Don’t make a fuss they said.  He doesn’t like a fuss.  Well, ok, that’s fine.  I won’t make a fuss in public when we’re out for a meal, but Little B wanted to cook Uncle Mark a cake for his birthday so we did just that and he took it with him when he went round to play with his cousins a few days after his birthday.   They’re his little hands in the picture, proudly holding his cake! As my sister-in-law is a childminder and I knew she’d share it with her little customers I decided against lots of runny icing that would just create more work for her as she tried to stop the spread of sticky handprints!  This recipe was one I found in the Coop magazine; it was shown as a dairy free cake but I’ve used normal milk rather than soya milk.

You will need: 200g soft brown sugar, 150ml olive oil, 3 medium eggs, 50g cocoa powder, 200g self raising flour, 100ml milk, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda.

Preheat the oven to 170ºC and line a loaf tin.  Beat together the oil and sugar.  DO NOT use an electric whisk – benefit from my experience and just don’t do it – you’ll decorate your entire kitchen with oil and sugar if you ignore me!   Gradually add the eggs.  You may need to add a little of the flour to stop the mixture from curdling.  Fold in the remaining flour, cocoa powder and the bicarbonate of soda.  Add the milk and stir until you have a smooth batter.  Pour into the loaf tin and bake in the oven for 1 hour.  Cool then turn out.