With Coronation day just around the corner, I’ve been planning some delicious (and easy to make) homemade treats. My whole family will be coming over to celebrate and I wanted to prepare something everyone could enjoy. You know I’m no chef, but I can bake a mean chocolate sponge cake with buttercream icing – it’s a family favourite and it’s just so easy to make. You can find the recipe below.
Chocolate sponge cake with buttercream icing
For the sponge cake, you’ll need
2 20cm sandwich tins
175g unsalted butter
175g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
50g cocoa powder
100g self-raising flour
1 shot of espresso
a pinch of salt
For the icing, you’ll need
64g unsalted butter, at room temperature
200g icing sugar, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
Preheat your oven to 190C/170C and line two 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment.
Next, grab an electric whisk or a freestanding mixer and combine 175g softened unsalted butter and 175g golden caster sugar in a bowl. Mix until it’s creamy and light in colour. Don’t forget to add 1 large egg while you’re mixing!
Sieve 50g cocoa powder, 100g self-raising flour, and a pinch of salt into another bowl. Add a third of that dry mixture to your wet ingredients and mix well. Once that’s combined, toss in 1 more large egg, your shot of espresso and another third of the flour mixture. Give it a good mix!
Add 1 more large egg and the remaining flour, and beat until you have a smooth, thick batter. If your batter feels a bit stiff, just add a splash of milk to loosen it up.
Now, divide the mixture between your tins – I use the back of a spoon to smooth and even out the top
Time to pop them in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they’re springy to the touch. When they’re ready, take them out of the oven. Wait for about 10 minutes before putting them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
In the meantime, you can start making the icing. Place softened butter into a large mixing bowl. Mix, using an electric whisk or a freestanding mixer then slowly add the icing sugar. Add the vanilla extract and lastly the milk. Keep mixing for a couple more minutes and you’re done! Spread the icing in between the two cake halves and over the top.
I usually add some juicy raspberries but cherries and strawberries are delicious too.
xx,
