Use this recipe from King Arthur Baking for a sponge cake.
Cut back on the salt in the layers – ½ teaspoon of salt is plenty. I use canola oil instead of vegetable oil.
Instead of chocolate buttercream, consider frosting with Vanilla Buttercream and decorating with fresh berries.
You can also make cupcakes. This recipe makes about 24 standard cupcakes. Fill each lined muffin cup about ⅔ full. Bake cupcakes for 15 minutes then rotate the pans and bake for 5 minutes more or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.