Chocolate cake

1. Beat butter until soft and fluffy, add sugar, and beat until creamy, add vanilla essence, and 1 egg at a time, mixing well after each addition.
2. Sift flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl, then fold in a little at a time into the butter mixture.
3. Add milk to the mixture.
4. Divide into 2 round 23cm tins that are greased, smooth down the mixture in tins with a spoon, and bake for 15-17 min at 180C.
5. Cool in tins for 10 min before turning out, and cool thoroughly.
6. Icing:
7. I don’t really measure when I do the icing. 
8. Cream butter, add the icing sugar a little at a time.
9. Add the vanilla essence, then the cocoa powder, and set aside.
10. The cream I whipped them with an electric whisk.
11. Add a splash of vanilla essence and ±1tsp icing sugar and fold it in (if you use it, as I didn’t add it as the butter icing and ganache topping is richly sweet).

Filling:

1. Before sandwiching the two layers with fresh whipped cream, cover it with chocolate buttercream icing.

Chocolate ganache:

1. Place 250ml fresh cream in a pot over medium heat, let it warm through but not boil.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Add 200g dark chocolate, let it sit for 5 min, then stir well.
4. Cool before pouring over the iced cake and decorate as desired.