This chocolate cake is nothing new. The cake recipe is courtesy of several generations in my family and our staple chocolate cake. And although the frosting is courtesy of The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook it reminds me of the frosting that my grandmother used to cover her chocolate cake (made from this recipe) with when I was a child. It’s not the same recipe (I know for sure she didn’t use Philadelphia in hers) but the taste is very similar.

The only reason I’m posting this cake again is that I’ve re-calculated the measurements to suit a higher cake. The ratio of cake to frosting is just perfect and to me, the cake also has the perfect height.

Chocolate cake with frosting, serves 10

600 ml (480 g) caster sugar

500 ml (300 g) plain flour 

6 tbsp cocoa

4 tsp vanilla

4 tsp baking powder

200 g melted butter

4 eggs

300 ml just-boiled water

Chocolate frosting

200 g icing sugar

75 g softened butter

30 g cocoa

150 g cream cheese, cold

Pre-heat the oven to 175C, butter and two springforms and line the bottoms with baking parchment. Mix sugar, flour, cocoa and baking powder in a large bowl. Add melted butter, vanilla, egg and water and combine. Divide the batter between the tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool completely. 

Make the frosting: Beat sugar, butter and cocoa with an electric whisk. Add the cream cheese and beat until you have a glossy and even frosting.

Remove the cakes from the tins and remove the baking parchment. Place one cake round upside down on the cake plate and cover with half the frosting. Place the next cake round on top – also upside down – and cover with the rest of the frosting. Decorate with confetti sprinkles and serve.