Yesterday was my daughter D’s birthday. It was also my friend J’s birthday.
Both Chocoholics! But the similarity ends there.
J likes deep, dark, barely sweet chocolate while D is a fan of the fudgy, gooey tooth-achingly sweet stuff.
I’d planned on making a cake with fabulous reviews on Zoe Bakes. A cake steeped in rum and coffee. Black as midnight and full of mystery.
And so I did make it. But one taste of the cake and I knew that my candy loving D would not be enamoured.
As I picked up my ipad for inspiration, a new post popped into my reader. A hilarious post written by Geni of Sweet and Crumby. An ode to her dad and a cake to match. A Tunnel of Fudge cake.
And so I made that as well, for my daughter.
J’s cake was covered with softly whipped fresh cream. With a whisper of confectioner’s sugar to sweeten it, and a teaspoonful of vanilla bean paste to add another nuance of mystery.
Two fondant elephants sat on the cake (a tribute to her cute twin boys, who are my self-appointed Mandarin teachers!)
D’s cake was baked in a bundt tin and had a luscious, squidgy centre. I poured molten milk chocolate over the top of the cake.
What is your favourite chocolate cake recipe? Do tell.
Thank you Radhika for the best chocolate cake in some time! ‘had the right amount of sweetness which you so nicely captured. The chocolate cake was far from straightforward, I was expecting a decent quality “vanilla” chocolate cake- excuse my confusing pun- My first bite was “aah there is some fine tasting alcoholy stuff in there”. That was followed by a hint of coffee. While all these sinsations were swirling in my giddy brain, I was relishing the fact that the cake had the right amount of moisture too, not the typically dry cake, which was perfect.
While my focus was on the taste of the cake; the boys found the elephants very attractive and gobbled up the elephants head, ears and legs in quick sequence. I thought the elephants were a cute romantic pair:) did not think of them as representations of the kids. Well, a work of art would have differing interpretations….
Wow! High praise indeed!
Thanks for the wonderful feedback.