My Big Nutshell's Hurried Mum's Chocolate Cake

I get excited when Kate Says Stuff send out her monthly Menu Monday reminder. Even more exciting is that Kate is doing a systems junkie series . Good routines and systems help take the pressure off busy mum's, it helps to know what happens next.  It keeps focus and order. Today Kate is talking about how she meal plans and her system for baking healthy treats on a Sunday which avoids pre-packaged snacks in her children's lunch boxes.

To keep in the theme of recipes that are helpful, I am sharing my FAVOURITE & EASY chocolate cake recipe. I cook it regularly and I love it because it doesn't take long and all ingredients are in your pantry/fridge. You'd say it is a 'go to' recipe, there is no fail about it.

It's just what you need with last minute guests or something yum and cheap to nom-nom during any event during the week. The kids love it! Have I talked it up enough? Ohh and I am teaching you one of my special baking techniques that makes 'lining' a cake tin easy to! Bonus that I have made the recipe a downloadable document to print off for your recipe binder! Score!

Hurried Mum's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup self raising flour
2/3 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (extract preferable over imitation)
125g butter - softened
1/2 cup milk

icing
75g butter softened
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk


Method

1. Preheat oven on 160 degrees

2. Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl, then add all remaining ingredients.

3. Mix with electric beaters on low speed until combined. Increase speed to high and beat for 1 minute.

4. Spread mixture into a greased and lined 20cm round cake tin *(see below for how to make a cartouche to line your cake tin). Cook for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out cleanly.

5. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

6. Make the chocolate icing by beating the butter until smooth, sift in cocoa and icing sugar then add milk slowly. Beat until smooth.

7. When cake is cool use a spatula or flat bladed knife to spread the icing.

* Making a cartouche

The purpose of a cartouche is to keep the moisture in cooking and it also acts as a good way to line a baking tin. I know this because Jamie Oliver said so. Here are his tips from his book Jamie's Kitchen page 174-175.

1. Get yourself a piece of greaseproof paper and tear off a square
2. Fold the square in half
3. And in half again
4. Keep folding the same way so that the tip becomes the centre
5. When it is pretty and pointy you're ready to measure up
6. Hold the tip of the cartouche against the pan to estimate its size, using your thumb as a measure.
7. Cut off the excess
8. Open out onto a circle. You can get away with it being a little larger than the pan. (I like to squish the sides once the batter is in to ensure the cake bakes without the ripples on the side - gemma)

Making a cartouche

To make life easy for you feel free to download and print this recipe.

Check out what other recipes are being shared over at Kate Says Stuff.
Kate launching her Systems Junkie Spring theme and has 7 boxes of Kellogg's cereals up for grabs!
What are you going to try for your next weekly meal plan?