I was originally given this recipe by Vicky Bowman. It was her mother’s recipe. A cake that was made on school camps because it used basic ingredients but created a decadent and fudgy cake perfect for feeding a crowd. It has since become our ‘birthday cake’ getting decorated differently every time it’s pulled out of the oven.
The great thing about this cake is you can make one large roasting tray cake, two smaller round ones, or even muffins. Once cooked it also freezes well.
Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cook time - 1 hour
Serves - makes one large cake, two smaller cakes or 24 muffins
Ingredients:
4 cups plain white flour
2 cups white sugar
1 cup cocoa
1 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp salt
1 cup neutral oil
1/2 cup white vinegar
3 tbsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups cooled coffee (or water)
Method:
In your largest mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
Make a well in the middle and pour in the oil, vinegar, vanilla extract, and coffee. Slowly whisk to combine until the batter is smooth and free of any lumps.
Pour into your cake tin of choice and bake for an hour for a large cake, 45 minutes for two smaller cakes, or 15 minutes for muffins at 170°C.
Allow to cool and ice and decorate as you like. Even a sprinkling of icing sugar and a scoop of ice cream over a warm slice is delicious.
My usual go-to chocolate icing is:
50g softened butter
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp boiling water
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
