This easy chocolate cake recipe takes just 35min to prep. A perfect cake recipe for birthdays, afternoon tea, or any other special occasion.
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Yields:
10 serving(s)
Prep Time:
35 mins
Cook Time:
25 mins
Total Time:
1 hr
Cal/Serv:
470
Ingredients
100 g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
175 g self-raising flour
25 g cocoa powder
200 g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
75 ml evaporated milk
Few drops vanilla essence
For the milk chocolate icing
100 g unsalted butter
6 Tbsp. cocoa powder (we used Bournville)
300 g icing sugar, sifted
4 1/2 Tbsp. hot milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
Directions
Step 1
Grease two 20.5cm sandwich tins (not loose-bottomed as the mixture will run out) and line them with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4.
Step 2
Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a large bowl, and then mix in the sugar and ½tsp salt. Add the butter and use an electric whisk to combine until it resembles dark sand.
Step 3
In a large jug, beat the eggs, evaporated milk and vanilla essence with 75ml water. Pour into the flour mixture and beat well with an electric whisk until smooth. Divide mixture between the tins and bake for 18-20min until springy to the touch.
Step 4
Leave in the tins for 10min, then transfer on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Step 5
To make the icing, melt the butter in a medium pan. Use a wooden spoon to blend in the cocoa powder and then the icing sugar to make a thick paste. Gradually stir in the hot milk and vanilla essence. Beat until smooth. Cover the surface with clingfilm and leave to thicken for 45min. Sit one sponge on a cake stand. Spread over a third of the icing. Put the second sponge on top and spread with icing, encouraging it down the sides and smoothing with a spatula. Use a palette knife or fork to make patterns on the cake top.
Don't use loose bottomed tins, as the mixture could leak out.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
