LOVE @ FIRST BITE !!!!!

It was LOVE at FIRST BITE  Black Forest Gateau 

To say I LOVE this cake would be putting it lightly. I Luuuuurv this cake. The first time I tasted this cake was in my home country Zimbabwe when my parents had it delivered to me at school for my 17^th birthday.  Now that was a whole decade ago but the love for this cake is still strong. I love the black cherries and the cream and then the decadent chocolate cake.

Now that I have the freedom and the finance to bake all the time, I try resist the temptation to make to make this cake weekly.  So the solution to all my cake cravings is to always make it for my friends.

This past weekend after a long day at work and a tough workout session headed by my brother I embarked on making a black forest gateau for my friend. She had requested this a month ago and I was still trying to find time in my schedule to make it.

I adapted the recipe from http://www.bestmoistchocolaterecipe.com/

Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe:

2 cups self raising flour

2 cups castor sugar

¾ cup cocoa (NOT drinking chocolate or cocoa)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 cup milk

½  vegetable oil

¾ cup boiling water

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Sift all dry ingredients in a boil.

Beat eggs in a separate container, add oil, vanilla, milk.

Mix dry and wet ingredients. 

Add boiled water and mix.

Prepare two 8inch baking tins or desired tin.

Pour mixture in tins and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30-40mins depending on oven.

Once the cakes have cooled. Whip some double cream and then add 1 tbsp of confectionary sugar (icing sugar) and mix. Cover the first cake with a layer of black cherry filling (leave some for the top of the cake) and then add a layer of whipped cream. Place the other cake on top and cover the whole cake with whipped cream. Place remaining cherry filling in the middle of the cake.

Decorate with shavings of dark chocolate.

ENJOY!!!

Let me know how your chocolate cake comes out !!!!

'Cinnamon' a GIRL's BEST FRIEND

Cinnamon and baked goods are a girl’s best friend (OK maybe that's a
bit extreme but it’s close)

So when  invited to an evening of games and fun what does one take
apart from themself… well I obviously bring cake when everyone else
bring chips and dips.
I know there are some non-cinnamon lovers out there but I truly
Luuuuuuuurv cinnamon with baked goods alone… anything savoury would be
bordering on overpowering. I associate cinnamon with sweetness.
As well all know I have the most hectic weekends but one thing that I
love about weekends is baking. No matter how busy I am I will make
sure that every weekend I have baked something. So I came across this
recipe in a BBC FOOD cake book. I made the first batch and it just
came out hard and dry but the taste was amazing. So this time it
wasn’t my housemates that were the guinea pigs it was my church family
and they loved the cake but I know there was room for improvement.

So the second take of the cake was a success (It had to be a success.
I had a room full of people playing games and they would have hurled
those comments without biting back):

I have taken one of my favourite sponge recipes and added cinnamon and
beautiful swirls of nutella.

Nutella and Cinnamon Cake
9 ounce butter/margarine
9 ounce castor sugar
4 eggs
9 ounc e self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
2 tsp of cinnamon (or more if like a stronger cinnamon taste)
3 tablespoon of Nutella

Method.
Cream sugar and butter in a bowl until pale in colour.
Add Cinnamon
Add eggs one at a time in between mixes.
Sift flour and baking powder and mix
In a separate small bowl microwave the Nutella for 5 seconds just to
ensure that its soft and slightly runny
Pour into a cake tin or desired baking sheet. Take a teaspoon of
Nutella and swirl into the cake mixture.
Bake at 180 degrees Celsius  for 20-30 mins depending on ovens.

I always enjoy making the Nutella swirls in the cake mixture and the
smell of cinnamon in the house whilst the cake is baking.

So my friends loved the cake and there was none left after a night of
games and playful banter.
You gotta love a successful bake!!!!!

RED VELVET what !!! RED VELVET who !!!

Somebody help me!!!! What is the fuss about red velvet cakes? What is it about this cake that has all the celebrity bakers and shops raving on about this? So for the past 8 months I have been dying to make this cake. I attended a friend’s black tie event where she was testing out the market for her new events and catering business. On the menu was a red velvet cake. I was so excited because I finally got to taste this infamous cake.  To say that I was disappointed was an understatement but this gave me more of a resolve to attempt this cake myself.

So after researching a few recipes, most which came out as a block of red ‘uncooked’ cake. I then came up with my take on the red velvet cake.

Red Velvet Cake:

9 ounce butter

9 ounce castor sugar

4 eggs

2tbsp cocoa

9 ounce self raising flour

1tsp vanilla extract

½  cup of buttermilk

 Dr Oetkar red food colouring (use until he cake mixture is a vibrant red )

Method:

Cream sugar and butter in a bowl until pale in colour.
Add eggs one at a time in between mixes.

Add Vanilla extract and food colouring
Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix
Pour into a cake tin or desired baking sheet.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius  for 20-30 mins depending on ovens.

Cream Cheese Frosting to cover the cakes

And this was the result:

It was a good cake but I still did not understand what the fuss was about. My family and friends loved it but it left me very baffled.

I love the look of the vibrant red cake but the taste did nothing for my eager taste buds.

So has anyone had any good experiences with Red Velvet cakes? If you have what recipe have you used?

AND can someone PLEASE tell me what the FUSS is all about?

Signed off by a ''Distressed Red Velvet Cake Maker''