutral oil for the pan
- 200 g plain/all-purpose flour
- 50 g unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 8 g baking powder (2 level teaspoons)
- 2 g fine salt (about 1/3 teaspoon)
- 225 g caster or fine granulated sugar
- 100 g beaten egg without shells (about 2 large eggs)
- 120 g neutral oil
- 240 g whole milk
- 5 ml vanilla extract
- For the icing: 120 g icing/powdered sugar
- For the icing: 15 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- For the icing: 25–35 g warm water
Equipment
Pan: 30 x 20 cm metal baking pan, at least 4 cm deep
- 30 x 20 cm baking pan
- Digital kitchen scale
- Fine-mesh sieve
- Whisk
- Cooling rack
Method
Heat the oven to 180°C conventional or 160°C fan. Oil the pan with the 5 g oil and line its base and sides with parchment.
Sift the flour, 50 g cocoa, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Stir in the caster sugar, breaking up any lumps.
Whisk the egg, 120 g oil, milk and vanilla in a second bowl. Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk gently until the batter is smooth. Scrape the bowl bottom to catch any pockets of flour.
Pour into the pan, spread to the corners and bake for 30–35 minutes. The middle should spring back when touched lightly, and a skewer should have a few moist crumbs but no shiny batter.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Lift out using the parchment and cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes more, until the centre is no longer warm.
Sift the icing sugar and 15 g cocoa into a small bowl. Stir in 25 g warm water, adding the remaining water a little at a time only if needed for a thick, spreadable icing. Spread over the cool cake. Let set for about 20 minutes, then cut into 16 pieces.
Recipe notes
An independent home recipe by Baking Show Guide. It is not an official show or contestant recipe.
- Use baking powder, not bicarbonate of soda, in this formula.
- A skewer coated in wet batter means the cake needs more oven time, even if the edges look finished.
- Pan: 30 x 20 cm metal baking pan, at least 4 cm deep
Storage: Keep the cooled cake airtight in a cool room for up to 2 days. Freeze uniced pieces for up to 2 months and ice after thawing.
Allergens: Wheat (gluten), Egg, Milk. Check ingredient labels for your needs.
