Chocolate Cloud cake

I made this cake for my flatmate's Birthday - a few things went wrong with it, but I'm sure practice makes perfect!

Recipe taken from "Sam Stern's Student Cookbook" (AKA my food bible!)

Ingredients;
- 110g/4oz soft butter
- 110g/4oz Caster Sugar
- 2 eggs
- 110g/4oz self-raising flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp drinking chocolate powder
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the Icing
- 50g/2oz melted chocolate
- 110g/4oz soft butter
- 225g/8oz sifted icing sugar
- 2tbsp milk (if necessary!)

Before you start, it is very important to make sure you have the right sized cake tin - it really does make a HUGE difference to the outcome of the cake. This recipe wants a 7 inch (18cm) cake tin - I used an 8 inch tin, which made the cake flat and miserable :( If you really want to use a larger tin, adjust the recipe accordingly, however you will have to keep a careful eye on the cooking time, as this will be altered too.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Line the base of 2 cake tins - although you can grease them, using baking parchment is a much, much better alternative. Your cake is less likely to stick as you can carefully peel the parchment away :)

Either beat all ingredients with an electric mixer, or, if you don't have one, first beat the butter and sugar for three minutes until light and creamy. Next, beat in the eggs gradually, and finally add the dry ingredients, the milk, and the vanilla essence.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tins, making sure the mixture is evenly spread. Bake for 20-25 minutes until springy. Do not burn yourself when taking the cakes out, like I did. WEAR OVEN GLOVES.

To make the icing; melt the chocolate (you can either do this in the microwave or on top of a pan of gently simmering water. It is important not to let any water or steam into the chocolate, as this will destroy it. I always prefer to use the microwave for this reason. I blast it at a medium setting for 30 seconds until nearly melted, then I let the last bits melt on their own. It's important to stir between blasts in the microwave, as chocolate keeps it's shape when melted!)

Beat the butter until creamy, and gradually add the icing sugar. Stir in the melted chocolate, and add milk if necessary. Use to sandwich the layers together and spread on top. Decorate with sweets and stuff! I used leftover melted choccie, some jazzies, and 'chalk' letters! I also dusted some plain icing sugar over the top.