Rich Chocolate Birthday Cake

A friends birthday, the perfect excuse to make a giant chocolate cake. I doubled the recipe below to make 2 chocolate cakes, stacked them on top of each other and added a generous layer of icing in between the cakes. I also added a sprinkling of Lindt milk chocolate flakes on the top. It reminds me of that cake in Roald Dahl's 'Matilda' that Bruce Bogtrotter was forced to eat. I can't wait to have a slice tonight after dinner...

Ingredients

185g butter

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1 3/4 cups castor sugar

3 eggs

2 cups self raising flower

2/3 cup cocoa

1 cup water

CHOCOLATE ICING

90g dark chocolate, chopped

30g butter

1 cup icing sugar

2 tablespoons hot water, approx.

Method

Grease a deep 23cm round cake pan, line base with paper; grease paper. 

Combine butter, essence, sugar, eggs, sifted flour and cocoa and water in a large bowl. 

Beat on low speed with electric mixer until ingredients are combined. 

Increase speed to medium beat for about 3 minutes or until mixture is smooth and changed in colour. 

Spread into prepared pan. 

Bake in moderate oven for about 1 1/2 hours. 

Stand 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool. 

Spread cold cake with icing. 

CHOCOLATE ICING

Melt chocolate and butter in bowl over hot water. 

Gradually stir in sifted icing sugar. 

Then stir stir in enough hot water to mix to a spreadable consistency.