The mix was fine, and it smelt great when cooking but was flat when it came out (and yes, i'm sure it was done, it tasted fine when eaten too) and i can't tell why.

Here's what i did:

• Caster sugar + Stork (butter) in bowl, hand beat
• Add eggs, each time beating the mix
• Add the S.R. Flour (which i noticed was out of date this month and had been open for a while) and beat.
• Sieve the cocoa in and beat again

Made sure the mix was smooth and divided it into the cake tins and put them in the pre-heated oven,, 200C for 20-30 min.

So there you go,, they came out a while later,, not much taller than the mix that went in.

Why didn't they rise?

Was it the Self raising flour that was pretty much out of date,, or did i need to beat it with an electric mixer,, not a wooden spoon and my arm power?

Why? Why wouldn't it rise??