Ultimate Chocolate Cake Recipe

I'm a fan of chocolate cake just as much as the next person, however I'm not much of a baker! This weekend I came home from university with the dream of baking a cake, so I forced my little sister to get on board with my baking fantasies (i.e. help me to bake so I don't mess up too much by myself, as I can't be trusted to be alone). We chose this recipe from Jamie Oliver's website and tweaked it a little bit to make it better, as we are experts in this kind of thing! Enjoy.

Ingredients for the cake:

• 250g plain flour
• 75g cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 125g unsalted butter
• 350g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 250ml brewed coffee
• 225 ml milk

Ingredients for the icing & topping:

• 4 tablespoons milk
• 25g dark chocolate
• Handful fresh berries
• 200g icing sugar
• 25g cocoa powder
• 200g unsalted butter
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4, and grease and line 2 x 9inch sandwich tins
• Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt

• Beat the butter until it is pale and creamy (I would recommend using an electric mixer, because    we did it by hand and it took ages!) 

• Add the sugar and eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Use a spatula to scrape the mixture from around the sides of the bowl

• Add the dry ingredients to the bowl, and also the coffee and milk, and mix until it all comes together to form a smooth mixture

• Divide the mixture between the two tins and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes. (This is now the perfect opportunity to eat the left over cake batter with a spoon) Test to see if the cakes have been baked properly by poking them with a cake tester, which will come out clean if they are done

• Once out of the oven, remove them from the tins and leave on a cooling rack for about half an hour whilst you make the icing

To make the icing:

• Beat the butter until creamy, them add the sifted cocoa powder and half of the icing sugar. It is important to mix slowly at this stage to avoid getting icing sugar over your whole kitchen! (Trust me, I speak from experience)
• Once combined, add the rest of the icing sugar, the vanilla extract and the milk and continue mixing until smooth

To decorate:

• Spread half of the icing on the first cake, and place chopped up strawberries on top. Then place the other cake on top of the first one

• Cover the top layer with the other half of the icing
• Arrange the rest of the berries in the middle, and sprinkle grated chocolate around the edge to decorate