Yet another cake post. It's starting to look like all I do is eat cake! I assure you it's not the case.
These cakes were for a special occasion – one of my "pod mates" at work had a birthday recently. Not just any birthday, but his 65th birthday! He is the loveliest person, so I couldn't let his birthday go by without cake. Everybody deserves cake for their birthday - particularly for such an important one!
I had thought that the chocolate cake would be more popular, but surprisingly, the rather large lime and poppy seed syrup cake disappeared first. The recipe for the lime and poppy seed syrup cake came from (surprise surprise) the Australian Women's Weekly's "Bake". It has become my baking go to book, but I'm making a resolution to use some different books for a while.
The chocolate cake recipe came from a colleague at my previous job. The recipe is brilliant because it's the easiest cake in the world. All the ingredients are mixed up in a bowl, and then it goes into the oven. The only thing you need to be aware of is that it can take a while to bake as the batter. But for so little effort, it's a great cake. It looks like it might be dry, but it's surprisingly moist and with a light texture. It's also not too sweet, which I really like.
With the cake pictured, I topped it with chocolate ganache, but it's just as good with just icing sugar sifted over.
Easy peasy chocolate cake
200g self raising flour
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
250g brown sugar
125g butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
160mls water
Preheat oven to 170°C. Brush tin with butter and line 20cm round cake pan.
Place all ingredients in a large bowl and beat for 2-4 minutes or until mixture is pale and smooth. (I'm not sure whether the butter should be melted, or just softened - I normally melt it and it turns out okay).
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.
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