Ingredients

Method

• 350 g cake flour
• 300 g caster sugar
• 4 t baking powder
• 4 T cocoa
• salt, a pinch
• 4 large free-range eggs, separated
• 1 cup sunflower oil, plus 2 T
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water, plus 2 T
for the icing:
• 300 g icing sugar
• 2 T cocoa
• 1/3 cup milk
• 60 g butter

Method

Ingredients

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line 2 x 20 cm springform baking tins.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, oil and vanilla, then incorporate into the dry ingredients.
3. Add the boiling water and stir in quickly so the egg yolks don’t go lumpy.
4. Beat the egg whites until firm peaks form, then fold into the mixture. Divide the mixture between the cake tins. Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.
5. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Heat the milk and butter together in a saucepan until the butter has melted, then whisk into the dry ingredients.

Cook's note: If baking cupcakes, adjust the cooking time to between 15 - 20 minutes per batch, or until a skewer comes out clean. The recipe yields 12 cupcakes.

Find more cake recipes here.

Photograph: Andrea Van Der Spuy