Chocolate Cake
Everyone loves a good chocolate cake and this is the cake my family asks me to make the most often. Not only is it delicious and easy to make – it’s inexpensive too as uses cocoa powder rather than chocolate. I’ve even made this for birthdays – the cake pictured below was for my husband’s most recent birthday. (I made this in a ring bundt tin, but usually use a standard round cake tin. Plus I added his favourite chocolate lollies on top to turn it into a chocolate overload cake!), I’ve made this cake SO many times it’s one of the very view recipes I know off by heart (I have a bad memory!).
I usually decorate it with a basic chocolate icing or you can use chocolate buttercream or ganache.
Ingredients
- 75g butter, softened
- 1¾ cups white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup milk
Chocolate icing
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp butter, approx
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- splash of hot water
In a bowl, sift together the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Add the butter and vanilla essence, and just enough hot water to make a spreadable consistency. (If you accidentally add too much water, then sift in some more icing sugar). When cake is cold, spread the icing over the top dipping a knife into hot water if needed to get a smooth finish.
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
- In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. (I use a hand held mixer). Add in the vanilla essence and continue beating until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well each time.
- In a different bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder. Add this into the creamed butter mixture, alternately with the milk.
- Pour the mixture into the greased tin and bake for approx 50-60 mins. Around the 45 minute mark I like to check the cake and cover with tin foil for the remaining time. This ensures the cake doesn’t dry out, and makes it beautifully soft and delicious!
- Once the cake is cooked (the centre of the cake will spring back when gently touched) remove from oven and leave in tin for a few minutes until turning out on a wire rack to cool.
- Once cold, decorate with chocolate icing.
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