Happy Birthday!

Nothing gets a birthday going like a good ol' gooey chocolate cake. Here's a simple chocolate pound cake layered inside and out with chocolate cream icing..

250 gms of butter
250 gms of castor sugar
250 gms of self-raising flour
4 large eggs separated
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 tsp of baking powder

Separate the eggs when cold - it's easier to separate the yolk and the white when it's cold rather than at room temperature.
Grease a 9-inch round cake tin with some butter or you could use a baking sheet.
Bring the butter to room temperature and beat well with sugar till light and fluffy.
Add in the flour and cocoa powder. Mix well.
Add the yolks and mix well.
Beat the egg whites till you get stiff peaks and fold it into the batter till you get an even consistency.
Add the baking powder and mix well.
Put the batter in the cake tin - be careful not to press down. Lightly push the batter into all the corners.
Bake at 180 degrees C for about 40 minutes or till a fork comes out clean when inserted in the centre.

For the icing
Place 150 gms of cream in a heavy-based pan on a slow flame. Add 150 gms of dark cooking chocolate to the cream stirring constantly. Once the chocolate starts melting, switch off the gas and keep stirring to prevent the cream from catching. Once all the chocolate has melted let it cool down a  bit before icing the cake.

Cut the cake horizontally and slather icing generously on the lower half. Place the other half on top and continue icing smoothing as you go.

I decorated the cake some chocolate shavings and Gems to add some colour as this was for my 3-year old's playschool buddies.