A delicious cake that deserves to become a favourite.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cocoa
• 1¼ cups hot water
• 3 eggs
• 250 grams unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 3 cup self rising flour
• 1¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 cups brown sugar (well packed)

Chocolate icing

• 125 grams dark chocolate, melted
• 50 grams butter, softened
• 2½ cups icing sugar
• ¼ cup plain yoghurt

Method

1. Mix the cocoa and hot water together and beat until smooth. Allow to cool thoroughly.
2. In a food processor put the cooled cocoa mixture, eggs, butter, vanilla essence, flour, baking soda and sugar. Process together for 3 minutes.
3. Pour the mixture into a well greased and floured 25cm ring tin.
4. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 1 hour or until the cake is cooked when tested with a skewer.
5. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake rack to cool. Ice with chocolate icing or quick chocolate icing.

Chocolate icing

1. Beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the cooled chocolate mixture, the icing sugar and the yoghurt.

Quick Chocolate Icing

1. Mix 2 tblsp cocoa with 1 tblsp melted butter, 1 cup icing sugar and sufficient hot water to make a thick spreadable icing.

Cooks Tips

If you only have a 20cm or 23cm ring tin, three quarters fill the tin with the cake batter and with the remaining batter, make muffins. They will only require about 20 minutes cooking time.