Brownie Birthday Cake

This brownie birthday cake is intensely chocolatey, soft yet fudgy, with the Chantilly cream and red fruit on top. If you are a chocolate lover, this new twist on the brownie is just for you. Yes, please! Give me a bite!

What a great idea to make a brownie birthday cake instead of simple brownie squares or a traditional birthday cake!

It keeps the classic fudgy brownie taste that is combined with whipped cream.

These sliced birthday brownies have such a gorgeous presentation that the dessert becomes a winner of the table once it is served.

Moreover, this delicious dessert will surely please brownie lovers!

Brownies birthday cake recipe

I adapted a one-layer brownie cake recipe created by the French chef Christophe Michalak.

The chef recommends using De Buyer non-stick fluted rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom - 8''x 3.2''x 1.1'' and bake the cake for 12 minutes.

I used the regular size of a rectangular tart pan and increased the amount of baking time to 20 minutes.

Instead of making raspberry confit, I used raspberry jam/preserves. I also replaced muscovado sugar with dark brown sugar. And I omitted shoots of Atsina® Cress to decorate the cake.

It is quite debatable if this dessert should be called a brownie cake or a brownie tart.

Yes, it is made in a tart pan, but it is crustless. It is decorated more like a cake than as a tart. Let's call it a brownie cake!

Difference between a cake and a brownie

A chocolate cake and a brownie have similarities and differences. They are both chocolaty and delicious.

The main difference between them is the ingredients used to make the treats.

Brownie recipe calls for less flour and more cocoa than chocolate cake recipes. That is why brownies have a more intense chocolate flavor.

Moreover, a chocolate cake is made with baking powder and baking soda, while brownies do not.

Cream Chantilly

Cream Chantilly (Crème Chantilly in French) is the same as whipped cream. It is used as a topping and a filling for different desserts.

According to food historians, the name of the cream - Chantilly - is first connected with whipped cream in the middle of the 18th century when the Baronne d'Oberkirch praised the "cream" served during lunchtime at the château Hameau de Chantilly.   

Why you should try this recipe

1. Made with simple ingredients, this brownie recipe is the basic one, easy and quick.
2. Decorated with whipped cream (crème Chantilly like the French call it) and fresh fruit, the cake is perfect for a birthday party, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or another special occasion.
3. Sliced in squares or triangles, these homemade birthday brownies are rich and fudgy: they are just for chocolate lovers.

Ingredients

Here is a quick overview of what ingredients you will need. Follow the full recipe below for detailed amounts and instructions. I recommend making this recipe as written for the best results. 

Whipping cream: it has to be at least 30% fat content.

Red fruit tea: use loose fruit leaf tea or replace it with tea bags, but make sure to calculate how many bags you need to infuse whipping cream.

White chocolate: use Lindt white chocolate or Callebaut white chocolate.

Butter: use unsalted butter cut into pieces.

Dark chocolate: top-quality dark chocolate is the key to making chocolate brownies. Use 70% dark cacao chocolate: Scharffen Berger dark chocolate, Valrhona dark chocolate, or Lindt Excellence dark chocolate.

Dark brown sugar: you can replace it with light brown muscovado sugar or even more powerful dark brown muscovado sugar.

Eggs: the recipe calls for whole large-sized eggs at room temperature.

Flour: use all-purpose flour.

Cacao powder: use unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe.

Salt: a pinch of salt enhances the flavors of this brownie cake.

Icing sugar: it is used to decorate the cake. Use homemade icing sugar made with a coffee grinder or purchase powder sugar.

Fresh berries: use only fresh red fruit such as raspberries, blackberries, strawberries. Please, try to avoid frozen fruits. Instead, decorate the cake with chocolate vermicelli sprinkles, duo chocolate curls, or chocolate thins.

Red fruit preserves: this ingredient is optional, but even a few drops on top of the cake bring the perfect finishing touch.

How to make a brownie birthday cake

To make the cream Chantilly, bring whipping cream to a boil, then remove from heat.

Place loose leaf fruit tea in a tea mesh strainer and infuse whipping cream for 3 minutes (photo 1).

Meanwhile, break the white chocolate into pieces. Pass whipping cream through a mini-sieve and discard tea leaves.

Pour warm cream over white chocolate and mix with a hand whisk (photo 2).

Cover the preparation with plastic film in contact and refrigerate overnight.

To make the brownie, preheat the oven to 340 F/170 C. Place butter and dark chocolate broken into pieces in a large microwave-safe bowl and melt it in a microwave for a few seconds.

Place brown sugar and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk for 2 minutes (photo 3).

Continue to beat and add the butter/chocolate mixture, flour, cacao powder, salt, and mix (photo 4).

Pour the brownie preparation into a greased (buttered) rectangular tart pan (photo 5) and bake for 20 minutes.

Take the ready brownie out of the oven, let it cool for 30 minutes (photo 6), then remove it from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate the cake, whisk the cream preparation to get the whipped cream or cream Chantilly.

Dust top of the cooled cake with powdered (icing) sugar (photo 7).

Place one part of the ready cream in a pastry bag fitted with Ateco plain pastry tip 809 and pipe large balls along the cake's centerline.

Place another part of the cream in a pastry bag fitted with Ateco plain pastry tip 806 and pipe small balls on both sides of the central line.

Warm a watermelon/melon fruit baller spoon or a mini teaspoon up in a bowl with hot water and gently press on top of large cream balls.

Drop raspberry jam/preserves into each second large ball (into their cavity) and decorate the brownie cake with fresh berries (photo 8). Store in the refrigerator.

Expert tips

1. Use teabags instead of loose leaf tea, but calculate how many bags you need to infuse whipping cream.
2. Make the Chantilly cream and bake the brownie one day in advance and decorate the cake the next day.
3. Omit drops of raspberry jam/preserves while decorating the cake. Arrange more fresh berries on top of the dessert.
4. Cut brownie cake into small squares or triangles using a regular knife, wiping it down after every cut.

Frequently asked question

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The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator and is intended for informational purposes only and should be used as a general guideline. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should independently verify it using your preferred tool. Please, read the disclaimers in our Privacy Policy.

The recipe was adapted from http://madame.lefigaro.fr/. It was originally published in May 2019. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.