My Friend the Chocolate Cake

Almost everyone has a favourite chocolate cake recipe.  Mine is beautiful simplicity.  I found this recipe many years ago in Good Taste magazine (see the recipe).  This recipe is special to me.  It was one of the first cakes I managed to master. When I bake it, I remember when I first discovered my love of cooking. 

Cocoa is the flavour base instead of dark chocolate, delivering that deliciously melt-in-the mouth chocolately taste without the sickly richness.  Over the years, I've played around with the recipe and made it my own, which represents what cooking is all about to me. For example, canola oil works fabulously instead of butter, while a splash of Cointreau in the chocolate icing makes for a lush adult version.

What's your favourite chocolate cake recipe?