A Moist Chocolate Birthday Cake with Rich Buttercream icing.
It was my neighbour’s birthday a fortnight ago. The first friend I have made in this new country. And I thought of giving her the best gift I could – A homemade birthday cake. I love making a birthday cakes complete with icing and the deco; it’s just so much fun. I decided on a simple chocolate cake. I had made this cake before for my niece’s birthday and it had turned out to be a success. The effort that went into baking and icing the cake was rewarded when I saw my friend’s face light up with joy. For me, that’s the best thing about cooking and makes me forget the hours laboured in the kitchen.
For the second cake I baked
for dear hubby, I kept it simple with no fancy piping work. For the filling I
used chocolate buttercream and toasted walnuts (Yes I know, my walnut
fascination never ends). But trust me, the nuts give the cake an oomph. I frosted the top with chocolate buttercream and added
a sprinkling of grated milk chocolate.
This is for a single 6“cake. You can safely double the ingredients for a bigger cake.
All Purpose Flour – 1 cup
Cocoa Powder – ½ cup
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Baking Powder – ½ tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Egg – 1 no
Buttermilk – ½ cup
Hot Water – ½ cup
Vegetable Oil – ¼ cup
Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
Try out my Chocolate Frosting
recipe.
It was my neighbour’s birthday a fortnight ago. The first friend I have made in this new country. And I thought of giving her the best gift I could – A homemade birthday cake. I love making a birthday cakes complete with icing and the deco; it’s just so much fun. I decided on a simple chocolate cake. I had made this cake before for my niece’s birthday and it had turned out to be a success. The effort that went into baking and icing the cake was rewarded when I saw my friend’s face light up with joy. For me, that’s the best thing about cooking and makes me forget the hours laboured in the kitchen.
The secret to making a
moist and delicious chocolate cake is using oil instead of butter as I have
done. For the filling and the frosting I used buttercream. Filled with dark chocolate buttercream and iced on top with light chocolate buttercream. This was
my first time covering a cake completely with buttercream. Piping is really not
my cup of tea and so I usually stick to Fondant, Ganache or Whipped Cream to
cover my cakes. But it didn’t turn out so bad after all. I made the little rose
in the centre with fondant and dusted some edible food glitter on it for that
lovely sparkle. Click here for my Chocolate Frosting recipe.
My husband had seen me make this cake for my friend and wanted some too. So the coming weekend I made the same cake again for him. Two chocolate cakes in a week, that was a bit too much, even for me. But both the cakes were delicious and well worth the effort.
This is for a single 6“cake. You can safely double the ingredients for a bigger cake.
What we need:
Sugar – 1 cupAll Purpose Flour – 1 cup
Cocoa Powder – ½ cup
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Baking Powder – ½ tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Egg – 1 no
Buttermilk – ½ cup
Hot Water – ½ cup
Vegetable Oil – ¼ cup
Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
You can substitute the hot
water with Strong black coffee for a richer colour and flavour.
How we do it:
Heat oven to 180oC.
Line a 6” round baking pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour it.
Sift the dry ingredients
(Sugar, Flour, Cocoa, Baking Soda, Baking Powder) into a big mixing bowl and
mix well until combined.
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Now add the egg,
buttermilk, water/coffee, oil and extract. Beat on medium speed for two
minutes.
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The batter will be thin and runny. Pour it into the prepared baking
pan.
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Bake for 30-35 minutes
until a toothpick or knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Let it cool
before taking it out of the pan. Cool completely before you frost the cake.
I have cut my cake into two
layers using a serrated (bread) knife and filled it with a thick layer of
frosting. Give the cake enough time to cool and set after layering, before you start with icing the top.
This an absolutely delicious cake and a must-try for chocolate lovers.
