The old idiom goes that a picture says a thousand words, well I wager that chocolate cake is also verbose.
Chocolate cake can say a very many things.
Chocolate cake can say Happy Birthday.
Chocolate cake can say Sorry I used your toothbrush.
Chocolate cake can say Congratulations on buying your property.
Chocolate cake can say Great report card! and
Chocolate cake can say Thanks for cutting a butt load of turf for us today.
Yesterday morning as we lay in the dark, chatting about the day ahead, Bearhands told me he had a massive order of turf to harvest and that there was a chance that our friend, Matt, from a nearby farm might be able to bring his fancy automatic harvester over to give us a hand.
I joked that Bearhands should promise Matthew any cake he liked if he managed to squeeze us in.
Fast forward four hours and I was in the kitchen.
Matthew wanted chocolate so I set about making a cake that says thank you.
the chocolate cake that says thank you
Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
2 cups raw caster sugar
¾ cup cocoa
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp instant coffee (I leave this out when making cakes for kids)
1 cup full cream milk (Is there any other kind?)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Method:
Prepare a deep 9inch pan and preheat your oven to 170°C.
Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl. Stir until evenly mixed.
Add the milk, oil, eggs and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix on a medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides, then add the boiling water. It’s worthwhile taking some care at this point, the first time I made this cake my stand mixer tried to slosh boiling water all over my bench. So now I mix the boiling water into the cake batter with a fork for a few minutes before I turn the mixer back on.
Beat the mix on high for a minute to incorporate lots of air into the mix and then pour into your prepared pan. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes our clean.
Allow to cool in the pan for ten minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.
Once the cake is cool*, smother it in easy chocolate buttercream icing, because twenty-one year old men love icing as much as three year olds, they just won’t tell you they do.
* Seriously, learn from my thousands of mistakes and wait til the goddamn cake has cooled before you go anywhere near it with icing. Seriously, if you ice that cake too early and the icing goes yucky you’ll want to rip your own leg off and kick yourself in the arse**. DON’T DO IT!
** Ask me how I know this.
what does chocolate cake say to you?
hahaha. Yep, chocolate cake does say thank you.
It also says “try and tell me you’re hungry after eating this!”
School holidays and the kids are eating me out of house and home …
That looks divine!!!
The only thing I like better than baking a cake is sharing a cake. It’s like the picture and a 1000 words, a cake can convey 1000 messages and all of them are good. However, if I’m totes honest, looking at that chocolate cake, right now, what’s it’s really saying is “eat me.” And I’m happy to oblige!
Wish this cake would teleport and say “Happy Birthday Sammie!” xx
Yummmmmmmmy. I have a strong feeling that this is the cake that will say happy 11th birthday to my stepson this Sunday. Thanks!
I do love chocolate cake, always best served with friends xx
YUM! I might experiment with a non dairy milk (sorry!!) To see if I can make it dairy free for my little man.
If you try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out Mumma McD. I’m not sure how coconut milk behaves in baking, but you could certainly replace the vegetable oil with coconut oil if you wanted to. x
Yum! I’ve never tried a chocolate cake made with cream! That sounds delicious! Chocolate cake says decadence to me, it invokes memories of sitting in cafes with my mum over flat whites and gossip. Happy memories.
Oh…. now I’m hungry – it looks lovely!
Oh yum!!! Totally dig the baking thank you present. I seem to pull this one out everytime when something breaks down and I ask the neighbours for help. I tend to do a cupcake number but this looks too delish not to try for next time. Thank you!
Nothing says thank you like baked goods Mamma Raj!
Pass me a slice of that please!
How do you take your tea? 🙂
What a way to say thank you! I could handle that anytime. Looks so delicious! 🙂
Yummo, not a fan of coffee in anything except a cup, not sure why though x
This sounds delicious! Can’t wait to give this one a try.
A chocolate cake can say so many things. This one looks yummo, can’t wait to try it 🙂
Chocolate cakes can say anything! Last nights’ said congratulations to my son for achieving way better than expected in an important test, the results of which we found out yesterday!
Oh yum, Amanda!!! This cake says thank you and more! I had a chocolate cake recipe that was just way too heavy. While this looks perfect!
I booked marked this and finally read it! This is being made next weekend for my daughter’s 2nd birthday – thank you!
This has motivated me to bake this evening, by the way, I have shared your receipts and blog sight with friends across the US and Canada.
Now your not only bringing smiles to US “Yanks” but also to Canadians on Victoria Island, Trail, British Columbia and Calgary.
Chocolate cake is so clever like that 🙂 And yes, I have fallen victim to impatient icing of the cake.