Kit Kat Cake | Kit Kat And Gems Cake | Birthday Cake For Kids | Chocolate Cake Frosted With Nutella

Is there anyone who hates kitkat or gems? All my childhood I was addicted to both of them and if someone had offered me a kitkat cake on my birthday I would have been on cloud nine. Here's a cake I baked for a kid's birthday and the story behind it :P Its a completely chocolatey two-tier cake decorated with kid's chocolate favorites; the nutella, kitkats and gems!! I have used nutella here to frost the cake and you can imagine how easy it would have been and  how fingerlicking good the cake must've been. This cake is much more time-saving than any other birthday cake. You need just a few hours to complete, though it took much longer for me, read further to know why. 

Recently one of my relative kid celebrated her birthday and I was put responsible for the cake. Having a 4 month old at hand this was definitely not an easy task for me. I never had enough time nor enough things at hand; nor did I have anybody to help. From pregnancy to labor and until now there had been loads of ups and downs and still managed to keep my blog alive. Baking wasn't a big deal during pregnancy but after labor it seemed like a tough job and that too working on a birthday cake seemed like crossing an ocean. Though I kept cooking I still could not think about baking, as baking always needs much more focus, pre-preparations and time than cooking. I had to get my mom's help to babysit when I'd spend time cooking and photographing for blog. Though I was tied up with baby job, I agreed and took it as a reason to step out and check my inner strength and I wanted to delight the kid. I just had a day to complete my work and so planned for a simple yet appealing birthday cake for the girl "The Kitkat & Gems Cake" 

Well everything seemed quite easy when planning.!!! but, we do not know what surprises awaits us.  

On that specific day before the birthday, things went off the track, it did not go like I expected and things went against my plans. Mom had some work outside and that matters more, as I'll have no one to babysit while I'll be making the cake and no one else is compatible with my baby as mom is. Ouch time for a new plan. "Alright" I said to myself, "lets manage things nothing is gonna stop me, when she sleeps I'll whip up the ingredients, bake the cake and decorate it". I know that's too much but I could not give-up. So I chose to use the readymade chocolate cake mix to save some time. Now as per plan-B :P I fed the baby, stayed by her side and rocked her cradle until she fell asleep, now this took enough time and unlike any other day she remained too fussy that she woke up again in a few minutes. I had to wait patiently but call it bad luck or whatever she refused to calm down. Now I had no other choices but to seek my Husband's help. He has had no experience in babysitting, he tried at it many times but always failed, he would finally give up the job in about a few minutes, but still remember I had no other alternative. Now I had to leave her with my husband and get down to the kitchen.  

When I started to unpack the cake mix, I was able to hear this "Divya come upstairs soon papa (baby) is crying"  I was able to hear shrill cries, and now the 'mommy thing' pulled me, I just dropped things as it is on the kitchen counter and left immediately. I soothed her made her giggle (oh how I love it) stayed beside her rocked her cradle again until she fell asleep. and left the room tiptoeing, and as I entered the kitchen I was able to hear her crying again. Uffffffff..!! This happened round the clock from morning to evening and it was almost 8 at night. The next day was the party day and still the cake was incomplete. Still I had hope and I managed to bake the cakes one after the other. Thanks to the support that my husband provided, twas really encouraging. By the time the drama was over and baby started to get her sleep, it was 1 am :-P  anyway I was finally able to focus on the cake now. I started to peacefully work on the nutella frosting spreading and decorations, though I was well worn out and tired from the hectic baby day. It was like I would tumbledown any minute but I was solely responsible for a cake, the party and the kid's joy. And since people already knew that it was me who was baking the cake,  there were high expectations. All these imposed me to stay awake and finish the cake job. By the time I finished my cake decorations and left to sleep it was 3am. But I was extremely happy with the outcome of the cake and was excited to wait for the feedback from my family specially my husband as he was the one who was much anticipating the cake. The next morning I was showered with appreciations and pats on back from the entire family and my husband was proud of my work. Before I packed the cake I managed to click a few pics to share it here on my blog, so that it might benefit someone someday. The birthday girl was pleased too  and everyone at the party enjoyed tasting the cake. What more do you need or expect? Smiles are such a reward!! The days dried up my energy and were hectic but the efforts paid off!! 

This is such a simple and easy to make cake that will not steal your time, but will amaze your kids and guests at the party. I have given the details and ideas on how I made the cake. Tweak and customise the cake as you wish, but I promise you will definitely have fun decorating the cake...!!

INGREDIENTS

Preparation Time - 20 minutes
Baking time - 40 + 40 minutes
Decorating time - 30 minutes

1. Chocolate cake mix - 1.5 kgs (I used pillsbury chocolate cake mix 250 grams packs) (or) click here to get chocolate cake recipe; I got two cakes from the above mentioned quantity. If you do not need a double decker cake or if your pan size is different, use half the quantity of mix accordingly)
2. Kitkat - I used 15 kitkats (that means 30 pieces) 
3. Gems - As required 
4. Nutella - As required (You can use buttercream instead)  

Extras You Will Need

1. An 8 * 2 inches round cake pan 
2. Cake board - a 10 inches cake board (click here to find some good cake boards; I got mine there)
3. Edible glitters - (I used blue; click here to purchase edible glitters)
4. Baby ribbon - To tie around the cake

Oven / OTG Settings

• Heater / Rod select - Both
• Shelf / Tray placement - Center 
• Temperature - 175°C or 180 °C 
• Baking time - 40 to 50 minutes for each cake (depends on the size of your cake pan)
• Preheat Oven - 10 minutes

The "Kit Kat & Gems Cake"

PREPARATION METHOD

• Bake cakes - Follow the instructions on the cake mix and bake 2 cakes using oven or pressure cooker. Or click here for a complete guide on how to make the chocolate cake from scratch; Just double the quantity of ingredients I have posted there to get two cakes. (I baked each cake at 175°C for 40 minutes)
• Check if the cakes are done and remove it from the oven. Set the pans aside until it cools down. Then run a knife along the sides of the pan and tap off the cake gently. 
• Cut off the tops of the cakes evenly using a long knife. (if the cake has a flat top just skip this part)
  
  Assembling The Cake
• Now take a cake turntable place a cake board on it, then apply some nutella on the center of the cake board. (If you do not have any turntable just use any stand but the turntable will make the frosting work easier; to get a good turntable click here)
• Now carefully place the flat side of the chocolate cake over it and press gently. (Applying nutella or buttercream over the cake board will help the cake get fixed to the board and will not move while decorating; just a tablespoon of cream or nutella will do) 
• Now scoop out nutella and drop it over the upper surface of the cake. Using a flat knife or spatula spread nutella over the cake evenly. Spread in a single direction, do not keep changing directions as the cake will crumble. Be as gentle as possible. If you are using buttercream please check the procedure on my strawberry cake post. 
• Then place the other cake over this one and gently give pressure on all sides. 
• Now spread some nutella over the other cake's top and then continue spreading to the sides. Follow the swipe-up motion while spreading nutella on the sides. (i.e. use your knife and spread the nutella or cream from bottom to the top of the cake) 
• While spreading be gentle enough and see that the two cakes are in alignment with each other. 
• See that you have evenly covered the cake completely with nutella or buttercream.
• Wipe off the nutella from the cake board using a wet cloth to give a neat look. You cannot do this after sticking your kitkats. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Decorating Cake With Gems & Kitkat
• Now remove chocolate wrappers from kitkats and split the pieces. Set aside. 
• Take a lot of gems in a bowl and keep it aside. 
• Now arrange kitkats alternatively on the sides of the cakes. Press gently as you stick them to the cake. Nutella will keep them in place. 
• Use our own creativity here, I stuck a column of gems after 5 kitkats and it was looking cool. 
• Once you have completed the sides, cover the top with gems. Spread gems randomly and give a gentle pressure to help them get fixed. 
• Finally tie a baby ribbon around the cake.
  
  Extra Decorations
• Use up the risen cake tops that we have cut from the cakes instead of discarding them. You can either make cake pops or any other decoratives like I did. 
• Just crumble the top of the leftover cake add some nutella to it. Mix it really well with your hands until it forms a pliable soft dough. 
• Then flatten the dough using a rolling pin. Use any cookie cutter and cut shapes or roll them into balls. Finally dust some edible glitters over it or spread some colorful sprinkles. 
• Then decorate the cake using these pieces like I did, for that, just spread some buttercream or nutella and press to stick them over the cake anywhere you want to. Or insert them into toothpicks and serve them separately as cake pops.
• Chill the cake for a few hours or serve immediately. The cake will stay good for 3 to 4 days or even more when refrigerated. 

TIP 1: I have used nutella here and it paired well with the cake and tasted good too. But you can replace it with buttercream as you wish. Chocolate flavored buttercream will do better, just add a few spoons of cocoa powder to the vanilla flavored buttercream. 

TIP 2: Number of Kitkat and gems depends on the size and diameter of your cake. It can vary depending on how you have decorated. For an 8 inch diameter cake you will need 30 pieces of kitkats. 

TIP 3: When using the chocolate cake mix, just melt some cooking chocolate and add it to the mix, then bake it to get a very chocolatey cake. 

TIP 4: Instead of the kitkat you can use finger shaped biscuits also. 

The cake was a hit at the birthday party and everyone loved it!! This is such a simple & easy birthday cake idea, try it for your kid's birthday party next time and see them rejoice!!