Of Chocolate and Traditions.

Since I’ve been back in Singapore for good, it has become somewhat of a tradition that I make my mum a chocolate cake for her birthday each year.

And this year, I was bent set on keeping that tradition going especially since, between her travels and my crazy working hours, I have barely seen her much lately.

So that was, in short, how I found myself in the kitchen at two the morning of my mum’s birthday, elbow deep in flour and chocolate (and counting down the number of hours of sleep I could catch before I had to get up for work).

Thankfully for me (and my sanity), the recipe was incredibly easy. Within fifteen minutes of getting all my ingredients onto the countertop, I had the cake in the oven.

[Side note- if it took me fifteen minutes to get the pan ready and the batter made in the wee hours of the morning (keeping in mind my brain doesn't quite work out of the office), can you imagine how quickly it would be to put everything all together at a sane hour of the day?]

As it turns out, this cake was just as divine as it was easy. Fine-crumbed, moist chocolate cake glided with a rich, creamy fudge frosting, it was definitely one dreamy cake guaranteed to put all chocolate cravings at ease for a while.

And the look on my mum’s face as I brought the cake to her later that morning? Completely worth the lack of sleep.

Now, it might be another three hundred and sixty two days until her next birthday but I already have just the chocolate cake in mind

County Fair Chocolate Layer Cake [Adapted from Maida Heater's Great Book of Chocolate Desserts]

Ingredients
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cocoa powder
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla essence
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Frosting
150g dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup pouring cream
1 cup caster sugar
100g butter, chopped
1 tbsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease a 7-inch round springform cake, line the base with baking paper and set it aside.
2. Sift the cake flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder together and set it aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together till creamy and well combined. Beat the eggs and vanilla in until well combined.
4. Add one third of the flour mixture, folding into the batter until just combined. Add half the milk, folding until just combined. Alternate between the rest of the flour and milk, ending with the last one third of the flour mixture, folding until just combined.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with crumbs clinging.
6. To make the frosting Combine the cream and sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Lower the heat to bring the mixture down to a simmer and let it simmer for 6 minutes.
7. Take the saucepan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 1 minute before stirring until a smooth chocolate mixture forms. Add the chopped butter and vanilla, stirring till well combined.
8. Let the mixture cool completely before using, it should thicken as it cools. Frost the cake and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Makes a 7 inch chocolate cake

Posted by thecoffeesnob on April 26, 2010

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