Michala’s chocolate birthday cake
Description
This is a real family recipe. I created it many years ago, when my daughter Michala was a little girl. She loved chocolate, and especially chocolate cakes. She liked them very dark and rich, unlike most other children. So, I created this easy recipe that has lots of flavour and a soft texture. It is a cake most children would like to eat, and it became Michala’s favourite. The cake can be baked a day in advance; it will keep well.
Ingredients
For the cake
For the icing
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
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Butter a 28 cm diameter springform tin.
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Place the butter in a bowl with the chocolate and place over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water.
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Melt the chocolate, then set aside to cool a little.
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Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy, then mix in the cooled chocolate mixture.
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Sift the flour, baking powder, and cocoa into a bowl and stir in the desiccated coconut.
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Fold the flour mixture alternately with the cream into the batter. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them into the batter.
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Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes. Insert a skewer into the centre of the cake; it should emerge clean.
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Let the cake cool in the tin on a wire rack.
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For the icing, melt the chocolate as before.
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Remove from the heat and beat in the butter. Spread the icing over the cake, then scatter over the coconut.
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Serve when the icing has set.