Ultimate Chocolate Birthday Cake

After an action packed weekend it's nice to finally have time to share this delicious recipe for my ultimate chocolate birthday cake. Sometimes when it comes to birthday cake, I can take it or leave it, particularly when the cake is dry or too 'sponge' like which is often the case with shop bought cakes. I came across a variation of this cake on the Odlums website and decided to double the chocolate and change the icing. The result is an incredibly moist and light chocolate cake thanks to the unusual addition of natural yoghurt! The cake itself went down a treat for my wonderful Mom's birthday on Friday evening, with not a crumb left by Saturday evening. You know a cake is good when it seems like a perfectly acceptable choice for breakfast!

Ultimate Chocolate Birthday Cake

Ingredients
175g Self-raising flour
250g milk chocolate
175g butter (room temperature)
200g light brown sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
250g low fat natural yoghurt.

For the icing
200g condensed milk
400g icing sugar
60g dark brown sugar
60g butter (melted)
2 teaspoons of coffee
Sprinkles for decoration.

Method
For the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Grease two 8 inch sandwich tins.
2. Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl, set over a pot of boiling water. 
3. In a free-standing mixer, mix together the sugar, butter until pale and creamy. Next add the 
    vanilla essence, follow by the eggs one at a time (mixing after each addition).
4. Next stir in the melted chocolate and yoghurt. Continue to stir until well combined.
5. Finally gently fold the flour into the mixture using a metal spoon.
6. Divide the mixture between the two tins and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until 
    golden brown and firm to touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the 
    tins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a gentle heat. Add the sugar and continue to stir until 
    dissolved. Next add the condensed milk and coffee heat gently, stirring continuously.
2. Remove from the heat and using a hand held mixer, add the icing sugar a little at a time. 
    Continue to whisk the icing until light and fluffy. If the mixture becomes too stiff just add a 
    teaspoon or two of water.

E-D's Notes
I got this fantastic pack of sprinkles in Aldi during the week for a nifty €1.49. The package contained 4 separate compartments, each packed with a different variety of chocolate topping  Perfect for cake decorating or even ice-creams or cupcakes.