Chocolate Sponge

This is basically the Old School Jam and Coconut or Icing and Sprinkles Sponge, with an ounce of flour swapped out for cocoa.

Ingredients

7oz Self Raising Flour

1oz cocoa

8oz soft Butter
8oz sugar
2 level teaspoons of baking powder

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

a little milk

Topping

100g butter, softened

130g icing sugar

3 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp milk

Method

heat oven to 180c and line an 8 inch square tin with greaseproof paper

Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder to a bowl and mix together.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Add the whisked eggs one at a time and continue to mix. Mix on high speed for 2 minutes to get lots of air into the mixture. Then add the vanilla essence and gradually add the flour/cocoa and baking powder mixture gradually. Mix on high for 2 minutes adding a little milk as you go to get a fluffy mixture.
Transfer mixture to the papered tin.

Bake at 180c for 35 – 40 minutes.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
For the icing. Melt the butter in a pan, then remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar, cocoa powder and milk. The icing will be very runny but will thicken a little as it cools.