When I was a child I was convinced that my grandmother made the absolute best chocolate cake in the world. She was, in fact, the best baker in the world – and there was always, without fail, something gorgeously fresh, sweet and delicious in the mountain of cake and biscuit tins in her kitchen. She taught all of us to bake and for many years when my children were small, I always made a fresh cake for the weekend – without fail.
I’ve not done that for years now, for many reasons – partly because the boys now bake better than I do, and partly because temptation being what it is: if I bake it we will all eat it and that’s not always good for the waistline. So these days the baking is a treat that’s not for every weekend.
However, Nana’s chocolate cake recipe has stood the test of time – and it makes a mean batch of cup cakes so I thought I would share it with you: (this is a half batch which makes 9 cup cakes. Double it if you want a great chocolate sponge cake)
Cream together:
90g margarine,
125ml cup of sugar
Once the mixture is smooth and creamy, add in:
1 egg
3ml vanilla
Sift together
225ml flour
1ml baking powder
1/2 ml bicarb
15ml cocoa powder
Add to the creamed butter mixture along with 125ml milk.
Place cup cake cases in a muffin tin to help them hold their shape when baking. Half fill the cup cake cases with cake mixture. Bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes. To test, lightly press the top of the cupcake and it should spring back.
(This recipe makes 9 cupcakes – so, 6 for the cup cake contest and 3 to test – naturally)
If you do want to enter the cup cake competition, entry forms can be collected from the shop, or downloaded here
Posted under Food ideas, Recipes
This post was written by Vandy on August 27, 2009
