Cuisine – Chocolate cake with fresh fruit

This cake is moist, rich, and chocolatey. A great treat to spoil Mum with this Mother’s Day.

1½ cups soft brown sugar
3 eggs (separated)
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
125ml Canola oil
100ml boiling water

Icing: 250g cream cheese
50g butter (room temp)
3 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ tsp almond essence
Pinch of salt
Food colouring (your choice)
Fresh fruit

Preheat oven to 180° Celsius. Grease and line three 15cm (6 inch) cake tins with baking paper. In an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together sugar and egg white until light and fluffy, add the vanilla. This can also be done by hand. While the egg white is mixing, sift all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix the egg yolks, oil and boiling water until just combined. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, making sure all the ingredients are well combined. Fold in the egg white mixture. Do not overfold, as that will reduce the air in the mixture. Scoop the mixture into the cake tins, dividing them evenly between the three. Bake for around 30 minutes until risen and golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Once out of the oven, leave to cool completely before removing from the tin. While the cake cools, prepare the icing by beating the cream cheese and butter together until smooth, add the icing sugar, 1 cup at a time while the mixer is mixing on low speed (or mix by hand).  Now add the salt, vanilla and almond essences. Whip for about three minutes on medium speed (or by hand) until light and fluffy. Colour the icing with your desired food colouring. Assemble the cake by placing 1 layer of cake on a cake board or plate and pipeing some icing on, then add another layer of cake and more icing. Top with the final layer of cake, decorating it with icing in a nice rose swirl or pattern. Add fresh fruit to round off your creation and make it look pretty. The cake can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days.