A good chocolate cake will never let you down. The little black dress of desserts doesn't need to be tricked up at all, but I do like to accessorise with just a few sprinkles on top.
TIME:
30 mins - 1 hour
SERVES:
4
Ingredients
75g butter, plus extra for greasing the baking tins
475g (2 cups) caster sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
250ml milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
300g (2 cups) plain flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
¼ cup dark chocolate sprinkles
For the chocolate icing
250g butter, softened
400g icing sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
50ml thickened cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of flake salt
Method
- Heat your oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). Grease and line the bases of 2 x 24cm round baking tins. With a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together. Add vegetable oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and bicarb into a separate bowl, then add the salt and mix. Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low speed until just combined. Add 200ml of boiling water and mix for 30 seconds to combine. Divide the batter between the two cake tins and place it on the same rack in your oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
- For the icing, combine ingredients in the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Combine on low speed for 1 minute, then beat at high speed for a further minute.
- To assemble the cake, spread a layer of icing on one cake and invert the other on top. Spread the top of the other cake generously and cover the sides of the cake as well. Scatter with sprinkles to serve.