Chocolate Cake

A classic chocolate cake recipe from Bernadette Hogg, NZ House & Garden’s food writer and baking expert. Bernadette made this cake at the NZ House & Garden reader event held at the Jo Malone flag ship store in Auckland's Britomart.

Chocolate Cake
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups sugar
½ cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Finely grated zest of an orange
2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup of strong coffee (cooled)

Preheat the oven to 175 C.  Grease and line a high sided 18cm cake tin. In a mixing bowl beat the eggs until creamy, add the sugar and beat well.  Gradually beat in the oil followed by the buttermilk, vanilla essence and orange zest.  Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, stir into the wet mixture.  Add the cup of cooled coffee and mix again (if there are a few lumps do not worry, these will disappear when the cake is cooked).  Bake for 70-80 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Allow cake to cool in the tin.  Remove and ice.

Chocolate Icing
150g butter, softened
1 ½  cups icing sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons hot coffee
Place the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder into the bowl of a food processor, blend to combine.  Add the vanilla essence, milk and hot coffee.   Blend until smooth.  (If mixture is too thick add a little additional milk).

Try decoarting the cake with mini meringues. See recipe here