This is an old favourite of mine that my Mum used to make for me on my birthday. The sponge is light & fluffy and provides an excellent base for wide variety of toppings and decoration.

Ingredients

• 100g self-raising flour
• 15g cocoa powder
• 60g caster sugar
• 60g soft margarine
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tbs milk

• 125g icing sugar
• 100g soft margarine
• 1.5 tps lukewarm water

Preparation Method

Preheat your oven to 190°C. Line two 20cm circular cake tins with baking parchment and grease the sides with a little margarine.

Cream the margarine and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Slowly add the cocoa powder, flour, egg, and milk. Divide the cake batter between the two cake tins.

Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. I have a fan-assisted oven and usually 20-25 minutes is more than enough.  When the cakes are baked, turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, cream the icing sugar and margarine, adding a touch of warm water if the mixture is too dry. When the cakes are cool, generously spread the buttercream over one of the cakes to a thickness of about 1cm. Place the other cake on top and dust with icing sugar.

Rather than dusting with icing sugar, my Mum would top the cake with chocolate icing (1 tbs of icing sugar, 1 tps cocoa powder, some cold water; mix the lot) and decorate with hundreds & thousands or glacier cherries or Smarties. Let your imagination run free.