Welcome Everybody

I remember prior to my wedding the only reason to enter the kitchen was to munch on something. I found in my dear hubby a fondness for cooking and a spirit of experimenting. I guessed some of it has brushed on me.

I am regular visitor of this site and seeing the magnificient creations of esteemed fellow bloggers , their love for food has inspired me to start my own food blog.I am still learning and know have a long way to go.

Hereby I present you my first recipe...a birthday cake!!!
I made this cake for my best friend's b'day last week. She loves black forest cake and so do I. This was the first time I attempted to bake a b'day cake and to my surprise it came out great. If i could do.. bet anyone could.

Daavat is on, and everyone is invited!!!

Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by rubbing with butter, sprinkling with flour and tapping out extra. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon then set aside. In small bowl combine eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat well with hand mixer. Slowly add boiling water and mix. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and fold and stir until smooth. Pour batter into pans, dividing evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool the cake for an hour before removing it from the pan.


Cherry compote
Frozen cherries – 12 oz
Sugar -1/4 cups
Water - 1/4 cups
Cherry liquor/Red wine - 1 tbsp (I used the preservative used for bottled cherries)

Mix sugar and water, boil in a thick bottomed pan, with constant stirring, till the sugar dissolves and the syrup thickens. Add cherries and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain cherries on a sieve. Boil the liquid over medium heat until reduced by half.

You will start to see the bubbles getting larger as the concentration of sugar increases. At this point, turn down the temperature so it doesn't boil over or burn.

The syrup and cherries must be cooled before using it. Refrigerate till used.

Whipped cream
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tsp milk

Beat cream till soft peaks form, sprinkle sugar, add the essence and beat till stiff peak consistency is achieved. Refrigerate till use.

Garnish
Chocolate shavings
Bottled Cherry

Assembling the cake

Slice the top off the cake so its flat and not raised.

Place one layer of cake on a serving plate.

Sprinkle with 4 to 5 tbsp of cherry syrup.

Divide your whipping cream in 3 parts for each layer and some for piping. Spoon one part on to the first cake layer .

Spread the Cherry compote on the whipped cream.

Carefully put the second layer of the cake on top.

Sprinkle 4 tbsp cherry syrup

Top with more whipped cream and spread it evenly on top.

Spread chocolate shavings on the top and sides.

Pipe whipped cream and top with cherries.

Refrigerate till ready to serve.

Note:
After dividing the whipped cream refrigerate the ones to be piped, till ready or else it will be runny by the time you're ready to pipe them.

I refrigerated it for 4 hrs. I made this cherry syrup first and then started with the cake so that you get time to cool your syrup.