Chocolate Fudge cake

Just like the sort you get in restaurants and very easy to boot. Serve with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce or make a chocolate frosting and serve as ‘real’ cake. Adapted from a Gordon Ramsay recipe.

Ingredients

• 125g butter (room temperature)
• 50g cocoa powder
• 225g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 3 large eggs
• 125g self raising flour

Preparation

In a small bowl combine the cocoa powder and half the sugar. Boil 100ml water. Gradually stir the boiling water into the cocoa and sugar until you get a smooth runny paste.

In another bowl beat the butter and remaining sugar until pale and creamy (use electric mixer if you’ve got one!). Add the vanilla essence. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Be warned this looks like scrambled eggs!

Fold in flour and stir thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate paste.

Use a large non-stick cake tin (20cm) or line the base of a non-stick one with greased greaseproof paper. Pour the mixture into the tin.

Cook at 140′c (fan) for 30-35 mins. Check after 20 mins.

Cool in the tin for 10 mins before removing to a cooling rack until totally cold.

I found this cake freezes very well too.