BASIC CHOCOLATE CAKE

Over the years this recipe has been used to make all manner of sweet treats, from superb chocolate cupcakes to those decorated as frog cakes with green icing and mint lollies as bug-eyes. It can pass as a mud cake or a chocolate sponge, but best of all in my opinion is the unsurpassable Black Forest Cake.

Serves 6–8

         125g butter

         1½ cups sugar

         ¼ cup cocoa powder

         60g dark cooking chocolate, chopped

         ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

         250ml water

         2 eggs

         1¾ cups self-raising flour

         ½ teaspoon vanilla essence

Place the butter, sugar, cocoa, chocolate, bicarbonate of soda and water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Immediately turn the heat down to very low and barely simmer for 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a 20cm round cake tin, lining the base with baking paper.

Quickly whisk in the eggs with a metal whisk, and then the flour and vanilla, whisking until the batter is smooth. Pour into the prepared tin.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Keeps for 4 days.