Chocolate cake from the heart

Chocolate cake today to celebrate 10 beautiful years of marriage. Which is only an excuse to give thanks out loud for what I am silently grateful every single day and every single moment of my life: the happiness of being greeted every morning by a loving husband and two wonderful  children. I don’t know what I have done to deserve this beautiful family but I know I’m overflown with gratitude and it is my solemn promise to return as much love and care to everyone who needs it.

Recipe

Ingredients for cake

• 3  cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups caster sugar (or use food mixer to cut regular sugar finer)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup  cocoa
• 1 1/2 cup  unsalted butter
• 4  eggs
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cup sour cream

How to make:  Mix all the ingredients in a food mixer and beat slightly until they are all well blended. Pour the mix in a buttered pan and cook at  a pre-heated oven at 350F /180C for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Alternatively, distribute the mix in two small single layer pans. I love silicone pans!  Let the cake cool. If you baked the cake in one big pan,  separate it into two layers. I use a cake layer cutter for that. It works very well. Indeed, today I even separated the single layer in two because I didn’t want to make a big, tall cake which would be good for a bigger party. I saved the second cake in the freezer for next week when we will be celebrating Brother’s Day; a tradition that we established as a family couple of years ago.  The cake is yummy even without the frosting but for a special occasion take the next step. .

Ingredients for frosting

• 12 ounces bitter (or semi-sweet) chocolate, melted in microwave oven
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 5 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2  tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

How to make: Mix all the frosting ingredients using a food mixer with a whisk  in this order: slightly cooled off melted chocolate + butter+syrup + vanilla extract + sour cream + confectioner’s sugar.  Today, I tried 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar and it was still pretty sweet. So, try less if you feel 5 cups is too much. You can add drops of hot water or more confectioner’s sugar if needed to make the mix thick enough but also soft enough for spreading.  Place the first layer of the cake on a serving dish. Spread approximately 1/3 frosting on top. Put the second layer on top. Spread another 1/3 of the frosting on top. Using the last 1/3 to cover the sides. Today I saved half the frosting for the Brother’s day cake so everything was done in half.  I ‘grated’ some chocolate on top for decoration.