Chocolate cake evokes so many memories for me – the first ever chocolate cake I ever had was mum’s – she made a simple chocolate sponge served with cream. I’ve since tried so many different cake recipes and I have to admit, few come close to this little beauty here.

I first found this recipe in one of my mum’s cookbooks, so can’t take full credit for this delightful recipe – apologies that I can’t remember which book this was in, but nevertheless, the sponge itself is deliciously rich, dense and satisfying.

The outer garment for this cake is my own concoction – but seriously, it’s so good you can’t possibly stop at one piece. This is a great cake to make for parties and to give as gifts – your friends will seriously thank you!

This one is for serious foodies and those who want to make a sweet treat with passion, depth of flavour and some serious oopmh!

Serves at least 20 sparingly or 10 greedily with a self-satisfied grin!

Ingredients

6oz butter softened at room temperature

2tbsp of raspberry jam

14oz caster sugar

9.5oz self raising flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder sifted together

3 medium eggs beaten

12oz boiling water

3oz cocoa powder

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Line a 10 inch Square cake tin with greaseproof paper or grease it really well
2. Dissolve the cocoa powder with the boiling water and whisk well until smooth
3. In a bowl, beat the butter, sugar and jam together until fluffy with an electric whisk
4. Add the eggs, flour and cocoa mixture and mix with an electric whisk
5. The mixture will be quite runny, but don’t worry! Pour into the cake tin and whack it into the middle of the oven for 35 minutes
6. About 20 minutes into cooking, put the temperature down to 170°C if it’s a fan oven, as fan ovens can dry out the cake
7. Check to see the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake – it’s cooked when it comes out clean
8. Cool the cake on a wire rack….now comes the fun bit!

Decorate Your Cake…

10oz white chocolate

large tub of double cream

3 packets of Cadbury’s chocolate fingers

2 tbsp sugar

strawberries, raspberries and blueberries

One Cadbury’s flake crushed

1. Prepare your coatings for the cake – melt the chocolate over a bain marie or in the microwave (if the latter, place in heatproof bowl, place on full power for 60 seconds, then remove, stir, back in for 30 seconds then remove and stir. Repeat until the chocolate melts completely)
2. Add 2tbps of the double cream and mix until the mixture becomes thick and glossy. Remove from the bain marie and set aside
3. in a separate bowl, whip the remaining cream with the sugar until thick
4. Ensuring your cake is COMPLETELY cool, cut the cake in half and spread each half with the white chocolate mixture
5. Cover one of the cake pieces with cream and then top with a mixture of sliced strawberries, raspberries and blueberries
   

   5. Cover one part with cream and berries

6. Place the remaining cake on top of the berry based cake, then cover with cream – including all the sides too
7. Top your cake with berries and then shake over the Flake crumbs
8. Finally, coat the sides of the cake with chocolate fingers so that all the sides are completely filled…
9. Now apply to face and enjoy!

Tips:

• Avoid using margarine or baking spread as the texture of the cake won’t be quite right
• You can try using other fruits such as kiwis, mango and banana