Devil's Food Cake with Salted Caramel and Snicker Bits

This one was made ages ago but your there these times when your really stuck and words don't flow, the thoughts are just bumping around....basically feeling stuck! Well I have passed that phase I guess...
The Devils Food Cake is a Nigella Lawson Recipe, in her words "this cake is heavenly and the crumb is tender". I paired this up with a salted caramel slightly runny but then left it in the refrigerator to stiffen up and it did!!! The cake was made for my brother and we irony was we ended up going to this restaurant called "The Phobidden Fruit" - for those wanting where that is its located on 12th Main Indiranagar (Umm Bangalore). Overall a sinful affair with us family!!!

Ingredients:
For the Cake
50 grams best-quality cocoa powder (sifted)
100 grams dark brown muscovado sugar
250 ml boiling water
125 grams soft unsalted butter (plus some for greasing)
150 grams caster sugar
225 grams plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the bottoms of two 20cm / 8inch round sandwich tins with baking parchment and butter the sides.Put the cocoa and 100g / half cup dark muscovado sugar into a bowl with a bit of space to spare, and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to mix, then set aside. Cream the butter and caster sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy; I find this easiest with a freestanding mixer, but by hand wouldn’t kill you. While this is going on – or as soon as you stop if you’re mixing by hand – stir the flour, baking powder and bicarb together in another bowl, and set aside for a moment. Dribble the vanilla extract into the creamed butter and sugar – mixing
all the while – then drop in 1 egg, quickly followed by a scoopful of flour mixture, then the second egg. Keep mixing and incorporate the rest of the dried ingredients for the cake, then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture, scraping its bowl well with a spatula. Divide this fabulously chocolatey batter between the 2 prepared tins and put in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Take the tins out and leave them on a wire rack for 5–10 minutes, before turning the cakes out to cool.

Salted Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
2-3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Start with the frosting: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Once melted, add brown sugar and heavy cream. Stir constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add salt. Allow to bubble for exactly 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, until you reach desired consistency.


I then cut some snicker bars to add to the overall look because the birthday boy loves Snickers!

The Football Cake for the Football Lover and Player ~ It's a Chocolate Cake

I'm not sure where to start because the last three to four months has been more than just a roller coaster ride for me. Well a midst the excitements I have had I know I have left my readers a bit in the lurch with my disappearance. Let me get back to were we stopped and do I have some interesting recipes to post. So stay tuned and I will try my best not to let you guys down again. This cake was done for my our dear friend Binny, I should have mentioned him in the past because he is a father of three adorable boys - they are triplets. It's simple gesture from all us friends appreciating him and his lovely family for the support, the encouragements, the counsel, more than ever the spiritual one-ness we share. So let me know continue babbling and lets get on with the simple recipe. 

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients: 

[Recipe Source: Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen - Pg. 245] 

Self Rising Flour - 125 gms

Caster Sugar - 150 gms

Unsalted Butter - 150 gms

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Cold Water - 2 tbs

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Eggs - 3

Cocoa Powder - 25 gms

Sieve together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl. Into it add the unsalted butter, vanilla extract, sugar followed by the eggs. Add in the cold water and mix until you get a dark, smooth, brown mixture. Divide the batter between two 18cm round, greased and lined cake tins. Knock the tins against a hard surface to get a smooth top on each. Bake the cakes for approximately 25-30 mins until the center of the cakes springs back on touch or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Place them on a wire rack to cool and then proceed to make the icing.

I used regular  vanilla butter cream icing for the cake to pipe out the football if not for butter cream then you can use chocolate ganache to cover the middle and top of the cake  and it doesn't matter if it runs down the sides of the cake  - looks more indulgent! 

Tintin and Snomy Cake for the 6th Birthday

It was my son's 6th birthday and I seriously wanted to do his cake this year-phew... finally. I haven't mastered the icing technique but yes I know which icing tip for the what, why, when, and the know-hows. Even if I'm not all that good with my hands I still wanted to do it. After a night full of events, like power - cuts while baking, I stamped my no.18 wilton star icing nozzle, I still managed to complete and accomplish this cake somehow in time for the party. I'm happy with my outcome though I admit I could have done a slightly more neater job. But hey I managed to somehow do the icing with some stashed away star tip.

I baked two chocolate cakes stacked them up with a layer of buttercream in between. And for the Tintin I resorted to buttercream icing rather than fondant coz these kids peel the thing off and eat only the cake - and seriously I'd feel sad for the efforts that goes into all the kneading and the tinting and making to bring the cake to life.

Ever since the Tintin Movie release, my son has been hooked onto it, watches an episode of Tintin on the discovery kids and makes me read the comics as his bedtime story. And when he saw the cake he just went "Wow Mama - I love this". I mean that makes up for all the emotions I went through. I'm happy with my imperfect cake for this year, I hope to get better with each one each year!!!

Chocolate Cake with Coffee Syrup

 Let's face it, chocolate cake does it for a lot of people, and it does for us!!!! So how about you??

Ingredients:
Butter - 1/2 cup
Semi Sweet Chocolate - 225gms, broken into pieces
Black Coffee - 1tbs
Eggs - 4
Egg Yolks - 2
Caster Sugar - 1/2cup, generous
All Purpose Flour - 1/3 cup
Ground Cinnamon - 2tsp
Ground Almonds - 1/2cup, scant
Syrup:
Strong Black Coffee - 1 1/4 cup
Caster Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon Stick - 1

Grease and line an 8 inch round cake pan. Place the chocolate and coffee into a heat proof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water until just melted. Stir to blend and allow to cool slightly. Into a mixing bowl place the eggs, egg yolks and sugar and whisk until the mixture is  pale and thick. Soft the flour and cinnamon powder into the egg mixture. Add the almonds and the chocolate mixture and fold into the mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven for about 35minutes till the skewer inserted comes out clean. Place the inverted cake onto a serving plate.
To make the syrup place the coffee and sugar and cinnamon in a heavy based saucepan. Gently heat over a low flame and allow the sugar to dissolve. Boil the mixture vigorously for about 5 minutes till the sauce reduces and starts to thicken. Prick the cake with a toothpick and drizzle half the warm syrup over. Cut the cake into wedges and serve with some more sauce poured over.