Easy chocolate cake
Easy chocolate cake
Ingredients
• Cooking oil spray, for greasing
• 3 cups self-raising flour
• 3½ cups caster sugar
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 2 cups very strong, hot black coffee
• 400g 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sour cream
• 375g unsalted butter, chopped, softened
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 3 cups pure icing sugar
• Strawberries, to serve
• Extra pure icing sugar, to dust
• Double cream, to serve
Method
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Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease two 22cm springform tins with cooking oil spray, then line base and sides with baking paper. Put flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high, using paddle attachment, for 1 minute to aerate. Put coffee and ½ of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Mix until melted. Set aside to cool.
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Pour chocolate mixture, ½ of the vanilla, eggs, oil and sour cream into mixer bowl. Beat for 2 minutes or until smooth. Spoon into prepared tins and bake for 40 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool in tins for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
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To make icing, put remaining chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and heat until melted. Set aside to cool. Put butter and remaining vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high, using paddle attachment, for 3 minutes or until pale and creamy. Slowly add milk and beat for a further 3 minutes. Add melted chocolate and beat for a further 3 minutes. Stir in icing sugar and beat for a further 2 minutes.
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Spread each cake half with icing, then sandwich together. Spread remaining chocolate icing around outside. Top cake with strawberries, dust with extra icing sugar and serve with cream.
TIP: If you don't have strawberries top with grated chocolate.
