Chocolate Sofa Cake Step By Step

buttercream icing Ingredients

140g/5oz butter, softened

280g/10oz icing sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

¼ tsp vanilla extract

few drops food colouring

For the chocolate variation

25g/1oz cocoa powder

75g/2½oz milk or dark chocolate, melted

buttercream icing Method

Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.

Add the remaining icing sugar and one tablespoon of the milk and vanilla extract and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Beat in the remaining milk, if necessary, to loosen the mixture.

Stir in the food colouring, if using, until well combined.

For the orange buttercream variation, omit the milk and vanilla from the basic recipe. Stir in the orange zest and juice until thoroughly combined.

For the chocolate variation, omit the milk from the basic recipe. Cream the butter and sugar, as above, also adding the cocoa powder. Allow the melted chocolate to cool for 10 minutes before adding to the whipped butter and sugar. Beat until well combined.

Chocolate italian sponge cake Ingredients

120 grams (½ cup+1½ tablespoon) granulated sugar

4 extra large eggs at room temperature

100 grams (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons – if you use all-purpose flour, 100 grams = 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon) cake flour sifted

20 grams (3 tablespoons) unsweetened cocoa powder

INSTRUCTIONS

Take the eggs out from the fridge ahead of time or soak them for a few minutes in a bowl of warm water.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C (338 degrees F).

Butter and flour a 20 cm (8 inch) pan, or spray it with baking spray.

Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer.

Beat the eggs until very fluffy and pale yellow (about 15 minutes on medium/high speed). To test that it has been beaten enough, let some of the mixture fall into the bowl; if it remains “sitting” on top, that means that it’s ready.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder on top of the egg mixture, a little at a time, and fold it gently with a wooden spoon, from bottom to top.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Don’t smooth the top or bang the pan on the counter; leave it as it is!

Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Don’t open the oven for the first 20 minutes!)

Turn off the oven but leave the chocolate Italian sponge cake inside for at least 10 minutes so it can cool down slowly (put a wooden spoon in the oven door to keep it slightly open). After that, remove it from the oven, let it cool for 10 more minutes, loosen around the edges with a knife, and then flip the cake on a wire rack upside down (without the pan) to cool completely.

Enjoy!