This easy campfire cake is perfect for a camping birthday party, outdoor adventure party or Scouts celebration. The best part is that you don’t need any fancy cake-decorating skills to make it! Chocolate fingers create the stacked logs, toasted marshmallows surround the fire and colourful rice paper makes surprisingly realistic flames.
You can bake your favourite chocolate cake from scratch or save time by starting with a supermarket cake.
What you’ll need
- One round chocolate cake (either your own recipe or a storebought cake)
- Chocolate icing or ganache
- Chocolate finger biscuits
- Large white marshmallows
- Red, orange and yellow rice paper
- Clean kitchen scissors
- A kitchen blowtorch, optional
- A cake board or serving plate
How to make a campfire cake
1.Create the rice paper flames
It’s good to do this step a day in advance to give the flames some time to dry out. Simply get a bowl (big enough to fit your rice paper in), fill it with boiling water, add colour dye and pop the rice paper into it. Once it goes soft, take it out and mould it into a flame shape and lie on baking paper. Repeat for whichever colours you choose (we did orange, red and yellow).
2. Prepare the cake
Place your chocolate cake on a cake board or serving plate. Cover the top and sides with chocolate icing or ganache. It doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth – a slightly rustic finish works well with the campfire theme.
2. Build the chocolate logs
Arrange the chocolate fingers across the centre of the cake, overlapping them in different directions to resemble a pile of firewood. Start with a flat base and add another layer across the top to give the campfire some height. You can break a few chocolate fingers into shorter pieces to fill any gaps and make the logs look less uniform.
3. Add the rice paper flames
Layer the different colours together, placing the yellow pieces towards the centre and the red and orange pieces around the outside. Gently push the bottom of each piece between the chocolate fingers so the flames stand upright. Rice paper can soften when it comes into contact with icing, so add the flames as close as possible to serving time.
4. Add the marshmallows
Place the marshmallows around the outside edge of the cake. Placing the cut side down will help them stay in position. For a realistic toasted appearance, carefully brown the tops with a kitchen blowtorch. Use the lowest setting and work quickly, keeping the flame away from the rice paper, chocolate and cake board.
An adult should always complete this step. If you don’t have a blowtorch, lightly toast the marshmallows under the grill before allowing them to cool and placing them on the cake.
5. Add the finishing touches
Check the rice paper flames are secure and add a few extra chocolate fingers around the base of the fire if needed. Keep the finished cake somewhere cool until it is time to serve, but avoid refrigerating it after adding the rice paper because moisture can cause the flames to soften. The result is an easy campfire cake that looks impressive but can be created with simple supermarket ingredients – perfect for your happy little campers!
