Daniel’s Chocolate Cake

This is a cake that my son Daniel makes. He likes to use cream in the icing so it is more of a desert or special occasion cake. He knows I love caramello so uses that chocolate but you could use any flavour you liked.

½ cup cocoa
½ cup boiling water
185 gr butter
1 cup castor sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
¾ cup milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
135gr block of Cadbury caramello chocolate

Blend cocoa and boiling water to form a paste.
Sift the flour, salt and soda.
Cream the butter and sugar.
Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each egg.
Add a spoonful of the flour (from what the recipe calls for) with each egg so it doesn’t curdle.
Mix the milk, vanilla essence and cocoa paste together.
Gently fold the remaining flour through the creamed mixture alternatively with the milk mixture.
Stir well but don’t beat.
Pour into a large cake tin (26cm and at least 8 cm deep) and break off all the pieces of caramello chocolate and dot them all over the top of the cake.
Bake at 180°C for 35 to 40 minutes until a skewer (I use a kebab stick) comes out clean when pushed into the centre of the cake.

Stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

When cold ice with the following cream icing:

300ml cream
¼ cup icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa.

Whip all ingredients together and when the chosen consistency spread over the cake. You might like is slightly runny so it drips down the side of the cake or firmer so it is in a spreadable consistency. It will set more if left for an hour or two.

Any uneaten cake needs to be stored covered in the fridge as it has cream icing.