Thomas' Birthday Cake and Some Bachelor Boys

Am late. Thomas birthday was last month and all of it happened last month (lil over a month back) but I loved being late here. That's me.

Changing seasons, changing tastes. As much as I've developed a snicker for dark chocolate I find myself baking more of it! My heaven is made of not dark chocolate but white...hmmm yumm. However, my pantry has a generous stock of dark chocolate slabs which I "avariciously" (mind you, not greedily..) bought in the previous metro we were in. And in my new town (oh so lovely Goa; my town Vasco is so so sleepy yet I love it!) the climate is so scarily hot and humid that I found many of my masalas topped with fungus and I hate wastage.
I hate wastage of any kind; be it food, words, love, energy, time.
And I started on frantic efforts of storing my box of choc slabs in the coolest corner in my almirah along with my clothes...I realised I should do something! So it's mainly chocolate baking and desserts. Thankfully I've droves of people around to nosh on it.
I didn't taste this cake as it was baked for Thomas' colleagues. There had to be a cake-cutting ceremony right! Those who tasted it said "awesome". Now that's like at least a "very good" because the men around here are gallantinos and I always take their compliments one tier down :P It's rich and decadent, of course, and I slathered it with chocolate sauce and choc chips with a vengeance...mercilessly...I dunno, was smitten by some choc bug that one hour!

Here goes the recipe.

self-rising flour-1 2/3 cups
unsweetened cocoa powder-1/3 cup
baking powder-1/2 tsp
butter-3/4 cup, softened
superfine sugar-3/4 cup
eggs-2 large, separated
salt-1/8 tsp

(Self-rising flour is by adding 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt to one cup all-purpose flour or maida.)

Chocolate Cream Frosting

dark chocolate (I use Mordes brand)-6 oz, coarsely chopped
butter-1/3 cup
sweetened condensed milk-1/2 cup
dark chocolate-6 oz, coarsely grated

Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into a large bowl. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, until just blended after each addition. With mixer at low speed, gradually beat in the dry ingredients. With mixer at medium speed, beat the egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the batter. Spoon the batter into an 8-inch pan that's been buttered and floured. Springform pan is ideal. Bake for 40-45 mins, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool the cake a bit; loosen and invert. Let cool completely. Dust with some cocoa powder.
Frosting: Melt the chocolate, butter and condensed milk in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Slather the cake generously all over. Loosen it with some milk if too viscous. Spoon some into a pastry bag and pipe on top of the cake in a decorative manner. Decorate the sides with grated chocolate. (I made additional butter frosting as I wanted the two different colours in the pic; I added red colour to one portion and cocoa powder to the rest.)

(Adapted from Reader's Digest Cakes 1001 Classic Recipes)

Over to the second episode of the soap! I planned a surprise on Thomas' birthday eve. I requested the bachelor boys (a VIBRANT lot of seven to eight guys) right opposite for a "designed bounce": which means whether I'd invited them or not they would've bounced; so I thought it's better to plan it! They came in at the right time with a fabulous birthday cake (pic) and Chaitanya (Chatty) had forgotten the candles I'd asked him to buy. He's passionately courting his fiancee and my request ended up like a candle in the wind in his mind ;P. You're excused Chatty. Wait till you get married and start getting "half kilo baingan, one kg onion, hundred gm garlic" smses instead of the "sweets and darls and honeys" message croon that's happening now!! That said nothing negative intended on conjugal bliss. Companionship is its best gift: the potatoes and onions are just part of the onus of responsibility that comes with a family life...You've to graduate one day or the other right? ;P

K...I digressed. The boys came in; I'd preset the birthday song (in case the boys suddenly lost their voices enmasse..muahaha); there was one shoddy candle I'd yanked out of my pantry (Chatty...chup) that thankfully glowed like someone lighted to lighten; and the table was laid with some yummy meat/veg rolls and sandwiches. Thomas was woken up and I think he went through the entire process sleeping with his eyes open...!!! because he's one man capable of stabbing you if woken up from sleep. Wow we survived, boys!! The cake was cut; the boys sang the song a second time whoa; and whacked the goodies happily gratefully.

All lived happily ever after...

Thank you Thomas for waking up and leaving me alive; thank you boys for your sweetness and promptness :)

Presto Chocolate Cake

I remember scarfing the biggest possible pieces of this cake as an adolescent when my mum used to bake it. i loved the richness of it and the chocolate-sticky crust (i still do). now that i've started baking this was my first chocolate cake recipe. it's the quickest i've come across and i love to have it cold.

eggs-2
cocoa powder-1/2 cup
butter-1/2 cup cut up
maida-2 cups
sourless curd-1/2 cup
vanilla essence-1 tsp
soda bicarb-3/4 tsp
powdered sugar-2 cups
lukewarm water-1/2 cup

Beat the eggs lightly with a fork. add all the ingredients in their order; mix well with your hands and bake till done. yes, you read right. it's just this much and believe me the cake will surpass you expectations. you don't have to mess your beater (personally i love hand-mixed batter). i never even followed the order but still it came out so good!

Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Sauce

I crave, right now, a huge chunk of this delectable cake. but most of the times i bake it, it goes out to someone else OR once i lavish the sauce on it and watch the dribble trickling down i become calorie-conscious! sigh, strange is the female species. i've taken this from a local Christian magazine and of the handful of chocolate cake recipes i've tried my vote goes for this.

flour-11/2 cups
cocoa powder-1/2 cup
sugar-11/4 cups
soda bicarb-11/2 tsp
eggs-2
butter-185 gm
vanilla essence-1 tsp
cold milk-1 cup
synthetic vinegar-1 tbsp

Strain the flour along with the cocoa powder and soda bicarb and keep aside. powder the sugar and mix it with the flour combo. add the vinegar to the milk and let it stand. beat the eggs lightly and keep. melt the butter; cool it and add it to the flour-sugar mix along with half the milk. beat for two mins. add the eggs, remaining milk and vanilla essence and beat for another two mins. pour the batter into a nicely greased cake tin and bake till done.

The cake is really soft. so don't try and heap the entire batter into one cake tin. distribute it in two. it yields 900 gms.

The chocolate sauce recipe is already given in my Christmas menu spread. ideally use the ring cake pan so that the final effect is of an over-sized doughnut. jab the cake at different points with a slender stick (i use toothpick!) and let the sauce seep in. dribble the sauce when it is hot. slice a chunk and steal its richness before you turn calorie-conscious like me:)

Brown Mud Cake

I followed the exact recipe below. the only variation being the addition of coarsely chopped dark chocolate to the white chocolate. some of my friends preferred this one to the plain white chocolate cake but i liked the white mud cake.

White Mud Cake

This is one of my favourite cakes because it tastes lovely and is simple to make. as we were shifting to another city i went on a cooking spree last week, mainly to finish off the frozen stuff. i decided to call over Eunice, a Goan, who takes cake orders, ones with the icing. i'd been wanting to call her over as she was willing to come and demonstrate basic cake icing. the white chocolate cake would be a perfect base cake for it. so for this we take

1 cup butter, cut up
2 cups granulated sugar (needn't powder it)
5 oz (125 gm) white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
11/2 cups white chocolate ganache (absolutely OPTIONAL)

((For the Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream
13 oz white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Heat the cream almost to a boil in a small saucepan over low heat. place the chocolate in a large bowl. pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. refrigerate until thickened and spreadable, about 30 mins, stirring occasionally. this makes about 11/2 cups.))

For the cake stir the butter, sugar, chocolate and milk in a large saucepan over low heat until smooth. do not boil. set aside to cool. sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. gradually stir the dry ingredients, eggs and vanilla into the saucepan. spoon the batter into the baking dish. bake for 50-60 mins or till done. cool the cake completely and if you've made the ganache spread it thoroughly.

NB: I've never made the ganache because i found the cake yummy without this prop. however, if you're going for it make sure you add only 11/2 cups granulated sugar to the cake. as it is the cake is quite sweet.
Courtesy: Reader's Digest Cakes