Sophia's birthday cake

400 g (3 cups) flour, sifted
600 g (3 cups) sugar, white, brown or a mix (I like using raw sugar here)
100 g (1 cup) cocoa powder , sifted (I use Dutch processed and I think it’s better, but regular works too)
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp salt
160 ml vegetable oil (2/3 cup)
3 large eggs
2 tbsp vanilla
380 ml (1.5 cup) milk, you can use any milk making the cake dairy free
380 ml (1.5 cup) boiling water + 2 tsp coffee powder mixed in

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Brush the 8” pans with oil and line the bottom of it with a baking paper disc. Then line the sides with cocoa powder. Set aside.
In a big bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a whisk.
Then, using a stand mixer (or a hand mixer) add in the wet ingredients, one by one. The oil, then the egg, vanilla, milk, and last, (slowly) the boiling water + coffee.
Pour the cake mix into the pans equally and bake at 180 degrees C for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out with little crumbs.

Place the butter in the mixer on low speed and cream it.
As the butter is mixing, add the salt and icing sugar
At this point the ingredients should be well mixed. Add in the salt and vanilla extract. Then increase the mixer speed to medium and add in the whipping cream to make cream smooth.
Finally, once you’ve followed all the steps, gently mix the cream with a spatula to remove air bubbles before layering it on your cake.

Once the cake is completely cooled down, layer the cream evenly between all the layers. Add a thin layer of frosting, refrigerate and then add another thicker one. Decorate it as you like.