Chocolate Cherry Cake

Ingredients

50g cocoa powder

100ml boiling water

100g margarine (baking spread)

250g caster sugar

4 eggs

200g self raising flour

200g glace cherries

To decorate 

300g unsalted butter

600g icing sugar

50g cocoa powder

Cherries

 

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Grease and line two 8 inch cake tins and line with baking paper (parchment paper)

2) Start by mixing your cocoa powder with your boiling water to make a paste. Next, mix your margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Then fold in your eggs one at a time. If your mixture curdles add a tablespoon of your flour to bring it back together. Next, fold through your flour, glace cherries and cocoa powder mixture to form a cake batter.

3) Divide the mixture between your cake tins and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow your cakes to cool.

4) Once cool whip your butter for 5 minutes until light fluffy and pale. Then fold through your icing sugar and cocoa powder. You are left with a super easy buttercream. Once your cakes are cool sandwich them with buttercream in-between.

5) Transfer your left over buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a 1M or 2D piping nozzle and pipe blobs of buttercream onto the top of your cake by wrapping around. Finish with a cherry on-top of each mound of buttercream.