Can I please have a recipe for a basic chocolate sponge?

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

Not a fudge cake, or one with beer, or almonds. Just plain ole' chocolate sponge. I got a brilliant recipe for malted chocolate icing from one of Hummingbird books, and would like to use it for SIL's birthday cake, but the sponge cake recipe matched with it was a bit meh, and too sweet.

Weigh two eggs (in their shells).
Use that weight to measure out the same amounts of:
Butter
Sugar
Two tablespoons of cocoa powder plus SR flour (all in same bowl to equal total weight to two eggs in their shells). I find adding a teaspoon of baking powder also helps.

Using an electric whisk, mix the butter so it's fluffy... add the sugar... whisk until fluffy. Beat the eggs and then add slowly whilst whisking the butter/sugar mixture. Mix in the cocoa powder and flour. You may find you need to add some milk to make the mixture a pouring consistency.

You may need to use 3 eggs, depending on the size of your baking tins. If using 3 eggs just weigh those, then do the same weight of butter/sugar etc.

A sponge cake will be sweet.

To do a cake with less sugar I think you would need to do a loaf cake, such as a banana cake, so some of the sugar coming from fruit.

thanks nick - will give it a whirl

with baking you can not reduce sugar without affecting recipe you can play around with flavourings but not proportion of fat/sugar/flour/eggs

6 oz marg
6oz caster sugar
3 eggs
4ox SR flour
2oz drinking choc

Beat marg and sugar til light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and beat together.
Fold in sugar and chocolate.

Bake 180 degrees for 20 mins or til cooked.

Easy peesy!

thanks guys - although I was in the kitchen following Nick's recipe when the other recipes were posted! went for a 3 egg mix as I only have 8inch pans, and didn't any liquid, as the last cake was far too moist for the icing I have in mind. It's great stuff - tastes like maltesers.

Did the cake turn out ok?

yes - it was perfect, thank-you. SIL loved it, and dd1 now has a tummy ache after eating too much of it, which I reckon is the ultimate mark of a good bake,

I forgot:

Not drinking chocolate. Use cocoa. Drinking chocolate is too sweet and not chocolatey enough.