Chocolate buttermilk cake

Ready in 1 hour 15 minutes, makes 1 cake. This keeps well and the results are stunning.

• Cocoa, for dusting

• 115g butter

• 125g dark chocolate

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1¾ cups buttermilk

• 3 eggs

• 1¾ cups plain flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp baking powder

• Icing

• 100g butter

• 100g dark chocolate

1. Heat oven to 180°C. Grease a 22cm tin. Dust with cocoa.

2. Heat butter and chocolate carefully in a saucepan stirring on medium temperature. Do not overheat. Take off  heat, add sugar and vanilla straightaway while mix is hot.

3. Whisk in buttermilk and eggs. Add dry ingredients, whisk until just smooth. Pour batter into tin.

4. Bake for 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Turn out on wire rack to cool.

5. Make icing. Heat butter and dark chocolate together in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Pour over cooled cake.

The buttermilk in this cake makes it very moist and it gets better the day after you make it.