Pearl’s Chocolate Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/ gas mark 4. 
2. Line a cake tin with greaseproof paper, or grease the tin with butter. 
3. Whisk together the butter and sugar in a bowl until the sugar is mixed in with the butter. 
4. Sift in the flour.
5. Add the 2 eggs and whisk the mixture together until smooth. 
6. Put the cocoa powder in a separate bowl and add boiling water, bit by bit, until the cocoa powder becomes a paste. 
7. Add the chocolate paste to the mixture. Whisk together until the paste is incorporate with the mixture. 
8. Put the mixture in the cake tin and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. 
9. Whilst the cake is baking, melt the chocolate. To do this, put the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water on a low lit hob. Make sure no water can get into the bowl of chocolate. 
10. Once melted, remove the chocolate from the heat.
11. Add the icing sugar and milk to the melted chocolate. Mix together with either a whisk or fork. (You may need to add more icing sugar if the chocolate icing is too runny to be placed on a cake). 
12. Once baked, take the cake out the oven. To check the sponge is properly baked, prod it with a skewer and see if the skewer comes out clean. If so, the cake is baked! 
13. Leave the cake to cool. 
14. Place the cooled cake on a plate and top with icing. (Spare icing can be used as chocolate sauce for the cake). 

Try topping your cake with raspberries to add colour and decoration!