There are lots of chocolate cake recipes online, but some lack that rich chocolatey taste.

Luckily, Mary Berry’s simple sponge cake has exactly that, according to its 130 five-star reviews.

The recipe notes said: “Make a birthday special with Mary Berry’s chocolatiest of chocolate sponge cakes.

“It’s super easy to bake and is covered with a rich, dark chocolate ganache.”

It serves eight people and can be baked and decorated in under one hour.

How to make Mary Berry’s chocolatiest of chocolate sponge cakes

Ingredients

For the cake

50g cocoa powder

Six tablespoons of boiling water

Three free-range eggs

Four tablespoons of milk

175g self-raising flour

One teaspoon of baking powder

100g baking spread

300g caster sugar

For the icing

150g dark chocolate

150ml double cream

Three tablespoons of apricot jam

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins with baking paper.

Put the cocoa powder and boiling water into a large bowl and mix well to make a paste.

Add the remaining ingredients and beat again until combined, taking care not to over-whisk.

Divide the cake mixture between the tins and bake for around 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the icing and filling, measure the chocolate and cream together in a bowl and stand the bowl over a pan of simmering water for 10 minutes, or until melted.

Stir from time to time and then set aside and leave to cool. Once baked, remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, turn them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

When it’s decorating time, spread the tops of each cake with apricot jam and then fill the cakes with half of the icing and spread the remainder on top.

Draw large “S” shapes over the cake with a palette knife to give it a lovely swirl effect.