My soon to be eight year old son has asked me to make him a chocolate cake for his birthday party Who knows why!). He also want it to be iced  with white sugar icing and decorated. So I need a good recipe for chocolate cake. Do you think it would be best to use ready-to-roll icing or royal icing? Also, do you think I will still need to put a thin layer of almond paste/marzipan between cake and icing? Thank you in anticipation of all your help.

I need another recipe for a chocolate sandwich cake – I can make lots of other cakes,  but not chocolate – my children are not happy!

Would a competent cook share a great chocolate cake recipe with me??

I am looking for a very moist but delicious chocolate cake recipe. Does anyone know any great ones?

Almonds have been eaten as food, (but not in an almond cake recipe!) for a long time with cultivated almonds appearing as early as 2500 BC – the Early Bronze Age, or even a little earlier.

Some of the most famous archaeological samples of almonds are the fruits found in Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt but these days we are more likely to find them on the top of a cake, as in this recipe, rather than buried alongside our kings and queens.

This almond cake recipe uses a very easy sponge cake topped with almonds, and glazed with honey. The delicious homemade cake is nice and nutty with a hint of honey from the glaze. It is a very easy and quick cake recipe to follow. Try different honeys for a slight variation in flavour.

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Ingredients

3oz…85g soft butter, or margarine
3oz…85g light brown sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten
6oz…175g self-raising flour
(or plain flour with baking powder added)
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp milk
2 tbsp clear honey
2oz..60g flaked almonds

For the glaze:
8oz…225g clear honey
2 tbsp lemon juice

One greased and lined 7in/18cm round cake tin

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Preheat the oven to 180 deg C, 350 deg F, Gas Mark 4.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the beaten eggs, margarine, brown sugar, milk and honey. Beat with a wooden spoon for about one minute to produce a well blended cake mixture with a soft dropping consistency – that is, the mix should just drop from the wooden spoon when tapped on the side of the mixing bowl.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level the surface with a knife or the back of a spoon. Scatter the sliced almonds in a single layer on the top of the cake, or arrange them in a neat and tidy pattern if you wish!

Transfer the cake to the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes until springy to the touch, or until a skewer, or similar, comes out clean from the centre of the cake.

While the cake is baking make the glaze by mixing the lemon juice and honey in a small pan and heating gently for a few minutes. Test the glaze by pouring it over the back of a spoon to see if it leaves a sticky coating.

Remove the cake from the oven when cooked and while still hot, pour the glaze over the cake. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the tin and leave to cool completely before serving this delicious homemade cake.

This easy chocolate cake recipe is based on a very easy sponge cake. It produces a very nice cake with only a few minutes preparation and should work for you even if you’ve never made a cake before in your life. Why not have a go at making this easy chocolate cake and impress your friends and family.

Easy Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

4 oz…110g self raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
4 oz…110g soft margarine at room temperature
4 oz…110g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbs cocoa powder

For the filling

2 oz…55g butter or quality margarine
4 oz…110g icing/confectioners’ sugar
1 rounded tbs cocoa powder
A little milk (approx 2 teaspoons)

Two 7 in (18cm) cake tins, at least 1.5in (4cm) deep, greased and bases lined with greaseproof/waxed paper

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Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 3, 170 deg C, 325 deg F.

This is a really easy chocolate cake to make. Sift the baking powder and flour into a large mixing bowl. Next, make sure the margarine is soft, then simply add all the other ingredients to the bowl and beat them well until everything is thoroughly mixed together. An electric hand mixer will give better results. The mixture should just drop off a wooden spoon when tapped on the side of the bowl, so if needed mix in 1-2 teaspoons of warm water to get the right consistency.

Put half the mixture in each of the prepared tins and place on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for about thirty minutes. The top of the sponge should be springy to the touch when cooked.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. Put the margarine, sieved icing sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and mix it together with a little milk until it’s very smooth.

When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for about a minute. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn the sponges out onto a wire rack to cool. Carefully remove the lining paper and when completely cool spread the filling onto one sponge and sandwich together. To finish, dust the top with icing/confectioners’ sugar if you like.

Stand back and admire your easy chocolate cake masterpiece!