What a way to follow low fat soup!

I thought after my soup recipe two days ago that I should blog about the delectably and indulgently rich chocolate cake I made for my partner's birthday. I had forgotten to mention it in my previous blog and yes, I do realise the irony of blogging about healthy eating alongside pure greed but there it is.  Everybody likes chocolate and if you can have it in moderation then you are on to a winner.  So that means one slice instead of four... And possibly a long strenuous walk afterwards!

 It went down a storm at his work and I think its probably my favourite recipe for chocolate cake.  The sponge is light and I have put a butter cream filling to sandwich the two sponges together and then used a ganache to cover the cake with.  Its a relatively easy recipe as well, which makes it even more appealing.  I like to use a massive bowl and get involved with the whisk to get a really decent cake batter; fantastic for those bingo wings.

Cake Recipe

225g Self-Raising Flour

3 tbsp organic cocoa powder

2tsp baking powder

225g margarine

225g caster sugar

4 medium eggs beaten

10 tbsp whole milk

1. Sieve the first three ingredients in a bowl and then add the margarine, caster sugar, beaten eggs and milk and beat until combined.  This is easily done with an electric mixer or with a kitchen Aid.
2. Tip this mixture into two well greased and lined 8in baking tins.  Bake at 150 degrees for 50 minutes.
3. Test these sponges with a skewer and when they come out clean the cake is done.  Leave to cool completely before starting with the icing.

For the butter cream

85g butter softened

170g icing sugar

25g cocoa powder

1tbsp hot water

1. Sift the icing sugar into the butter and add the cocoa powder, also sifted.  Then add the boiling water and beat again until well blended.

Chocolate Ganache

230g double cream- basically a medium sized pot from a supermarket

200g dark/ milk chocolate depending on your preference

1. Heat the cream and chocolate gently and whisk until blended and very smooth.  Transfer to another bowl and place into the fridge until it reaches spreading consistency.
2. To assemble the whole cake add the butter cream to the sponges and gently spread to the edges.  Ensure the layer is even so that when they sandwich together there is some uniformity ready for the ganache.  Add the ganache to the outer cake.  Ensure the ganache is cool enough to stay put but flexible enough to be spread easily.
3. And there you have your indulgent chocolate cake.