Chocolate Cake recipe

This is mainly for my Mum’s benefit 🙂

Those in my family who know me the best will know I’m a crappy baker – one particular cake I tried making (an orange cake, from memory) sank nicely in the middle and had a heavy texture.  Dad loved it!  And afterwards asked me to make another “sad cake” ‘cos it was so lovely … I’ll never forget that “sad cake” 😉

Anyway, last weekend I had a HUGE urge to bake something … not being a baker, this was EXTREMELY unusual, as I just don’t bake anymore – but even MORE unusual is the fact that it turned out to be the best damned cake I’ve ever baked in my life (and those good ones can be counted on one hand with a few fingers left over!) … and I’d even go so far as to say it was one of the best damned cakes I’ve ever eaten in my life!  Yep, BIG words!!  Anyway, I thought I’d share it online so Mum can try it out – I should really try it again myself too to make sure it wasn’t some kind of huge fluke that it worked out so nicely!! 😛

ALL-OCCASION CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 cup (250ml) water
1 1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
125g butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
2 eggs

Grease deep 19cm square cake pan, line base with baking paper.

Combine water, sugar, butter, cocoa and soda in medium saucepan; stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves.  Bring to boil, simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.  Transfer mixture to large bowl; cool 10 minutes.

Add flour and eggs to mixture; beat with electric mixer, on low speed, until smooth.  Pour mixture into prepared pan.  Bake in moderate oven (180-190C / 350-375F) about 40 minutes.  Stand cake in pan 10 minutes; turn onto wire rack to cool.

Top cold cake with 1 quantity Fluffy Cocoa Frosting.

FLUFFY COCOA FROSTING

50g butter
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
3/4 cup (120g) icing sugar mixture
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Combine butter, water and caster sugar in small saucepan, stir over heat, without boiling, until sugar is dissolved.  Sift icing sugar and cocoa into medium heatproof bowl; gradually stir in hot butter mixture; cover, refrigerate until thick.  Beat with wooden spoon until a spreading consistency.

Cut and serve and may the drooling commence … 😀