Recipe Index

Ingredients

• 1¾oz cocoa powder
• 6 tbsp boiling water
• 3 free-range eggs
• 4 tbsp milk
• 6oz self-raising flour
• 1 rounded tsp baking powder
• 3½oz baking spread or soft butter
• 10½oz golden caster sugar
• 5½oz dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
• ¼ pint double cream
• 3 tbsp apricot jam

Method

1. Heat the oven to 350°F, grease two deep 8 in sandwich tins, and line their bases with baking paper.
2. Mix the cocoa powder with the boiling water in a large bowl to make a smooth paste and leave it for a minute or two to cool slightly.
3. Add the eggs, milk, self-raising flour, baking powder, baking spread or soft butter and golden caster sugar to the cocoa paste and beat everything with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined, without overmixing.
4. Divide the chocolate sponge batter equally between the two prepared tins and level their tops.
5. Bake the sponges for 25 to 30 minutes, until they are well risen and beginning to shrink away from the sides of their tins.
6. While the cakes bake, melt the dark chocolate pieces with the double cream in a bowl over gently simmering water, stirring occasionally, then leave the ganache off the heat for at least 30 minutes until it is thick but still spreadable.
7. Turn the baked sponges out onto a wire rack after 10 minutes in their tins and let the layers cool completely.
8. Spread the top of one cold sponge with the apricot jam, cover the jam with half of the chocolate icing, set the second sponge on top, and spread the rest of the ganache over the finished cake.

Prep: 1 h · Cook: 1 h

Nutrition (per serving, where published)

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient data