Cheery Chocolate Chiffon

My faithful laptop of four years plus just crashed on me, my life(or so it feels) is stored on that computer and needless to say it will cost just slightly short of a new laptop to repair it thus, to the scrapyard she goes.  I have been very down about the whole thing as finances are a bit short to be able to just drop the computer off at the shop and say "fix" or simply just purchase a replacement! So old "Gertrude" will have the stored information extracted from her and I will simply just have to load it all on the standard computer when that too is fixed! (Two computers crashing all in one day is a BIT MUCH!)

Thus to cheer myself up and not to get too depressed as I cannot think of a positive thing to say right now, I have decided to post my favourite and most spectacular Chocolate Chiffon Cake recipe, which by the way is an "Anjela Day" recipe - "Websites I like".  There is nothing better than cheering yourself up with a nice cup of filter coffee and;  yes ... a slice of Chocolate Chiffon Cake. 

Ingredients:
120ml Cocoa
100ml Hot Water
375ml Cake Flour
10ml Baking Powder
190ml Castor Sugar (Now I'll let you in on a little secret here, I place my normal sugar in my coffee grinder and make my own castor sugar)
90ml Oil
50-60ml Cold Water
6 Eggs, separated (Room temperature eggs make the the cake rise better than ones taken out the fridge)
Extra 100ml Castor Sugar (For beating into the egg whites)


Chocolate Icing
200g Dark Chocolate (or a slab of milk chocolate)
150ml Cream
Strawberries to decorate

Combine cocoa and hot water, mix until smooth and then cool.
Sift the flour, baking powder and castor sugar into a bowl.  Make a well in the centre and add in the oil, egg yolks, cocoa and enough cold water to make a smooth batter. 
Beat egg whites until stiff and gradually beat in the extra sugar. 
Take a spoonful of the egg white mixture and mix it into the chocolate mixture to loosen the mixture.  Then carefully fold in the remaining egg white and blend well. 
Pour mixture into a 24cm chiffon pan (the big cake ring pan with a hole in the middle)and bake at 180°C for 45 - 50 minutes. 
Turn the pan upside down and leave to cool completely before removing from the pan.(do not be tempted to try bang the cake out before it has cooled or else it will tear)
Chocolate Icing:  Combine the chocolate and cream in a glass bowl.  Place over simmering water and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  Remove from heat and allow to cool and thicken.  Pour over cake and place in the fridge to set.  Decorate with strawberries.