Very good, very simple chocolate cake with sour cream icing

Plain flour, 2 cups (240g)
Caster sugar, 2 cups (400g)
Cocoa powder, 1/2 cup (50g)
Baking Powder, 1 1/2 tsp
Bicarb, 1 1/2 teaspoons
Salt, ½ tsp
Milk, 1 cup
Eggs, 2
Vegetable oil, 1/2 cup (180mL)
Vanilla extract, 2 tsp
Boiling water or hot coffee, 1 cup (240ml)

Semisweet chocolate, 1 cup (170g)
Unsalted butter, 6 tablespoons (85g)
Vanilla extract, 1 1/2 tsp
Salt /4 tsp
Icing sugar, 3 1/2 cups (396g)
Cocoa powder, 1/4 cup (21g)
Sour cream, 3/4 cup (170g), cold

For the cake:

Line two 24cm (9 inch) cake tins with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius (fan-forced).

Combine and whisk the dry ingredients.

Combine and whisk the wet ingredients, except for the water.

Add the hot water and whisk.

Pour into the two cake tins and bake for 30 minutes or it passes the toothpick test.

Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the tin on a cooling rack.

Remove from the tin and allow to completely cool before icing.

For the icing:

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a microwave (do this in short bursts or 20 seconds to avoid burning the chocolate).

Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix will in a stand mixer.

Combine the sifted icing sugar with the cocoa and gradually add to the chocolate sour cream mixture.

Mix on quite a high speed until well combined.

Ice the cakes after the have cooled completely.

This cake is also great with ganache instead of the sour cream icing.