The perfect chocolate cake recipe please (as base for a birthday cake)

[Twiglett]

please

it will be iced over and turned into something else (current request is for monsters but we've also had treasure chest and snake pit)

I have many. I usually use one of three recipes. This one is the simplest and easiest:

6oz soft margarine
6oz caster sugar
3 eggs
6oz SR flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
2tbsp sieved cocoa
3 tbsp boiling water.

Blend cocoa with water and allow to cool.

Add other ingredients.

Beat well.

Grease and base line 2 18cm (7 inch) sandwich cake tins and divide mixture evenly between them.

Bake for 25 minutes at 180 C (GM4)

If you want super dooper chocolate recipes, I have a couple I can recommend.

Same recipe as lonley mum, except rather than 6 oz of flour, do 3oz flour and 3 oz coco, and then loose the baking powder and water added, as you don't need them with sr flour.

there's a really good nigella one in how to eat which i used for ds' cake this week.

or you could try mine.....

5 eggs
275g SR flour, butter and soft dark brown sugar
125g cocoa
2 tbsp milk.

Cream together sugar and butter, add eggs, sift together flour and cocoa and add with milk to make up softer consistency.

I put that into a 2lb loaf tin but will also go in a sandwich or a swiss roll type tin. The loaf tin one is quite good for cutting shapes out of IYSWIM.

I think the dark brown sugar makes the difference !
Good luck

I have one that is fabby - not too sweet but you can make it 3 days in advance and it stays really moist. It is also quite solid so good for cutting.

Cook in advance chocolate cake

Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line deep round cake tin

In one bowl, mix:
1 Tblspn white vinegar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 cup cold coffee (hot coffee will scramble the eggs)

In another, big bowl, mix:
2 cups plain flour
13/4 (one and three quarters) cup caster sugar
half a cup of cocoa
1 tsp salt
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp bicarb

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir well until fully combined. Pour into prepared tin and bake for 45 mins. Leave in tin until quite cold then turn out.

I made this for dd1s birthday and smothered it in violet frosting studded with sugar flowers and sweets. Kitsch heaven.

thank you all

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it looks like a big muffin recipe to me .. but I'm all for cakes where I don't have to 'cream the sugar and the butter'

I hate 'creaming the sugar and the butter'

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Delia all in one. It's pretty much perfect. Add chocolate butter cream and you can't go wrong IMO.

I don't think I do reduce the flour - I think I just bung in cocoa!!

dis one?