Dad's cake

[charliewgc]

So the cake was my go to recipe for chocolate cake - which is Prue Leith's Rich Chocolate Cake recipe and has never ever failed me and is rich and chocolatey and cakey and yummy.

5 tbsp cocoa powder
5 tbsp warm water
12oz soft margarine
12oz caster sugar
6 eggs
1tsp vanilla essence
12oz self-raising flour

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Line and grease a 9 inch cake tin

2. Blend together the cocoa and warm water.

3. Cream the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs, cocoa mixture and vanilla and mix together until combined. Gradually fold in the flour a little at a time until combined. Pour into prepared cake tin.

5. Bake for 50/60 minutes until springy or a skewer comes out clean.

I cut it in half and filled it with a layer of chocolate buttercream and covered the outside with a thin layer of chocolate buttercream.
I cheated a little and bought the chocolate cigarellos that line the outside.

The top is decorated with filled chocolates - all made by me. The white chocolate hearts that spell 70 are filled with chocolate spread and the others are a combination of chocolate spread, smooth peanut butter or cherry jam.

I then surrounded the cake with peanut butter creams, peppermint creams and coffee creams.