Chocolate spice cake
A rich and slightly spicy sponge cake with a very special frosting
Ingredients
- 8 ounces plain flour
- 3 tsp baking powder level teaspoons
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder level tablespoons
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 6 ounces butter or margarine we used Flora vegan butter
- 5 ounces caster sugar
- 2 tbsp golden syrup level tablespoons
- 3 eggs medium
- 3 ounces finely chopped dates or nuts we used half nuts half dates
- 1 tsp angostura bitters
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 4 tbsp milk we used almond milk
For the Port o' Spain frosting
- 10 ounces icing sugar sieved
- 5 ounces butter we used Flora vegan butter
- 1 tsp angostura bitters
- 1 dessert spoon milk we used almond milk
- toasted almonds and glace cherries (optional decoration)
Instructions
- Grease and line 2 x 8 inch sandwich tins
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, gas mark 4
- Sieve the flour, baking powder, spices and cocoa into a bowl
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and smooth
- Add the syrup, then the eggs one at a time, beating well to avoid curdling
- Stir in the dates or nuts, the angostura bitters and the vanilla essence
- Fold in the sieved dry ingredients a little at a time, adding the milk gradually
- Pour the mixture evenly into both sandwich tins
- Bake for 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
- Set aside to cool
For the Port o' Spain frosting
- Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Add the angostura bitters and milk and mix until smooth
- Sandwich a little of the frosting between the two cakes
- Smooth a thin layer of frosting on the top and down the sides of the cake
- Decorate with almonds and cherries