mitzireddy

Since returning from my holiday,which is nearly 6 weeks ago,I hardly did much baking –this is a looong time for someone like me who has a sweet tooth. When I mentioned this to my sister – she very wisely put this down to my having eaten a lot of decadent sweet goodies during my trip which had satisfied my sweet cravings .

She is right – both my children still tried to feed me stuff that I just had to taste right up to the day that I was leaving.

 The urge for something sweet has raised its head again – and it had to be a chocolate cake. I chose this recipe which is an old favorite of mine because it is quick and easy to put together – its hand mixed and the ingredients are everyday items.

The cake is rich, moist and satisfying with a delicious icing. This cake gets demolished at great speed – I just managed to save a piece to take a picture for this post.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERMILK CAKE

Serves 8 – 10

125g butter

125ml oil

30ml cocoa powder

250ml water

500ml flour

400ml sugar

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

5ml bicarbonate of soda

5ml vanilla essence

125ml buttermilk

Icing

60ml butter

30ml cocoa powder

30ml buttermilk

560ml icing sugar, sifted

5ml vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Grease a ring pan well.

In a pot heat the butter, oil, cocoa powder and water.

When the butter has melted, remove the pot from the heat.

Cool slightly and place in a large mixing bowl.

Add the flour and sugar.

Mix well.

Add the eggs and bicarbonate of soda, vanilla essence and buttermilk.

Mix together.

Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake for approximately 36 minutes in a metal ring pan (29 minutes in a silicone ring pan).

While the cake is baking, prepare the icing.

Melt the butter.

Add the sifted cocoa powder and buttermilk.

Then add the icing sugar and vanilla essence.

Beat until smooth.

When the cake is baked, remove from the oven.

Cool and then pour over the icing.