Air Fryer Chocolate Cake Recipe (UK)

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Want to make chocolate cake in your air fryer but don’t know where to start? Tried before but it’s ended up being dry? This super easy air fryer chocolate cake is exactly what you’ve been looking for!

Using the simple all in one cake method, this beauty yields a moist sponge with an incredibly luxurious chocolate frosting. Using REAL chocolate in both the cake and the icing, for a rich and authentic chocolate flavour. Keep reading to learn how to make it…

Can you bake cakes in an air fryer?

Um, YES! Well you can make slow cooker chocolate cake, so why on earth wouldn’t you be able to make air fryer chocolate cake?!

It’s actually far easier than you’d think too. And it’s really not that dissimilar to baking cake in an oven! It’s merely a question of re-sizing so they will fit into your air fryer, and adjusting the timings and temperatures accordingly.

This chocolate air fryer cake is very similar to my Victoria sponge style airfryer cake recipe. Utilising the all in one method for absolute simplicity.

If you’d like an oven version, head to my easy peasy chocolate cake recipe.

Can I use cake tins in an air fryer?

Absolutely! As a general rule, if you can use it in your oven, you can probably use it in your air fryer. So long as it fits of course.

I have a Ninja Dual Drawer AF400 air fryer, and found these 6″ cake tins to be a perfect fit. 

Timing is KEY!

I have made this chocolate air fryer cake several times now, and timing is really important. In my Ninja Dual, 2 minutes is the difference between underbaked, and overdone.

Your first attempt may not be 100% perfect. Mine certainly wasn’t! But please don’t be disheartened. Remember that there are lots of variables at play here. Once you’ve made it in your own air fryer, with your own equipment and ingredients, you’ll know the perfect timing that works for you.

And when you’ve figured it out? Write it down!! Don’t leave it up to chance again next time. You’ve done the hard work – writing things down will help you repeat your air frying successes again and again.

Don’t know what you CAN and CAN’T air fry?

Worried you’ll make costly mistakes, because you’re not confident you know what can and can’t be air fried? You need this FREE super helpful printable! Simply fill out the form below, and it’ll be in your inbox before you can say “I’m going to become an air frying PRO!”.

Air fryer chocolate cake ingredients and substitutions

Confused about what ingredients to buy? Not sure about a substitution? Here’s what you need to know…

• Flour – Plain (all purpose) flour is what’s needed here. Don’t swap it for self raising flour or gluten free versions like cornflour, as it will affect the consistency and rise.
• Baking powder – Not to be confused with bicarbonate of soda! Make sure you do use baking powder, as bicarb reacts differently, and will upset the balance of ingredients.
• Cocoa powder – Use a high quality cocoa powder, and NOT drinking chocolate powder. Drinking chocolate already has added sugars, and it will make your air fryer chocolate cake too sweet.
• Sugar – I prefer to use dark muscovado sugar in chocolate cake as it gives a deeper flavour. You could substitute it, but I would still use a brown sugar rather than a white sugar if you can.
• Butter – I like to use unsalted butter in baking, and add salt separately. As it gives me full control of the salt content. You could use salted butter, but if you do, forgo adding any more.
• Eggs – My go to is large free range organic eggs. But I’m fully aware that these have become more expensive in recent years. So long as your eggs aren’t tiny, whatever you have will work just fine.
• Vanilla – I’m a huge advocate of using good quality vanilla extract or paste. Yes, it’s expensive. But a bottle/tube will last you quite a long time, and you really will taste the difference! Cheap supermarket versions are genuinely a waste of money.
• Coffee – Any instant coffee will work great here. And don’t worry if you don’t like coffee (I don’t!), you won’t actually taste it in the end result. The purpose of adding this is to bring out rich the chocolatey flavour.
• Dark chocolate – Being the main flavour of the cake, I do recommend buying a dark chocolate you like the flavour of. It doesn’t matter if it’s cheap or expensive, so long as you like it. You’ll taste it in the end result.
• Icing Sugar – As this is for making the chocolate frosting, you do need icing/confectioners sugar. Larger grains (like caster or granulated) don’t work for this. So don’t substitute it.

Air fryer chocolate cake recipe tips

Here are helpful tips for when you make this recipe…

• Don’t be tempted to keep opening your air fryer basket! Just like an oven, if you continually open the door, your cakes will sink. 
• Make sure your ingredients are all at the same temperature before you begin. This is important. Especially with the all in one method! The butter certainly needs to be very soft, otherwise you will end up with a batter containing lots of butter lumps. Which will result in an uneven crumb and random air pockets in your sponge.
• Weigh your ingredients in a separate bowl before adding them to the main mixture. This way, if you make a mistake, you can correct it. If you’ve already added it in with the other ingredients, it’s much more difficult to save it.
• Use a good quality dark chocolate. As chocolate is the main flavour of this cake, you really can taste it in the end result. I recommend using a high quality dark chocolate that you really like the flavour of for the best results.
• Over baked your cake slightly and edges are dry? Spread that chocolate frosting over the sides as well as the top. It will help to add a little moisture, and keep it there for longer.

Time management

Have limited time? Struggle with recipe timings? Or juggling around other things? Here’s some time managing info to make your life easier.

• It will take you a few minutes to grease and line the cake tins.
• Weighing all the chocolate sponge ingredients into a bowl will take around 5-10 minutes.
• You will need to preheat for 2-3 minutes. And air frying your chocolate cake will take 13-16 minutes
• You must to allow time for your cake layers to cool completely. This can take an hour or two, but the climate/season/temperature of your kitchen may affect the actual time.
• Making the chocolate frosting will take around 10 minutes to make, and decorating a further 5 minutes.

If you like this recipe…

…you might also like:

• UK Air Fryer Cake Recipes round up
• Air fryer crumpet churros
• 40+ UK Air Fryer Recipes
• Air fryer cookies

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How To Make Air Fryer Chocolate Cake – Step by Step Picture Recipe

(For a printer friendly version, see the recipe card at the end of this post)

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to serve 8.

For the sponge

• 110g (3/4 Cup) Plain flour
• 1.5 tsp Baking powder
• 20g (1/4 Cup) Cocoa powder
• 130g (2/3 Cup) Dark muscovado sugar
• 130g (1/2 Cup + 1 tbsp) Unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 Eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract or paste
• 1/2 tsp Instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tsp cold water
• 75g (2.65 oz) Dark chocolate, melted
• Pinch of salt

For the frosting

• 150g (2/3 Cup) Unsalted butter, room temperature
• 150g (1 + 1/4 Cups) Icing sugar
• 150g (5.29 oz) Dark chocolate, melted

Essential equipment

• 2 x Round loose bottom 6″ cake tins
• Baking paper
• Large mixing bowl
• Electric hand whisk
• Spatula
• Cooling Rack

Chocolate sponge instructions

Lightly grease the base and sides of both cake tins, and line the bases with baking paper.

Then add all the sponge ingredients into a large mixing bowl. (110g | 3/4 Cup plain flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 20g | 1/4 Cup cocoa powder, 130g | 2/3 Cup dark muscovado sugar, 130g | 1/2 Cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 x eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp Instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 tsp cold water, 75g | 2.65 oz dark chocolate, pinch of salt.)

Starting on a slow speed, and working your way up to medium, use an electric hand whisk to mix together the ingredients until smooth.

Don’t over mix though! Continue just until all the ingredients are blended together, and there are no more streaks of flour.

Preheat your air fryer to 150ºC (302ºF) for 2-3 minutes.

Then, using a spatula, divide the cake batter between the two prepared cake tins.

Place the tins into your preheated air fryer, and cook on the bake setting for 13-16 minutes. If your air fryer does not have a bake setting, don’t worry. Just use the usual air fry setting.

Don’t be tempted to open the drawers throughout the cooking time. ONLY do this once or twice near the end to check your cake’s doneness with a skewer or knife. If it comes out clean, it’s ready. If there is still batter on it, air fryer for a further 1-2 minutes and check again.

Once cool enough to handle, remove the cakes from the tin, peel off the baking paper, and allow to cool completely on a rack before moving on to the next step.

Chocolate frosting instructions

To make the chocolate frosting, add the butter (150g | 2/3 Cup) and icing sugar (150g | 1 + 1/4 Cups) into a large mixing bowl.

I recommend carefully mixing together with a spatula at first, to avoid a mushroom cloud of icing sugar! Then use an electric hand whisk to beat the mixture until it’s very light, pale in colour, and smooth.

Next, add in the melted dark chocolate (150g | 5.29 oz) and mix again until everything is blended together nicely. And obviously dip your finger in to have a taste!!

Assembly instructions

To assemble your air fryer chocolate cake, place a sponge layer onto a serving plate or cake stand. Then spread just under half of the chocolate frosting over the top with a spatula.

Gently press the other cake layer on top, and smooth over the remaining chocolate frosting.

If your sponges were slightly over baked, and the edges are a little dry – you might like to smooth some of that frosting into the sides too. This will help to moisten them up a little.

How to store your air fryer chocolate cake

Store any leftover chocolate air fryer cake in a tub or tin at room temperature. I recommend eating it within 2-3 days for the best results.

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Continue to Content

Air Fryer Chocolate Cake (UK) - Printable Recipe

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

If you're looking for a simple air fryer cake recipe, this indulgent chocolate cake is it! A rich and decadent air fryer chocolate cake that uses the easy all in one method, and REAL chocolate!

Print

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 110g (3/4 Cup) Plain flour
• 1.5 tsp Baking powder
• 20g (1/4 Cup) Cocoa powder
• 130g (2/3 Cup) Dark muscovado sugar
• 130g (1/2 Cup + 1 tbsp) Unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 Eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract or paste
• 1/2 tsp Instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tsp cold water
• 75g (2.65 oz) Dark chocolate, melted
• Pinch of salt

For the frosting

• 150g (2/3 Cup) Unsalted butter, room temperature
• 150g (1 + 1/4 Cups) Icing sugar
• 150g (5.29 oz) Dark chocolate, melted

Instructions

For the sponge

1. Grease and line the base and both sides of each tin, then line the base with baking paper. Add ALL the sponge ingredients to a large mixing bowl, and mix together with an electric hand mixer. Do not over mix! Continue just until the ingredients are blended together.
2. Preheat your air fryer to 150ºC (302ºF) for 2-3 minutes. Divide the batter between the two tins, and place into you air fryer drawers.
3. Air fry on the bake setting for 13-16 minutes.* Until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
4. When cool enough to handle, remove the cakes from the tins and peel away the baking paper. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting

1. Starting on a slow speed, beat together the butter and icing sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric hand whisk. Then increase the speed and mix until smooth, light and pale in colour. (You may wish to use a spatula to begin with, to avoid icing sugar getting everywhere.)
2. Then add in the melted dark chocolate, and mix again until smooth and fully incorporated.

To assemble

1. Place a sponge layer on a serving plate or cake stand, and smooth just under half the frosting over the top.
2. Then gently press on the other sponge layer, and smooth over the remaining chocolate frosting. If your cake is slightly over baked and the edges are dry, you might like to smooth some frosting over the sides too. This will help add some moisture back into it.

Notes

* Please note that the timings may vary depending on your air fryer model. See Timing is KEY! for more helpful info. If your air fryer doesn't have a Bake setting, just use the regular air fry setting instead.

See the main post for a more detailed, step by step picture recipe.

Be sure to read the sections Ingredients and Substitutions, Recipe Tips and Troubleshooting and Time Management for lots of helpful information before you begin making this recipe. You can find them in the main body of this post.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

• 
  Pyrex Glass Mixing Bowl Set 3 Piece
• 
  Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer [AF400UK] 9.5L, 2 Drawers

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 621Total Fat: 39gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 124mgSodium: 137mgCarbohydrates: 65gFiber: 3gSugar: 48gProtein: 5g

Nutritional information on kitchenmason.com should only be used as a general guideline, I am not a certified nutritionist. Please always check labels for allergens where applicable.

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• Air fryer lemon drizzle cake
• Air fryer blueberry cake