Sunday, October 16, 2011

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 :)

36 comments:

Shabs said...

Looks like you had a blast :). Really missed reading your posts and chocolate cakes are always awesome .

Suja Manoj said...

Wow chocolaty and delicious..gorgeous cake,looks like you all had a wonderful time.

silpas said...

some kismat konnection we have...havent tracked you in a long long time . spending some wide awake wee hours of Oct 17th on www happened to pass by.And after oggling at the chocolat vision revealed to me at 3.00 am in the morning i realised you had just made the post few hours back.
very beautiful composition with that first image , love the autumnal tones.
will be back to get details on the road to that dark chocolate sin.

Indu said...

Extremely enjoyable read! Was smiling all the way. Esp the part where 1 kg onion replaces tons of love in smses.

Belated birthday wishes to Thomas!

And cake looks seriously good. All that cream on top, I love it.

BTW, you are in goa? Lucky you!!!

the Junkie book said...

ty indukutty for the bday wishes and good words...i knew you would like the onion part ye marriage panelist!!

lucky me right? yes yes...go full green...eeeyyyaaa!

ty silpas: have left a flickr mail

ty suja and shabs

Julie said...

Cake looks real delicious and lovely frosting!!
Thanx for dropping by my space,and your sweet words encouraged me..Hope to see you frequently at my space too!!

Unknown said...

nice write up! :)..I totally can eat sandwich trice a day....maybe only change the fillings :)) thanks for ur comment!

Unknown said...

very delectable cake :)

Chats said...

Thank u maam for all da publicity... nyways it was well organised bouncin by u.. n ofcourse delicious cake...

My Kitchen Antics said...

haha loved that write up esp abt the sms part :) mines usually..too lazy to cook, have some dinner and only come home ;)

Hey im wondering why culturama is not loading, its working perfectly fine for me..

About the foam board..there is not enough light to work with, thats my issue. Its so gloomy and dark here, now that autumn has slowly set in and artificial lighting is the only way to go, and im not a fan:(
How is it living in a place like Goa? I love love love goa and wish i can live there, well i also loved london and have been living here for close to 4 yrs and its not so exciting any more..im wondering if its the same with Goa :)

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

wow...looks so beautiful n yummmmmmm..;)
Tasty Appetite

Jill Colonna said...

Not surprised how you have enough people to nosh on that cake, as you say. Looks delicious - and what a great birthday get-together!

anthony stemke said...

Lovely looking cake, I especially love that dark chocolate icing.

Plateful said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Plateful said...

Quite entertaining read Ginza! Infact like Nisha said I was cackling on the sms bit ☺ Somehow you managed not just to entertain Thomas and the boys, but us too, your ever ardent readers ☺Girl, I liked how you styled the first picture, very nice!

Happy belated birthday to Thomas!

the Junkie book said...

hehe...at times my fluke photography works huh??

ty for the wishes!!

Elisabeth said...

Chocolate cake is always a huge welcome in our household. Yummmylicious cake...always enjoy reading your post, glad you are starting to post again:DDD

Chef Dennis Littley said...

Its so good to see you back! I have definitely missed your presence in the community! I love the cake, and I'm sure everyone else did too. I see you also have a new look and a new name, I love it!
Hope to see you on foodbuzz soon!
Dennis

the Junkie book said...

Ya Chef, ty and I want to see myself in Foodbuzz too...guess I'll brace myself and take the plunge!

Stephanie said...

Look what I missed without blogger in China! A wonderful use of dark chocolate! Happy belated birthday! Best wishes for a new year of food, photos, and all the other joys in life!

the Junkie book said...

hey Steph you'd rather be in a new country! missed you though time flew zip zip!

Purabi Naha said...

Happy belated b'day to Thomas! The birthday cake looks stunningly gorgeous!
http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com

MJ said...

Baking is such a skill....and i am so terribly lazy to learn it...lol....cake looks awesome!! I am officially back =)

Suchitra Vaidyaram said...

Ola Senorita! wow you are back with a fab recipe- The cake is making me drool & yes the heaven is made of dark chocolate and seems like you guys had a blast! Lovely recipe, great presentation....

Unknown said...

I want to jump right into that delicious cake! Yum!!

Medeja- CranberryJam said...

It's a wonderful cake dear! :) Can I order one ? ;)

the Junkie book said...

Med: there's a Nov deal running: order one and get two! ;p

Mrs K said...

Belated birthday wishes to Thomas:)!!! Super delicious cake is staring at me from the screen and I wish I could dig right away...The birthday party sounds so much fun and so does your post-Keep it up:)!!!

Priya dharshini said...

Belated birthday wishes...Wonderful post..really enjoyed

Ela said...

am back! good to see your back too...
i always envy those who can bake! and i loveeeee dark chocolate!
can i order one for my birthday next year?

Unknown said...

The cakes looks yummy! and the bday cakes looks lovely :)
een it's a month late, still wanna say happy bday to thomas, send my warm regard to him :)
& tq fr ur kind comment on my guess post with chef dennis, so u loves korean food too? we have the same thing then :)

Yesim said...

looks amazing really!i tried to make cake couple of times howver taste was good but never look like this:(( whats the magic on that??

Padhu Sankar said...

Cakes looks absolutely marvelous.Do drop by my space when u find time

the Junkie book said...

thank you all for dropping by!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

YUM! Your cake is a masterpiece...and I love that you added the extra buttercream frosting for color...so pretty! It looks like Thomas had a wonderful celebration~

Plateful said...

Sorry I've been MIA, but I'm sure planning on sending you a mail soon. Until then, take care xx