No Fail Basic Chocolate Cake recipe - Christmas Baking!!

Starting this week, i plan to post various cakes that define the festive season. I'm kick-starting the holiday baking season with this basic chocolate cake. This is so easy to make, and the best part is you can transform it into any sort of cake you fancy, Carrot Cake, Chocolate Chips Cake, Banana Cake, Rum & Raisins Cake, the list goes on. The pain version is my son's current  favorite, but then me being me, i sneak in some carrot, some beets, bananas..from time to time or rather, most time ;D.

So really, the possibility of making fruit or veggie cake is endless with this basic base. Also, i intentionally use veg' oil instead of butter in most of my baking, and for me, with the exception of pound cakes, i prefer the lightness of oil to butter in my cakes. 

Anyway, by the time this cake was shot, my son had mowed down some of the cake ;D, this cake can serve a generous slice for 10 people. I would advice you to keep it covered to avoid the top drying out, but, in case that does happen, make fine cake crumbs using your fingers, sprinkle it on the base of a serving bowl , drop a generous dollop of vanilla ice-cream on top, then drizzle a bit of honey or chocolate syrup....yum!!! yum!!! Desert is served. Try it out!!

Ingredients:

1 Cup - Plain Flour

1 Tsp - Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp - Baking Soda

1 Tbsp - Cocoa Powder

1/2 Cup - Sugar

1/2 Cup - Veg' Oil

3 Tbsp - Plain Curd/Yogurt

2 - Eggs

1 Tsp - Real Vanilla Essence

Ingredients:

Preheat the oven at 180 degree C. Grease a 12/2 inch round cake tin and keep aside (line the base if you want to, i never do :)).

Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and keep aside.

In a bowl, add the sugar and oil and mix with a hand mixer, add the eggs one at a time and blend till well combined.

Now add the vanilla essence and curd into the wet ingredients, mix, then add the dry ingredients, mix with a spatula to combine, then blend with the hand blender to give it a smooth texture.

Pour the cake batter into the cake tin, and bake it for about 25 - 30 minutes.

Check for done-ness at about 25 minutes. Once done, let cool in the tin till the base is cool enough to handle. Then transfer it into a rack to cool it even further. Cut and serve.