Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and place an oven rack in the upper third of the oven.

Grease two 20cm sandwich tins and line the bottoms with greaseproof paper. Add 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder to one of the tins and move it around until the sides are generously coated. Tap out any excess into the second tin and repeat, adding more cocoa if needed.

Add 55g of cocoa powder, 300g of sugar, 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt, 255g of flour and 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to a medium sized bowl, whisk, then sift into a large bowl.

Using the medium sized bowl from step 3, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 125ml oil and 350ml of freshly brewed coffee or boiled water and stir.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and slowly whisk in the oil mixture until both mixtures have combined. Gradually add 2 lightly beaten eggs and whisk until the batter is smooth (it will be quite thin).

This step is optional but I sieve the batter back into the medium sized bowl to make sure there are no lumps.

Divide the batter between the two cake tins and drop each tin onto a countertop from a height of around 8cm to release any trapped air bubbles.

Bake in the upper third of the oven for around 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the edges are pulling away from the tin slightly.

Allow the cakes to cool completely in their tins then carefully remove them and peel off the greaseproof paper. If your cakes have risen unevenly like mine often do, trim the tops with a long knife to even them out.

For vanilla cream: Add 225ml of double cream, 1½ teaspoons of icing sugar (or regular sugar) and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or the seeds scraped from ¼ of a vanilla pod) into a large bowl and whisk. Use a hand mixer and once soft peaks appear, turn it down low and whisk until the cream is smooth and holds its shape.

Place one of the cakes onto a plate or serving dish then spread over half of the vanilla cream. Place the second cake on top and spread over the remaining cream. Top with grated or shaved dark chocolate if using.

For thick chocolate ganache: Melt 150ml of double cream and 150g of dark chocolate together in a saucepan then leave to cool completely. Whisk vigorously until the mixture thickens and can hold its shape, then spoon half of the ganache onto one of the cakes and use a spatula to spread it around. Place the second cake on top and spread over the remaining ganache.

For glossy chocolate ganache: Melt 125ml of double cream and 125g of dark chocolate together in a saucepan then leave to cool for 10 minutes. Whisk until the mixture starts to thicken then spoon a little ganache onto each cupcake using the back of the spoon to spread it around.

Cupcakes

The recipe makes 18 cupcakes. I use muffin cases rather than cupcake cases and fill them just under ¾ full. Any more and they overflow. Bake at 180°C (160°C fan) for 25 minutes (but check after 20 minutes).