Chocolate heaven

As listed on my last post, this is the BEST chocolate cake recipe I have ever made.

It is soft, moist, rich and yummy - what more do can you ask for?

I first made this cake when I was at school and by the look of the handwriting on this card, I think I must have written it down in this form way back in 1981 or so! Any recipe which is faded, splatted and generally a bit manky MUST be good! Like I said, I can't remember whose cake it was originally but I suspect that it might have come from Jean. But it was most certainly a favourite in our group as friends, as backed up by Sarah on my last post!

So, for those of you who love chocolate cake as much as I, here is the recipe.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

The cake

• 4 oz butter
• 4 oz sugar
• 8 oz golden syrup
• 1 level tsp bicarb of soda
• 5 fluid oz milk
• 8 oz plain flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 oz cocoa

The fudge icing (not used on my cupcakes in previous post - that was plain old butter icing)

• 1/2 oz cocoa
• 6 oz icing sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 oz butter

The method

• Preheat oven to 375° F
• Melt butter, sugar, syrup and milk together gently until the sugar is fully dissolved
• Sift cocoa, bicarb and flour into large bowl
• Add melted mixture to dry ingredients
• Mix well together
• Add egg a bit at a time and mix thoroughly
• Pour into cake tin(s) and into oven for 20 - 30 mins or until firm and spongy to the touch
• For the fudge icing, melt the water and butter together
• Sieve cocoa and sugar together
• Add to the melted mixture
• Pour over cakes when they are fully cool and allow to dry

Now there are a few provisos I would like to add here:

1. This is the original recipe as I have written it down here but these days, after making it for nearly 30 (!!!) years, I make it a little bit by instinct.
   
2. I think that the icing is never enough and I often make double.
   
3. I also remember adding more icing sugar in if it feels a bit runny.
   
4. In the past, we used to put the icing on the cake while it was just warm and then the icing would melt into the cake a bit - soft and gooey!
   
5. I only have the original Fahrenheit temperature but I suppose I use about 180° or 190° degrees today in my Celsius fan oven and I don't really time it - just by eye.
   
6. I used to use this amount for a 7" cake tin and I am not sure if I made two and then layered them. I know that when I made cupcakes with it, it was enough for 6 large muffin cases.
   
7. The cake has a tendency to rise very high in the middle and even "break" out. If I was coating it with icing, I would always just cut that off and eat it straight away!
   
8. And of course, the quantities are all British Imperial (I made sure I brought scales with me from the UK for just such recipes but I suppose I could covert it to grams if I made the effort!)

And the result is always a winner - try it out and let me know!