Prep: 30 Minutes

Cook: 20 Minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs
  • 175g self-raising flour
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 175g softened butter
  • 1½ tablespoons baking powder
  • 40g cocoa powder
  • 4 tablespoons boiling water

Chocolate icing Ingredients

  • 150ml (5fl oz) double cream
  • 150g (5oz) plain chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 4 tbsp apricot jam
  • A little icing sugar, to serve

Appliances

  • 2 x 17cm (7 in) deep sandwich tins, greased and lined with non-stick baking paper

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Beat together the eggs, flour, caster sugar, butter and baking powder until smooth in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Put the cocoa in separate mixing bowl, and add the water a little at a time to make a stiff paste. Add to the cake mixture.
  4. Turn into the prepared tins, level the top
  5. bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 mins, or until shrinking away from the sides of the tin and springy to the touch.
  6. Leave to cool in the tin
  7. turn on to a wire rack to become completely cold before icing.
  8. To make the icing: measure the cream and chocolate into a bowl and carefully melt over a pan of hot water over a low heat, or gently in the microwave for 1 min. Stir until melted, then set aside to cool a little and to thicken up.
  9. To ice the cake: spread the apricot jam on the top of each cake. Spread half of the ganache icing on the top of the jam on one of the cakes, then lay the other cake on top, sandwiching them together.