Classic Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
6 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence (extract)
1/4 cup whole milk
1 and 1/4 cup gluten-free baking mix (a gluten-free flour blend)
1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 tbsp butter

For the icing:
2 cups powdered (icing or confectioners) sugar
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
hot water
Optional: you can add a drop of peppermint extract if you're a fan of chocolate-mint anything.
Butter for greasing the pan
Strawberries or other fruit to garnish the top of the frosted cake (optional)

Make sure you have: Two 8 inch cake tin

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.

2. Separate the egg whites and yolks. Place the yolks in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, while saving the egg whites in separate bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla extract to the yolks and blend at high speed. Add the milk and blend again.

3. Add in the gluten-free baking mix and blend at medium to high speed until you have a thick paste.

4. Microwave chocolate chips and butter for 30 seconds, then stir. Repeat two more times (3 30-second intervals in total) and you will have the perfect, creamy butter-melted chocolate mixture.

5. Add the melted chocolate into the batter and incorporate at low to medium speed.

6. Clean your metal beaters or use a hand held electric mixer to beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the fluffy egg whites into the chocolate batter with a spatula or shallow spoon. Make sure to fold it in and not blend it to keep the fluffy consistency.

7. Grease your cake pans with butter, pour the batter into the pans and put in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to let the cakes cool to room temperature.

8. While the cakes are cooling, prepare the icing. In a bowl mix powdered sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder, use a sieve to separate the cocoa powder clumps. Mix the powdered sugar and cocoa together with a spoon, then add in the cooled melted butter and small amounts of hot water and incorporate. Keep mixing in small amounts of water until you get a rich smooth icing texture.

9. Frost the top of one cake working your way to the edge. Place the other cake upside down on the frosted cake and frost the sides first and then the top. Top it off with some fresh fruit.

Serve and enjoy!