This season, Sin is in... and keeping in line with that spirit, I made what can only be called as "simply sinful"!
I am not much of a baker or a sweet tooth..In fact, everyone knows that I love spice and meat... But I do love chocolates..more than anything else.
To me chocolate is everything I crave in a dessert...Its rich, its decadent, its sooo satiny smooth as it melts in your mouth...it does amazing things for your mood, is an aphrodisiac (yes)!! and dark chocolate even helps keep your heart healthy!
What more could one ask for??
Thats why when my daughter, otherwise known as baby D ,
So I kept aside my fears of baking, looked for a nice easy recipe of a basic chocolate cake and made it my own...as I always do :)
The result ???
Eight very happy tiny tots, and one very very very happy baby D.
Oh yes, she was all smiles at the sight of the copious amount of chocolate the cake had!
And that to me, was simply half the battle won..the other half was when Daddylonglegs P pushed aside the professional bakery bought cake to gobble up mine...!!!
Man!!!
What a sight for my sore eyes..(and legs) that was! :P
So we all silently dug into the cake slices...only sounds were that of forks against the china....and that followed by a bigg satiated sigh by all...and some ooohs and aahs...and plss share the recipe by the other moms!!
Tada!!!
A rather happy clappy me :)
Oh and by the way did you notice this is also my 100th post?? I noticed that I was onto my 100 only after I finished the yummy brownies post... did you see that yet?? Oh you absolutely must!!
A birthday celebration and a milestone post!!!
And there is chocolate....
Match made in heaven for sure... atleast for me :)
This is perfect for the holiday season...for any celebratory special occasion, or simply when you want to make someone feel rather special..
Give this one a shot ... you wont regret it one bit.
The cake is adapted from goodhousekeeping's basic chocolate cake recipe. It uses buttermilk for an extremely moist and soft layer..and the icing is simply perfect!
How you decorate it totally upto you..I used whatever I had on had...
Also the cake recipe works very very well for cupcakes, or plain chocolate cakes.
Hope you guys enjoy this post as much as I loved making this cake..
Thanks for being such a beautiful audience and for being with me and sharing my passion...
A 100 is just the beginning I feel,... I am sure we will be seeing much more from each other.
Till then,
Sinfully yours,
S :)
PS: Sharing is caring...Please do share this post if you like it.
RECIPE:
Ingredients:
For the Cake Layers:
2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
3/4 cup(s) (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup(s) packed brown sugar
1 cup(s) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup(s) low-fat buttermilk
3-4 TBSP Coffee (I use espresso powder in boiling water)
(You can increase or decrease the quantity again depending on your personal preference).
1 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
3/4 cup(s) (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup(s) packed brown sugar
1 cup(s) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup(s) low-fat buttermilk
3-4 TBSP Coffee (I use espresso powder in boiling water)
(You can increase or decrease the quantity again depending on your personal preference).
For the Frosting:
1/3 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa ( I used Hershey's Cocoa Powder)
1/3 cup(s) boiling water
200 gms of butter ,softened, not melted.
4-5 tablespoon(s) icing sugar
12 ounce(s) semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled.. I used Lindt chocolate.
1/3 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa ( I used Hershey's Cocoa Powder)
1/3 cup(s) boiling water
200 gms of butter ,softened, not melted.
4-5 tablespoon(s) icing sugar
12 ounce(s) semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled.. I used Lindt chocolate.
For the decoration:
Fresh Strawberries... (I dipped just the top of it in melted chocolate)
Some peppermint chocolate sticks - again used Lindts.
Chocolate shavings.'
Fresh Strawberries... (I dipped just the top of it in melted chocolate)
Some peppermint chocolate sticks - again used Lindts.
Chocolate shavings.'
Chopped walnuts- half cup
Directions:
Prepare cake layers:
1.Preheat oven to 350°F or 180C.
2.Grease three 8-in. round cake pans. Line bottoms with waxed paper; grease paper. Dust pans with flour.
(I had only 1 pan, which means I had to do the whole baking bit 3 times)
3.In a mixing bowl, combine sifted flour,sifted cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
4. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and brown and granulated sugars until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
5. Reduce speed to medium-low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
6.Beat in vanilla until blended and the coffee mix.
7. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until batter is smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
8.Spoon batter evenly among prepared pans. If necessary, stagger pans on 2 oven racks, placing 2 on upper rack and 1 on lower rack, so that top pans are not directly above bottom one.
9. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre of cake comes out clean.
10.Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. With small knife, loosen layers from sides of pans; invert onto wire racks. Carefully remove and discard waxed paper; cool completely, about 45 minutes.
If you like, wrap layers well and store at room temperature up to 1 day or freeze up to 1 month. Bring to room temperature before frosting cake.
2.Grease three 8-in. round cake pans. Line bottoms with waxed paper; grease paper. Dust pans with flour.
(I had only 1 pan, which means I had to do the whole baking bit 3 times)
3.In a mixing bowl, combine sifted flour,sifted cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
4. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and brown and granulated sugars until blended. Increase speed to high; beat 5 minutes or until pale and fluffy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
5. Reduce speed to medium-low; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
6.Beat in vanilla until blended and the coffee mix.
7. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until batter is smooth, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
8.Spoon batter evenly among prepared pans. If necessary, stagger pans on 2 oven racks, placing 2 on upper rack and 1 on lower rack, so that top pans are not directly above bottom one.
9. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre of cake comes out clean.
10.Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. With small knife, loosen layers from sides of pans; invert onto wire racks. Carefully remove and discard waxed paper; cool completely, about 45 minutes.
If you like, wrap layers well and store at room temperature up to 1 day or freeze up to 1 month. Bring to room temperature before frosting cake.
To prepare frosting:
1.In a small bowl, combine cocoa and boiling water, stirring until smooth. 2.In large bowl, with mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter and confectioners' sugar 5 minutes or until fluffy.
3. Reduce speed to medium-low; add melted chocolate, then cocoa mixture, beating until smooth and occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
4. If frosting is too runny, refrigerate until just stiff enough to spread.
5. Add some icing sugar to increase the sweetness level as per taste too...
1.In a small bowl, combine cocoa and boiling water, stirring until smooth. 2.In large bowl, with mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter and confectioners' sugar 5 minutes or until fluffy.
3. Reduce speed to medium-low; add melted chocolate, then cocoa mixture, beating until smooth and occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
4. If frosting is too runny, refrigerate until just stiff enough to spread.
5. Add some icing sugar to increase the sweetness level as per taste too...
Assemble cake:
1.Place 1 cake layer bottom side up on cake plate; spread with 1/3 cup frosting.
2. Top with second layer, bottom side up; spread with 1/3 cup frosting.
3. Place remaining layer bottom side up on top. Spread remaining frosting over sides and top of cake.
4. Put the chopped walnuts at the bottom rim of the cake..stick it on the icing.
5. Drizzle a little chocolate syrup on top.
6. Plop a few of the mint-choco sticks and strawberries...
7. Shave some chocolate on it.
5. Drizzle a little chocolate syrup on top.
6. Plop a few of the mint-choco sticks and strawberries...
7. Shave some chocolate on it.