This cake truly deserves a much more glamorous name. I have been baking it since my mother taught me the recipe in the 1980s, an eager teenage cook desperate to emulate my mother’s glorious creations! It has a certain nostalgia in our family appearing at all birthdays and special events through the decades to this very day. A versatile sponge that works equally well iced simply, served with a cup of tea or coffee or a glass of cold milk, or beautifully adored for a special occasion. I have to admit I adorn it every time! The truth is it is very ‘quick’ to make and it is a ‘chocolate cake’ … c’est la vie!
Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F / Gas 4)
Put the ingredients in a large mixing bowl in this order:
200g caster sugar
3 Tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
1/2 a teaspoon baking soda
1/2 a teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
250g plain flour
2 large eggs
5oz butter grated (use cold butter straight from the fridge and grate with a cheese grater using the fattest holes)
150ml boiling water
Gently mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon until completely blended and the butter has disappeared into the bubbly chocolaty mixture. Using an 20cm or 8 inch round tin, grease your cake tin appropriately. Pour the mixture in and bake for 40 mins, until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool in tin.
My favorite adornment! When cooled split the cake in half and spread bottom half with lashings of strawberry jam. Whip double cream until smoothly stiff and spread thickly over jam. Place top half of cake gently back on then make a chocolate icing paste (roughly 5 heaped desert spoons icing sugar, 1 heaped desert spoon cocoa powder, and a small knob of butter for gloss) Add boiling water little by little until the paste is smooth, spreadable but not too runny. Pour over the cake and smooth with a non-serrated knife.
Birthday Cake for Chris!
Enjoy!
Kiwi Rachel
Yum, what a treat! Kiwi brought this cake along for us all to try at our cupcake workshop yesturday. I think it makes an ideal cake in this hot weather, light and airy, I thoroughly enjoyed my slice – apparently it also makes very good cupcakes too!
I’m going to try the cake as a pudding with a selection of summer berries, I’m sure it’ll be a huge hit!
Hi Lindy
The recipe sounds fantastic. can you tell me if the choc cake can be used for a more formal function where it is covered in fondant
i love your work, well done
Anne Marie
Hi Anne-Marie
This cake is not suitable for fondant I’m afraid. It is great with the chocolate water icing that I tell you about in the blog or a buttercream style icing. I have made it for formal occassions many times. You can write on water icing and you can cover it with fondant decorations like flowers etc. If you are looking for a cake that you can cover completely with fondant/sugarpaste can I recommend the Chocolate Mud Cake on our blog or the Madeira.
Enjoy!
Best wishes
KiwiRachel
This cake is gorgeous, I made it for our desert and served it warm with a dollup of thick double cream and marshmallows! yum yum!
Hello Rachel,
After making your wonderful choc cake several times I have however just read your reply about covering with fondant/sugarpaste. I have made,carved and covered your cake many times and it has worked out wonderful for me and everyone has absolutly loved it.
Just thought i’d let you know, It’s such a delicious cake and i’m always complemented on it and i’m sorry to say shamefully take all the credit. So i’d like to thank you for such a great choc cake, all credit to you of course!
Hi
could you tell me if you pre beat your eggs before you put them in the mix?
thanks
Hi Stephanie
I would not beat the eggs as the recipe does not state this. Unfortunately Rachel is no longer with us so I cannot check with her.
Regards
Zoe