A Special Birthday Cake

A cake in the box

Happy 10th Birthday INAS...

This is a postponed entry. I was extremely busy that I couldn't have time to do this post. And now, here I am. As you can see, this is quite a birthday cake. I have baked a classic simple chocolate cake, with my prized ingredient of muscovado sugar, frosted with chocolate ganache topped with fresh strawberries which have been glazed with apricot jam. Apparently, it's a birthday cake for a young client. My friend asked me for a chocolate cake specially baked for her daughter. And I have decided to bake my chocolate cake which is always a hit with young clents. Untold story -it's also a last minute baking expedition. I have baked this cake twice. The first one was a crumbly but delicious cake, so I have decided to give that to my friend -the owner of this cake. The second attempt was fine, but running out of time, I couldn't decorate it well. No wonder, as I was up by 4 a.m that morning, just to bake the cake. Probably I should have baked this cake earlier- yes, lesson learnt. Verdict- my friend told me that this is definitely a sell-out among her children, especially the birthday girl. Upon, hearing that- I was definitely grinning to my ears. ;)

Now, this is the ultimate recipe that I think everyone should bake;
Ingredients=cake -115g/ 4oz plain choc, 45ml/3tbsp milk (fresh),150g/ 2/3 cup unsalted butter,150g/scant 1 cup light muscovado sugar ( you can use brown sugar), 3 eggs, 200g/ 1 3/4 cup self-raising flour, 15ml/ 1tbsp cocoa powder

Frosting/ Ganache = 1-2 tbsp of butter,3-4 tsp of caster sugar, 250g cooking choc,1tbsp fresh milk, 1 tsp of salt,1tbsp of cocoa powder-sifted (double boil all these)

How =1- Preheat oven 150c for 15 mins, 2- Grease 9 inch round cake tin-line with non stick baking paper. 3- Melt choc and milk- double boil (put in a heatproof bowl -over a pan of simmering water), 4- Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 5- Add eggs one by one, beat well after each addition, 6- Stir in choc mixture and mix thoroughly, 7- Sift flour and cocoa over mixture, fold in with a metal spoon until evenly mixed. 8- Bake 40-45 mins, Check if it is ready by inserting a skewer. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready. 9- Cool the cake, frost with chocolate frosting/ ganache

Happy baking everyone and have a lovely Saturday.