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August 4, 2007

Happy Birthday and a Cake

Well, just as I completed 100 posts and 3 months in the blogging world, it was time to celebrate another 3 event. S completed 3 decades of fun on this planet and we celebrated the day in style. No lavish party or anything, but a little party for two.



I made S's favourite breakfast: an amchi rava dosa called Rulaama Doddak. For lunch, we polished off some reincarnated leftovers. I had the day off (yes, where I work you get paid days off for your spouse's birthday!!) and S left work early. So after a little late lunch, we cut this cake.


I'd been asking around for cake recipes but what I really needed was a frosting recipe. I found a recipe on the Hershey's site and modified it. But although I've been baking for 20 years now, I've hardly frosted any cakes. I made one black forest cake for my brother's 21st birthday and I made a teddy bear cake for my neighbour's grandson when I was in Class 12 I think. I have a long way to go before I master this frosting business. And definitely prefer my cakes to be non frosted. But hey, the husband doesn't turn 30 everyday.



I went back to my tried and tested Ann Pillsbury's Baking Book. And pulled out a tried and tested recipe. And then modified it some.

For the cake:

2 cups Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/4 cups Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Oil
2 eggs
1 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla

1/4 cup Chocolate chips
Butter and flour for dusting

For the icing:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Cocoa
1/3 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Sift all the dry ingredients for the cake together into a food processor jar with the dough blade. Pour in all the liquid ingredients and run the processor for 2 minutes. Blend in the chocolate chips.

Prepare two 8 inch round cake tins by first smearing a little butter all over the tin and then dust it with flour.

Divide the
batter equally between the pans and bake for 30 minutes at 350 F. The cakes are done when a knife or skewer inserted into them comes out clean. Remove the cakes to a cake rack and cool completely.

Cut the tops of the cakes to make them even.

For the icing:

Beat butter in a mixer jar. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla.

Place one cake and pour the icing over it. Place the second cake over this and cover with icing. You may refrigerate the cake to help the icing set.

I found the icing a little too sweet even though I cut down the sugar content from the original recipe. That could be reason why my icing was a little runny. I made some lovely strawberry trifle with the cake leftovers.

All in all, it was a great day. It was the very first time that someone had actually baked S a cake for his birthday and I am so glad that the first time was mine. It made it that much more special. We ended the day at our favourite restaurant: Earth, enjoying some lovely wine, our favourite mushroom starters, an out of this world thin crust pizza and some delicious spinach and corn canneloni.

Happy Birthday Sachin. I love you.

33 comments:

Viji said...

Happy Birthday you S. SeeC, the cake is inviting. Lucky you are to get a day off for hubby's birthday. Hope you had a great time. Viji

Raaga said...

Viji, this is Raaga not SeeC :-) We did have a great time, thanks :-)

Chitra said...

heyyyyy happy happy birthday to Sachin. Cake looks yum.

Anonymous said...

Many happy returns of the day to S, and the cake really seems a treat....

Anonymous said...

Hi Raaga, first time visiting and your cake looks just lovely! I am sure the birthday boy enjoyed it as much as you enjoyed making it for him :)

Raaga said...

@Chitra: Thanks. Will pass your wishes on. When does D turn 1?

Raaga said...

@Bhags: Thank you :-) he loved it.

Raaga said...

@Linda: Welcome to my blog. Yes, we both enjoyed it. And I think more than the cake itself, he loved the fact that I made it. :-)

sunita said...

Warm wishes for the birthday boy...the cake looks yum...home made ones always are extra special.

Srivalli said...

Happy b'day to S...and your cake looks very good..

Srivalli
www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com

Raaga said...

@Sunita: Thanks. Regardless of how they turn out, they're special because of the love that goes in :-)

Raaga said...

@Srivalli: Will pass them on to S for sure. Thanks

Unknown said...

Happy Bday to S,and the cake looks so delicious and inviting Raaga!!

Raaga said...

Thanks Cinnamon... will pass your wishes. Drop by for a bite of the cake :-)

FH said...

Oh, you wanted the frosting! I am gald you got it in the end,looks mouthwatering.Great looking cake.Happy birthday to hubby and wish him many more happy ones too Raaga.
Enjoy.Amchi Doddak sounds great too!:))

Raaga said...

Thank you Asha. :-) It did turn out quite nice. And S is loving it. He took a large portion to show off at his office!!

Dhana said...

You really get the day off for your spouse's birthday...thats soo fun! The cake looks g8..decadent on the outside,but light and fluffy on the inside..

Anupama said...

Hi Raaga, very nice of you to come over to my blog. Love your chocolate cake.Sadly right now i am on a diet and can only drool over pictures of cakes and stuff. Would you like to participate in my Blog Picnic?

sra said...

Hi Raaga, happy birthday to S! And just how old are you, you've been baking for 20 years! Since you were born? LOL!

Nupur said...

That cake is frosted with lashings of love. Lovely post! Happy birthday to S!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am very happy to see all ur recipes. They r interesting and r g8. Belated wishes to S and hope he had enjoyed the cake. R tasted a bit of the cake and said it was yummy.

Sharmi said...

I wish a very happy b'day to ur hubby and the cake looks so nice. hope you guys had a wonderful time.

Chef Jeena said...

Hi Raaga I love the cake I bet your husband loved it :)

Coffee said...

That cake looks great! nd I am sure S would have had a wonderful birthday!! :)

Sig said...

Raaga, the cake looks great... looks like you guys had a great time! Happy Birthday to Sachin... lucky fella! :)

SeeC said...

Thanks for visiting my blog Raaga.

Congrats !!!!
Thats a great achievement Raaga...100 posts in 3 months immmm. Good job and keep going.

My birthday wishes to S. Very nice and a special treat indeed.

I have added your blog to my blogroll. Hope it is fine with you.

Have a great day.

Cynthia said...

Happy Birthday S!

Roopa said...

the cake looks inviting! sure S had enjoyed his day with a wonderfull treat..

Raaga said...

@Dhana: Yeah... what fun na :-) I replaced butter in the recipe with oil and so it was really light! Thanks

Raaga said...

@Anupama: Thanks. I am definitely participating in your picnic. I love them :-)

Bong Mom said...

Happy B'Day to the hubby. The cake is yummo

Raaga said...

@Sandeepa: Thanks. It was a lovely cake. Made with love

Latha Narasimhan said...

Hi raaga,

Nice cake !All your recipes seem good to try. your vazhaikai is also good.

I too have seen that some times my comments do not appear in some blogs. I am new to computers so I really don't know the reasons. and no time to think about things I don't understsnd.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I'am including you in the blog roll as I liked your recipes.
Congrats for achieving 100 posts in 3 months!
Good wishes.
latha.