Thea had a few friends over for a little birthday tea. Her cake of choice, as always with my children, was chocolate.
I love this chocolate cake recipe. I got it from my Aunt, who got it from Granny. It is the perfect cake for parties, celebrations or just for a good chocolate fix.
I decorated the cake using two packets of chocolate fingers and a couple of tubes of smarties poured over the top. For a more sophisticated look you could use chocolate cigarellos around the cake and fill it with raspberries and serve with cream!
CHOCOLATE CAKE - Serves 16
Ingredients for cake
190g Plain flour, 20g Cocoa powder, 2 Teaspoons baking powder, 150g Caster sugar, 1 Teaspoon of vanilla essence, 2 Tablespoons golden syrup, 2 Eggs, 150ml Vegetable oil, 150ml Milk
Ingredients for icing
150g Butter, 330g Icing Sugar, 20g Coco powder, 15mil Vanilla extract, 15mil Milk
- Heat the oven to 160
- Grease and line two 8 inch sandwich tins
- How you make the cake will now vary depending on whether you have a food processor
- FOOD PROCESSOR: Place all the ingredients into a food processor and mix together until smooth
- BOWL: Mix all the dry ingredients into a bowl together, mix all the wet indents in a jug. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until smooth.
- Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the oven for about half an hour. When cooked the top of the cake should spring back when you press it gently. To double check, when you think it is done pop a sharp knife into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean then the cake is cooked. If it comes out with cake mixture on it put it back in for a couple more minutes.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes, remove from tins and place on rack (if you don’t have one leave on clean side to cool.
- As the cake cools make the icing, i make mine in the food processor. Place all the ingredients in the food processor and blitz till smooth, you may need to add a little bit more milk if you want the icing a little thinner. If you don’t have a food processor, place all ingredients in bowl and mix by hand.
- Once cake is cool ice the middle, sandwich the two cakes together and then ice all around it
- I store this cake in the fridge, remove 20 minutes before you serve to allow the icing to relax slightly.
Cooking notes
All the teaspoon and tablespoon measurements in the recipe need to be level. You need to use a good quality strong coco powder to give the cake a real chocolate kick. If the icing is not stroung enough then use more coco.
Adapting
I use butter icing on this as i think it makes it wonderfully rich, if you would prefer not to then follow the instructions on the side of the icing packet for the other icing options.
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