Someone was asking about simple cake recipes, and I realised that even though I took a photo in May (!) I still hadn’t actually blogged my family’s bog-standard cake (we use it for every occasion—fetes, cake stalls, birthday cakes, you name it…)

So, without further ado, may I present the
Chocolate Simplicity Cake (I think it was originally from a Snowflake flour recipe book and is correctly titled ‘Simplicity Chocolate Cake’—but we never call it that!)

1 cup Self Raising Flour (that’s about a cup of plain flour with about a teaspoon of baking powder, I believe)
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup (125 mls/4 fl oz) milk
a couple of drops vanilla essence
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs

Place all ingredients in a bowl and beat really hard for 3 minutes. It does make quite a ‘wet’ batter. Pour into a greased cake tin and bake in a moderate oven (180˚C/350˚F) for 30-40 minutes.
Allow to cool for a few minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.