
Celebration chocolate cake
A moist chocolate cake that really can’t go wrong and keeps well for birthday parties. It has wonderful white chocolate icing so the contrast looks stunning too.

Ingredients
- 190g/6½oz self-raising flour
- 150g/5oz caster sugar
- 2 level tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 level tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 free-range eggs
- 150ml/¼ pint sunflower oil
- 150ml¼ pint milk
For the icing
- 200g/7oz white chocolate
- 150ml/¼ pint double cream
- 1 x 125g/4½oz tub full cream cheese

Method
- Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and grease and line with greased greaseproof paper the bases of two 20cm/8in straight-sided loose-bottomed sandwich tins.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the syrup, eggs, oil, and milk, mix with an electric hand whisk, and pour into the tins.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when lightly pressed with your fingertips. Turn out on a wire rack, remove the paper and leave to cool.
- For the icing, break the white chocolate into a bowl. Heat the double cream in a pan, until very hot but not boiling, and pour the hot cream over the white chocolate to melt it. Stir until melted and set aside to cool.
- Spoon the cream cheese into a bowl then gradually add the white chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Set aside to cool a little, until thick enough to ice.
- Spread half of the icing on one cake, sit the other cake on top, and spread the remaining icing on top to give a pretty finish.