Chocolate & Pale Ale cake!

Light moist chocolatey cake-yum! The recipe is simple and the icing absolutely spectacular!

Ingredients:

Cake:

300ml pale ale

75g cocoa powder

270g plain flour

1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

165g unsalted butter

400g DARK soft brown sugar

3 eggs

Icing:

75g unsalted butter

3 tablespoons of ale

2 tablespoons of milk

175g dark chocolate

170g icing sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and sugar.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the butter and sugar in a food processor and blend.

Pour the mixture into 2 greased cake tins (23 cm) evenly, and cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until it has shrunk from the sides of the tin and is springy to touch.

Take the cake out of the oven and let it stay in the tin for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat the butter and sugar together until a butter icing is made.

In a bain marie melt the chocolate.

When completely melted, take the chocolate out of the bain marie and add the butter icing and all of the liquid.

Fold the mixture until you get a smooth consistency.

Spread over the cooled cake.

Leave the icing to firm up before you eat the cake (I know this will be hard!)

Enjoy!

Variations:

Use beer or stout for a richer, heavier and more decadent cake.