Chocolate Cake

 What is it about chocolate cake that makes my children go back to it over and over again?  I will never understand. But if they tell me what they want for their birthday is a chocolate cake, then I will go hunting for a recipe and will try it out - that is my creative outlet after a hard day's work.

This week it was my daughter's 25th birthday. How time flies! I remember turning 25 - it was just a year after my dad had passed. It was a sad occasion and all my mother would talk about was what if he were here today. I do not remember celebrating the day - as a family we were still grieving at the time. 

My daughter is lucky her parents are still alive - and able to celebrate with her as she turns a quarter of a century. The recipe I chose to try was  from Recipe Tin Eats - I like Nagi's recipes. The recipe itself is very easy to follow and execute. I chose to try icing the cake with a zip lock bag and so that was the only process that was time consuming.  The end result was moist, dark, just a touch of sweetness and a great frosting on top.  I added some strawberries which added a nice touch both aesthetically and also in terms of flavour. The tart and sweet strawberries paired well with the dark chocolate and made a perfect ending to the day.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

Dry ingredients:

1 3/4 cup plain flour

3/4 cup premium Dutch processed cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups caster sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup full cream milk

1/2 cup olive oil 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

For the Frosting:

100 grams butter

1 1/4 cup icing mixture

1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Heat the oven to 160 degrees C fan forced. (Or 180 degrees C normal).

Grease and line a 22cm tin (5 cm deep).

Sieve all the dry ingredients and place in a mixing bowl. Whisk to mix all the dry ingredients well.

Next start adding the wet ingredients one by one and keep mixing.

The last step is to add the boiling water at which time the batter looks quite runny.

Pour into the cake tin and cook for 40 to 50 minutes (depending on your oven) till a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cake rest for about 30 minutes in the oven with the door left open after it is cooked.

Unmould after 30 minutes and leave it on a wire rack to cool completely.

I then turned it upside down to get a flat surface for my frosting.

To make the frosting, blend all the ingredients listed for frosting till you get a light and fluffy mixture.

Place it in a zip lock bag and decorate as you like. I used strawberries and candy hearts just to add a bit of interest.

A piece of the cut cake - you can see how rich and moist it is!