Chocolate cake

Ingredients

225 g butter
225 g caster sugar
4 large eggs
225 g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp warm water

Equipment

2 15–17 cm round cake tins
Greaseproof paper

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together in a warm bowl until smooth.
Gradually beat in the eggs.
Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and water.
The mixture should be soft.
Bake for 20 minutes at 160°C
The cake should feel springy to touch. If not, cook for another 5 minutes and check again, until done.
Turn out of the tin to cool on a rack.

Icing

Ingredients

160 g icing sugar
80 g butter
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp hot water

Method

Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft.
Add half the icing sugar and the cocoa powder and beat until smooth.
Add the remaining sugar and the water and beat until creamy.
Add more water (or more sugar) to make the icing runnier (or thicker) as required.