Luxury Chocolate Cake

• Pre-heat the oven to 170°/150°C Fan/Gas Mark 3.
• Place the butter and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and beat well for 1-2 minutes using an electric mixer, until the mixture is light and pale.
• Add the remaining sponge ingredients and mix for a further 2 minutes.
• Place into two round 20cm cake tins that have been greased and base-lined with baking parchment
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when lightly touched.
• Leave in the tins until the sponge has cooled before turning out onto a cooling rack.

To make the buttercream and decorate:

• Beat together the butter, icing sugar, vanilla extract, cocoa powder and milk until soft. Place 2 generous tablespoons of mixture in one bowl and 4 into another (the smaller amount for the cake topping and the rest for the cake filling).
• Crumble 4 Chocolate O’s into the buttercream to make the filling. Spread evenly between the sponge layers.
• Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pan of hot water or carefully melt in a microwave.
• Pour the chocolate into the remaining buttercream and mix well. Add more milk if necessary to achieve a soft consistency. Spread this over the top and sides of the cake.
• Decorate the top of the cake with your choice of Schar biscuits.
• 16-17 Chocolate O’s are required to decorate the base of the cake.