Never-Fail Chocolate Cake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, gently melted
1 None egg
None None FOR THE GLAZE AND FILLING
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp apricot jam
1 tsp unflavored gelatin (optional)
2/3 cup heavy cream

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375\u00b0F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Mix lemon juice and milk in a medium bowl; set aside for 10 mins to sour.
Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and add a pinch of salt, making sure there are no lumps. Stir in brown sugar.
Whisk melted butter, egg and 1/2 cup hot water into soured milk. Add to the dry ingredients and beat with electric mixer for 1 min. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour, rotating pan after 30 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 mins. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Level top if necessary, then cut cake into 2 layers.
For the glaze, place chocolate and 1 1/4 cups water in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until chocolate has dissolved. Add the granulated sugar and stir until dissolved.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer, stirring often, for 10-12 mins, until thickened slightly (if you have a candy thermometer, the temperature should be 230\u00b0F). Pour into a bowl and allow to cool for 30 mins, stirring occasionally.
Spread the bottom half of the cake with jam. Sprinkle the gelatin (if using) into 1 tbsp hot water and stir with a fork until dissolved. Whip the cream until fairly stiff, then beat in the gelatin (the gelatin is optional, but helps ensure neat slices of cake as it firms the cream).
Spread cream over the jam and add top cake layer. Spread top with cooled glaze, letting it run down the sides a little.