Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups plain / all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (, unsweetened (Note 2))
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda (bi-carb soda)
• 2 cups white sugar ((Note 1))
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs ((~55-65g / 2 oz each))
• 1 cup milk ((low or full fat))
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil ((or canola))
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 batches Chocolate Buttercream Frosting ((slide scaler on recipe))

Steps

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 180C°/350°F (160°C fan). Read Note 4 regarding shelf positions.

2. 2

   Grease 2 x 22cm/9" cake pans with butter, then line the base. (Note 3 re: springform pans and other pan sizes).

3. 3

   Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl. Add Sugar and salt. Whisk briefly to combine.

4. 4

   Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Whisk well to combine until lump free - about 30 seconds.

5. 5

   Add boiling water and whisk to incorporate. The batter is VERY thin (see video).

6. 6

   Pour batter into cake pans.

7. 7

   Bake for 35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. See Note 4 regarding cook time if pans are on different shelves.

8. 8

   Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks upside down (Note 5).

9. 9

   Cool completely before frosting. I frosted the cake with my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (scale recipe up by 50%).