Chocolate Cake Recipe Making cakes

I love making cakes. My mother taught me; she used to win the W.I. victoria sponge competition.
Here are some principles:

1. Bring all of your ingredients to room temperature before you start
2. Always sieve your flour and cocoa or any other powders.
3. Only use baking powder that is in date. Use if for cleaning surfaces or fishy pans if it is not.
4. Make the final blending in of dry ingredients very light. If doing it by hand use a metal spoon. If doing it with a processor only use the enough time to mix the ingredients.
5. You can lower the sugar content by adding water. For instance 150gm sugar plus 100ml (gm) water = 250gm sugar.
6. Personally I only use butter or if someone reacts to dairy, Pure margarine.
7. A cake is cooked when it smells cooked, when the top dips and springs back, when a skewer comes out clean.

Here is a chocolate cake recipe

Ingredients: 

250gm flour, (s.r. or plain plus 3 tsp baking powder), 240gm light, soft brown sugar, 250 gm butter, 4 eggs, 60 gm cocoa powder and half a tsp baking powder mixed, 3 tablespoons of yogurt, a dribble of real vanilla essence (half a teaspoon). 200 gm plain chocolate, raspberry jam for the filling.

Method:

Sieve the flour and cocoa (and baking powder if used). Blend the butter and sugar until smooth. Dribble in some vanilla essence. Add the eggs, blend again, Add 3 tablespoons of yogurt, blend again. Add the flour and cocoa, blend just until smooth. Spread into 2 x 20 cm (8") baking trays. Bake for about 35 minutes at 160 degrees electric (gas mark 4). Turn out onto a rack. Spread the jam between the two halves. Either dab pieces of plain chocolate onto the warm cake and spread with a palette knife, or melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over hot water and spread it. Bon apertit.