I am not a big fan of eating the cake though; and somehow nobody at home really is a big fan of cake, but somehow everybody will always queue for the dough!
And yes, i love to decorate the cake!!! It's just fun, it's a great excuse to play with "Play-Doh" since I don't remember that I did that when I was a kid.
I was an outdoor kid and staying at home was the last thing I wanna do. I'd rather go swimming in the river or climb a tree not to mention how upset my Mom was because I climbed the neighbours' tree and stole the fruit from the neighbours' tree. Hey! I only help them to harvest the fruits. If the branches are hanging outside their walls, that means it's public property, right?
And yes, i love to decorate the cake!!! It's just fun, it's a great excuse to play with "Play-Doh" since I don't remember that I did that when I was a kid.
I was an outdoor kid and staying at home was the last thing I wanna do. I'd rather go swimming in the river or climb a tree not to mention how upset my Mom was because I climbed the neighbours' tree and stole the fruit from the neighbours' tree. Hey! I only help them to harvest the fruits. If the branches are hanging outside their walls, that means it's public property, right?
So here is the Chocolate Cake recipe that I always use for the birthday cake and usually I make the frosting in advance so it will be easier for me to add it to the cake. Robyn labelled this as the best chocolate cake ever, and yeeessss!!! I totally agree with her. Not just most of my friends like it, but also it's bearable for me to eat this cake. The cake texture and the taste are more like brownie than the spongey kind of cake.
Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
2 cups sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons bicarbonate soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract ( i used
1 cup boiling water
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 160º C. Prepare two 20 cm cake pans by buttering and lightly flouring. For the oven temperature, my oven is a fan oven and I always use
For the cake:
Shift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder,
baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand
mixer.
Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla
to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce
speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed
for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
Distribute cake batter evenly between the
two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake
tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for
about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.
Frost cake with Chocolate Buttercream
Frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Since usually i will cover the cake with icing, I only make half of the original recipe. The recipe below is enough to cover the cake as on the picture.
INGREDIENTS
¾ cups butter (3 sticks), softened
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
2½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoons vanilla extract ( i used
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
INSTRUCTIONS
Shift cocoa to a large bowl or bowl of stand
mixer.
Cream together butter and cocoa powder
until well-combined.
Add sugar and milk to cocoa mixture by
adding 1 cup of sugar followed by about a tablespoon of milk. After each
addition has been combined, turn mixer onto a high speed for about a minute.
Repeat until all sugar and milk have been added.
Add vanilla extract and espresso powder and
combine well.
If frosting appears too dry, add more milk, a
tablespoon at a time until it reache
s the right consistency.
Source: Add A Pinch
Copyright © 2015 Ovie Ober-Marbun
