Chocolate cakes can be picked up in any supermarket or bakery, but baking at home is much more fun and rewarding.
Whether you’re having guests round or need a simple treat, Mary Berry’s chocolate cake couldn’t be easier to bake.
With more than 115 five-star ratings on BBC Good Food, this recipe is super popular amongst bakers and has been described as Mary’s “easiest ever” chocolate cake recipe on the site.
It requires just six ingredients and can be tailored with whatever filling you prefer for a delicious weekend treat.
What’s more, it serves eight to 10 people and can be frozen without the filling if you want to make it ahead of time.
Ingredients:
225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
Four eggs
220g self-raising flour
One teaspoon of baking powder
50g cocoa powder
Four tablespoons of apricot jam (optional, for the filling)
300ml whipping cream softly whipped (for the filling)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan and lightly butter two loose-bottomed 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.
Put the eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and cocoa into a large mixing bowl and beat for two minutes, until blended.
Mary recommended using an electric mixer for this, but the mixture can also be beaten using a wooden spoon.
Once combined, divide the mixture evenly between the two tins and level the surface off with a spoon.
Bake the cakes for 25 to 30 minutes before leaving the cakes to cook in the tins for five minutes.
Run a small palette knife around the edge of the tins, then carefully turn the cakes out onto a wire rack, peeling the paper off and leaving them to cool.
While cooling, whip the cream and then spoon it onto the top of one of the cakes along with the jam of your choice, making sure it is level with a knife.
Put the other cake on top and sprinkle with caster sugar or icing sugar to serve.
The recipe notes said: “The chocolate sponge cake layers will freeze, unfilled, well-wrapped in clingfilm, for up to one month.”
Defrost the cake at room temperature before unwrapping it and then filling it with your chosen filling.
