Happy Chocolate Cake Day! No, I haven't made that up – January 27 really is National Chocolate Cake Day in the US, and that's one celebration I'm happy to tag along with!
Everyone loves a good chocolate cake, and when it comes to chocolate cake recipes they don't get any better than my Ultimate Chocolate Cake. It's consistently one of the most popular recipes on my website (along with my Best-Ever Banana Cake) and I often hear from folks who say they'll never make any other cake.
It's a dense, rich cake that keeps well, which makes it perfect for a special-occasion cake – or for any occasion, in fact!
What I really love about it is that there's no boring creaming butter and sugar involved – you just put all the ingredients in a bowl, mixer or food processor and mix or whizz them to a smooth batter.
Don't be put off by the fact that it contains coffee – you can't really taste it in the finished cake, it just adds a wonderful depth to the chocolate flavour. If you're worried about caffiene, just use decaf or stir a teaspoonful of dark cocoa into boiling water and use that instead.
A few days ago I called into a pharmacy in Queenstown and the team just happened to be tucking into a gorgeous-looking chocolate cake, made using my recipe by one of their young staff. I posted a photo on my Facebook page and before I knew it loads of my Facebook friends were posting photos of the amazing creations they'd made using the same recipe.
I was so blown away by the skill and creativity that went into these cakes that I just had to share some of them here. If you've got a photo you'd like to share, post it on my Facebook page.