The recipe and model for this SERIOUSLY LUSH cake was provided by Anne-Marie, who was part of our Mail Order Team over the summer. Advanced baking skills is not one of our key criteria for any member of the Hardy's Team (although we all love the results) but we think we struck very lucky with Anne-Marie. DIVE IN AND ENJOY!

Ingredients

125g plain flour

70g of cocoa powder

1.5 tsp baking powder

0.5 tsp salt

200g caster sugar

50g dark chocolate chips

250g icing sugar

110ml vegetable or sunflower oil

3 medium eggs

250g Greek yoghurt

150g unsalted butter

chocolate curls or similar to decorate

Equipment

2 x 18cm round tins

Method

Switch the oven on - 180 degrees Celsius/160 degrees Celsius Fan Over/Gas Mark 4. Then grease both tins and line their bases with baking paper cut to fit their circular bases.

To a large bowl add the plain flour, 45g of the cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and caster sugar and mix to combine the ingredients. Then add 110ml of the vegetable or sunflower oil, the 3 eggs and 200g of the Greek yoghurt. Mix all the ingredients with a whisk to produce a smooth batter.

Pour the batter equally between the two baking tins and bake in the oven for approximately 20-30 minutes. The cake will be ready to come out when a skewer inserted into the sponge comes out clean. Leave the cakes in their tins for around ten minutes to cool down slightly, then remove from the tins and place on wire racks to cool down completely.

When the cakes have completely cooled, start to make a ganache by melting the dark chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring gently to obtain an even and smooth melt. Take the chocolate off the heat and add the rest of the yoghurt, stirring carefully until everything is combined. The ganache may start to harden but gently heat it again over the simmering water to melt it again and make it smooth. Put it to one side.

In a separate large bowl beat the butter until it is light and pale coloured, then add the icing sugar and the remaining 25g of cocoa powder gradually until the resulting buttercream is smooth and thick. Add the ganache and mix carefully until everything is combined. Ideally the buttercream should hold its shape and be stiff enough to pipe. If it is a bit too soft, pop it into the fridge for around ten minutes to harden up. Then add the buttercream to a piping bag with a 2cm snip cut off the point.

Put one sponge on a plate upside down and pipe small peaks in a circular pattern over the area of its base using half the buttercream. Place the other sponge on top right way up and then repeat the pattern of small peaks over the top of the cake. Decorate as required with chocolate curls or similar.