Basic chocolate cake

A simply lovely choccie cake should be in everyone’s repertoire, and this one doesn’t disappoint! - by Better Homes and Gardens

The luscious sponge is the perfect partner for afternoon tea but is also brilliant served with freshly whipped cream for an after-dinner thrill.

Ingredients

• 200g dark chocolate, chopped

• 250g unsalted butter

• 1 cups raw caster sugar

• 4 eggs

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup dark cocoa powder

• 2/3 cup hot water

• 2 cups plain flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 1/2 cup almond meal

• Icing sugar, for dusting

• Fresh berries, to serve

Preheat oven to 160C. Line a 23cm cake tin with baking paper. Put chocolate and 75g of the butter in a small saucepan and cook over a low heat until melted. Set aside to cool.
Put remaining butter and caster sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 5 minutes or until light and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat to combine.
Put cocoa and water in a small bowl and stir until dissolved. Sift flour, baking powder and bicarb into a medium bowl. Fold into butter mixture with almond meal and cocoa mixture. Spoon into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Dust cake with icing sugar and top with berries to serve.