Chocolate cake

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The thing about sculpted cakes is that half of it goes into the decorator’s stomach…er…I mean, a good portion the cake has to be discarded. So with the cake shrunk so much in size, there would hardly be anything to be shared with everyone.

That’s when another brilliant idea struck me. A base cake to carry the sofa cake.

And the blogger in me jumped in….a DIFFERENT cake for the base, so that I can blog about it as well ;-).

As always, there was a disaster with this cake as well…We had to drive 20 miles to reach our destination. The good part was that though it was a working day, the school declared a holiday. So we could take our son with us.

The bad part was that the holiday was because of a snow storm.

So, off we went….very slowly and very carefully through masses and masses of snow. The cake was in my lap. We almost reached our destination safely. But at about a minute away from the destination, because of the snow and the slippery road conditions, the car turned a lot more sharply than it should have at a turn. It wasn’t anything major, but I guess I leaned onto the cake a bit more than I should have.

Can you imagine what a gigantic figure like mine can do to that sofa and those smileys?? It did survive, but just about. So we reached the house with an almost falling apart sofa. It could have been a lot worse, so I am not complaining.

Anyway, with adequate reinforcements (two spoons at the back), the cake stood the test of time and was cut into and shared happily with everyone.

THE END. (But you can keep scrolling for the recipe).

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Recipe source: Cupcake project 

Ingredients: 

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup (~50 gms) butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 ounces/60 gms chocolate
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks(I skipped this)
  • 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup full-fat sour cream or yogurt
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Chocolate buttercream, chocolate bars and strawberries for decoration

Method: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F. Grease and line two 9″ pans (I had doubled the recipe).
  2. Chop the chocolate into small chunks and melt in microwave in short bursts. Let this cool completely.
  3. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Keep aside.
  4. In a big bowl, beat the butter and sugar together. Since the quantity of butter is small, it will resemble like a wet sand mixture.
  5. Tip in the melted and cooled chocolate and mix well with the butter-sugar mix.
  6. Add the eggs and the egg yolks (all at room temperature) one at a time until its everything is incorporated.
  7. Add the oil, vanilla and sour cream/yogurt. Mix until it’s all incorporated.
  8. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, mixing until it’s just combined after each addition.
  9. Mix the water (at room temperature) until its all combined.
  10. Divide the batter into the two prepared pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes free (Keep in mind that the baking time depends on the size of the pan and the oven. )If you are baking cupcakes, start checking them after 15-18 minutes of baking.
  11. Let the cake cool completely once its baked and decorate as you wish.

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23 thoughts on “Chocolate cake”

  4. You call yourself Gigantic!!!We have met so I don’t think that word suits you at all :).And it must have been a scary drive through the snow that day. Thanks God the cake survived! Good recipe Rajani…

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  5. Perfect base for that cute sofa. Thank God there was not too much damage. But holding it for 20 miles in your lap is a real achievement Rajani. I know how painful it is!!! Between, the cake looks so nice…

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  7. Pingback: Stawberry coconut cake | My Kitchen Trials

  10. First you are not gigantic figure..so you can stop saying that..if you want compliments, let me know privately I will be lavish..:)..second the cake looks stunning! what a way to carry that pretty sofa!..wow..enjoying all your artistic creations Rajani.

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  11. I love reading your posts Rajani. You are so good at telling stories :-)
    Cake looks great in the pics :-) I’m sure it was devoured by all even though it got a little disfigured.

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  19. perils of a cake maker…this one was a real major story to talk about..wonder how you manage to get your husband agree to all this…i would have had to bear so much ….btw lovely cake and the strawberries are a good addition to this

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