Chocolate Cake

  Ingredients

    175g dark chocolate broken into squares
    200g butter, unsalted
    200g self-raising flour
    300g light Muscovy sugar
    30g cocoa powder
    1tsp baking powder
    4 eggs beaten

For the chocolate cake filling:

    40g golden icing sugar, sifted, like Billing-ton's
    20g cocoa powder, sifted
    30g unsalted butter, softened
    1tbsp water

For the chocolate cake icing:

    60g golden icing sugar filling, sifted
    20g cocoa powder sifted
    1 egg white (whisked until semi-stiff)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC (170ºC fan, gas mark 4). Put some water in a cake tin or roasting tin and put in the base of the oven. Line the tins with baking parchment.

• In a small pan set over low heat, melt together the chocolate and butter with 100ml water.

• Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and baking powder. Mix in the eggs until well blended. Stir in the chocolate and butter.

• Spoon into the prepared tins and smooth the top. Bake for 30 mins at the top of the oven, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted. Remove from the tin, and set aside on a wire racks to cool. Meanwhile, make the filling and icing.

• For the chocolate cake filling: Beat together the icing sugar, cocoa powder, butter and water and then refrigerate until required.

• For the chocolate cake icing: Mix together the sugar, cocoa and egg white, until a dropping consistency. You may need a little water.

• To assemble, put a dab of butter cream filling on the center of the serving plate, and put one cake on the plate. Spoon on the remaining filling, and top with the other cake.

• Spoon over the icing. To encourage it to drizzle evenly, spoon into the middle, and with the back of the spoon, make circular motion on top for the chocolate cake. Allow the icing to dry for 10 mins before decorating with chocolate shavings.