Rich, squidgy chocolate cake

As well as being really simple to make, this cake, for me, has all the essential elements that a wicked chocolate cake should have: melting, luscious and mood-enhancingly good. I would normally make a cake like this on special occasions, or when family/friends are coming to tea, but, on the way to school one morning I mentioned to my son that I would be doing some baking and asked him what sort of cake he would like me to make. "I'd love a big, gooey chocolate cake", he replied. So voilà, this is what he (and the rest of us) ended up with.


INGREDIENTS

FOR THE SPONGE:

230g butter, softened
230g soft, light brown sugar
4 large eggs
170 self-raising flour
60g good quality cocoa powder
2 tbsps milk

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:

170g icing sugar
60g good quality cocoa powder
115g butter, softened
1 tbsp milk

Grease and line two 20cm round cake tins


1. Preheat the oven to 180 degs/170 degs fan/gas mark 4

2. Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer, or with a hand-held whisk, until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, with a spoonful of the flour/cocoa to prevent the mixture from curdling.

4. Fold in the remaining flour/cocoa with a metal spoon, and add the milk.

5. Divide the mixture equally between the two cake tins and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the sponge, comes out clean.

6. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

7. To make the buttercream, simply mix the icing sugar, cocoa powder and butter together in an electric mixer, or with a hand-held whisk until smooth. Add the milk to give a softer consistency.

8. Once the sponges are cold, divide the buttercream in half. Use one half to sandwich them together, and the other half to spread over the top. Adorn with whatever decorations you like; in this case, I used some grated white chocolate.