Incredibly spongy chocolate cake with a fluffy frosting

This is the perfect excuse for a dinner party. Or for showing off your cooking skills. It's not difficult to make, and the sponge keeps well in the fridge for days, it's so moist it melts in your mouth. You can use this sponge as a base for many cakes. But with this white frosting is delicious and the result is impressive. I have combined two celebrities recipes, Nigella Lawson and Rachel Allen, the sponge is Nigella's and the frosting is Rachel's, I hope they don't mind...

The chocolate sponge:

400 g plain flour

250 g sugar

100 g light muscovado sugar

50g cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

142 ml sour cream or buttermilk

1 tbsp vanilla extract

175 g unsalted butter

125 ml corn oil

300 ml chilled water

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180degrees/gas mark 4. Butter and line two 20cms sandwich tins. In a big bowl, mix the flour, sugars. cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt. In another bowl or jug whisk the eggs, sour cream and vanilla. In another bowl and withan electric mixer beat the butter and corn oil, then beatin the water. Sift one third of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then pour one third of the eggs mixture, and continue combining a third at a time until all is combined, pour in the prepared tins and bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer comes away clean. Cool in the tins for 15 more minutes, then turn them onto a rack.

White frosting:

2 egg whites

200g sugar

50g golden syrup (or honey or maple syrup)

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

2tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all the ingredients except the vanilla extract in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) and whisk with an electric mixer of by hand until you get soft peaks. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla extract and continue whisking until the mixture gets stiffer. Now you have to work quickly, ice the middle of one of the cakes, and place on top of the other one, ice the top and sides of the cakes, and fluff it up to form little peaks. Allow 30 minutes for the frosting to get harder. Serve, eat and enjoy...