My husband's chocolate cake

This is the cake that my husband wooed me with when we were 'just friends'. I was impressed.

Anyone that has ever tasted this cake has asked for the recipe. It's so quick to make, we have often taken it to last minute dinner parties or whipped it up to take on an impromptu picnic. We love it iced with coffee icing or halved and filled with cherries and whipped cream for a simple Black Forest Cake.

If you have a mixmaster (a Kitchen Aid or the like) you can put all of the ingredients in the one bowl and mix - that simple. However if you are like me, I am still using the $17.00 hand held electric egg beaters that I bought when I left home 20 years ago, then follow my method below.

Enjoy.

I made this cake Friday afternoon for my daughters birthday. As always it was delicious.









Mr Moo's Chocolate Cake

makes one cake

• 125 grams butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 3/4 cup self raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• 1 cup milk

chocolate butter icing

• 50 grams butter (softened)
• 2 cups icing sugar (sifted)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa (sifted)
• 1 teas. vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon boiling water

coffee butter icing

• 50 grams butter (softened)
• 2 cups icing sugar (sifted)
• 1 teas. vanilla extract
• 1 heaped teaspoon instant coffee powder mixed with 1 tablespoon of boiling water (well dissolved)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and flour a deep 22 cm round cake tin. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and cocoa and continue to mix. Sift in the flour and the bicarbonate soda, stir until well combined. Add the milk and mix well. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 40 minutes. Leave the cake to sit for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack to cool.

To make the butter icing, sift the icing sugar (and cocoa - if making chocolate icing) into a bowl. Work in the softened butter with a wooden spoon. Add the vanilla and boiling water (mixed with coffee - if making coffee icing) Beat until smooth. Spread onto cooled cupcakes. It will take approximately 30 minutes for the icing to set.

This quantity of icing should cover the top and sides of the cake. I prefer my home baked cakes with just the icing on the top. Any extra icing I put in the freezer for the next time I bake cupcakes. At the moment I have a small amount of chocolate, hot pink, sky blue and now coffee icing in my freezer.