Ingredients

• 60 g butter
• 125 ml milk
• 5 ml vanilla essence
• 175 g caster sugar
• 180 g self-raising flour
• 20 ml cocoa, x 2
• 175 g brown sugar
• 500 ml boiling water

Method

1. Combine butter and milk in a large saucepan or pot, stirring until butter is melted.
2. Remove from heat and stir in essence and caster sugar.
3. Stir in sifted flour and 20 ml of cocoa.
4. Spread mixture into a greased ovenproof dish.
5. Sift brown sugar and 20 ml of cocoa over mixture.
6. Gently pour boiling water over mixture.
7. Bake at 180 ºC for 40 minutes.

Best served: immediately after cooking

Preparation Notes

The brown sugar can be difficult to sift, I found a large coarse grained sieve worked best for me (for reference, I usually use a fine grained sieve to sift flour).

A normal sized (~3 liter) baking dish can take a double of this recipe.

Goes well with vanilla ice cream.

Vanilla essence can be substituted for others, such as mint. I often use double the essence as I prefer stronger flavors.

Storage

• Storage: Best eaten immediately, can be refrigerated for a few days.
• Freezer: No
• Reheat: Microwave