I have never finished decorating as fast as I did today. As soon as it got in the oven, the kids started their �Is it done yet?� routine. My daughter Lea even gave me a heart attack by opening the oven while the cake was still baking! Thankfully it had been there for only a few minutes ?
So, now for the amazing recipe from @sugaretal:
1/2 cup c
/2 cup boiling water (125 ml)
125 g unsalted butter, softened
11/4 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup plain flour
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease 3, 6 inch baking pans and line the bases with non-stick baking paper.
Mix the cocoa powder and boiling water form a smooth, thick paste. Leave aside.
Use an electric mixer or by hand,beat the butter, sugar and vanilla essence together for 1-2 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until combined,
Sift together the flours. Use a large metal spoon to fold the flours into the butter mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture, in 2 batches each, until well combined. Divide the mixture equally between the 3 prepared pans. Smoothen the surface with the back of the spoon.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Stand for 3 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
Once cooled completely, frost with chocolate fudge frosting, either by spreading the frosting with a spoon or piping it onto the cake layers. Decorate with fresh raspberries.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
120 gms unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup (150 gms) unsalted butter, room temperature
11/3 cups (160 gms) icing sugar sifted
11/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy(about 1 min). Add the sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy(about 2 min). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is smooth and glossy (about 2-3 min).
