The Birth of a Birthday Cake Part One: Baking

Saturday was Jaz's 22nd birthday, and I decided to make a "real" birthday cake to honour the occasion. I gave her a few choices of flavours, and we decided on a double layer Chocolate cake with raspberry filling and ganache icing. The first step with this cake is to d all the fiddly set up bits, so I started with cutting out the lining for the cake tin.

Yes, that did involve measuring the radius of the tin and then actually working out the circumference. No, I'm not crazy, I just happen to believe that if you measure these things out accurately, then t will be way easier to bake a cake that is nice and neat in terms of shape.

So you should cut out the two rounds of baking paper for the base of the tins, and two long rectangular strips to line the sides (remember there will be two separate cakes). That's all the admin stuff, now we get on to the actual baking:

First ingredient: Chocolate, of course. I used Green & Blacks 70% cocoa block this time, but I would alsoreally like to give Lindt 70% cocoa a try - I love the taste of lindt, and I'm hoping that that would still exist in the cake. Next time!

Break the chocolate up roughly into small chunks. The recipe actually calls for chopping it up into fine pieces, but really, we're going to melt it down anyway, what does it matter what the pieces look like?

To melt the chocolate pieces, we first have to brew a cup of very strong, very hot coffee.

Like this! Make sure the instant powder is totally dissolved before you add the chocolate, and then just stir the mixture for a few seconds.

It shouldn't take long for the chocolate to melt right in, and look like this. At this point, it was really difficult for me to keep going, as opposed to just drinking this mixture and making a standard butter cake. But I persevered! Once the chocolate mixture is smooth and glossy, leave it aside to cool a little, and move on to the next bit.

Start by beating three eggs until they're really pale and a little frothy (you can use an electric mixer if you want, but really, a wooden spoon would be fine, and it wouldn't take that long to get it done.)

It looks like the moon. Anyway, once its frothy, continue to beat it for a few seconds, just to make it as light as possible. Then you can add the following, without beating in between:

Vegetable oil,

Butter milk, and...

Imitation vanilla (or vanilla essence - just don't use vanilla bean paste - that would be way to strong for this recipe). Beat all 3 into the egg mixture really well, and then add your (cooled) chocolate mixture from before.

I love how it gets all swirly. I kinda wished I could leave it like that to get a marble cake effect, but then it wouldn't have tasted as nice. Sad, I know. So you beat the chocolate into the egg/buttermilk/oil/vanilla mix, and...

Mmmm. Looks a bit like really smooth hot chocolate. Have I mentioned what a struggle it was for me to actually finish this cake without just eating the mix? Well, it was DAMN difficult. Sigh. Now, you can set this whole mixture aside, and start on the sifting of dry ingredients.

Begin with sugar, then sift in some plain (all purpose) flour, into which you should also sift some baking powder and baking soda.

And then add cocoa. Yes, this cake has powdered cocoa as well as having that melted chocolate. Why, God, why? Anyway, you haven't seen the worst (or best?) of it yet..

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix slowly in parts, stirring gently after each addition until all the dry stuff is in. The mixture will look light in colour at the beginning..

Like this, see? And then, as you mix it in properly...

It should get dark. Like that. Yeah. Yum. Now you leave that mix alone (if you can), and move on to lining your tin.

I usually grease really lightly with butter to stick down the baking paper so there are no gaps where it'll pull away from the tin, resulting in a weirdly shaped cake. You can use a cooking oil spray or something, just make sure the whole tin is lightly greased.

Then spoon in approximately half of the batter, smoothing the mixture down so its evenly spread (this mix is very thick, so it won't just flow into all the corners - you'll have to help it along with a spatula). Try and get as accurate to half the mix as you can, but it probably wont be even (my second cake ended up about 0.4cm thicker than the first one - yes i measured, what of it?)

Then just pop it in the oven, and wait.

When it comes out, leave it in the tin for 10-15minutes...

then remove it gently, peeling away the paper...

And turning out onto a wire rack, leaving it out to cool completely. Then use the same tin to bake the second cake. If you have two tins that are exactly the same in size and shape, then you could bake the cakes together, but I only had the one round tin in that size, so I had to do them one by one.

When the second cake is baked, do the same things to cool it down...

And then you should have two cakes that are almost exactly the same.

Joy. Leave them both to cool completely. Overnight is probably best.

No way could I be bothered to do all of the process in one post, so coming up at some later date: the Filling + Icing.