Homemade Chocolate Birthday Cake

And just like that, the first quarter of the year is over!  I wish I've put up more blog posts this March (they are all in my draft folder though, haha!).  I've wanted to write and share so many things with you but I just couldn't find (and make!) time to do so. 

The best part of our March is . . . our little big boy turned three!  He is sweet, adorable and handful (as they say, boys will be boys) at the same time.  He wears his heart on his sleeve, he likes being around kids and has a ready smile for everyone.   He couldn't talk straight yet (if we need an "interpreter", his Ate comes to the rescue, haha) but he can talk in sentences.  And just like me, he loves to eat and loves chocolates!

For his birthday, I wanted to do something special for him.  So I challenged myself to bake a cake (must be chocolate!) for him.  Yep, you read that right!

And I did!  Woohoo!

Thanks to an easy to follow Chocolate Cake recipe given by my friend, B.  Then, I just got buntings, candles and sprinkles to decorate the cake (read: to make it look more fancy, haha)  

I'm so, so, so happy with how this chocolate cake turned out! 

It was so funny that when I showed it to my Mom during our video call. . . she can't (she won't!) believe I made it!  Haha! (Thanks Mom!)  I had to call Hubby and let him tell my Mom because she knows that he can't lie to her, haha!

What I love about this cake is it gets better each day!  I found that it actually tasted better the day after.  I think the next time I'm going to bake, I will bake the cake part a day earlier.

So if you want to take the big leap in baking and bake a chocolate cake, here is a good and easy to follow recipe:

B's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake
2 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mayonnaise
2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven at 300 degrees.

2. Combine milk, sugar, butter and cocoa powder in a saucepan.  Blend well, bring to a boil and then let it cool.

Bringing it to a boil

and then letting it cool  . . .

3. Sift together the following dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. Add mayonnaise to the chocolate mixture.  Then beat in eggs one at a time.

5. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture. Mix gently until well blended. Do not overmix.

6. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. (Insert a toothpick, if the toothpick comes out dry, it's done)

Note:  I suggest you weigh your baking ingredients using a scale.  The unit of measurement may be the same but the weight is actually different.  For example, 1 cup of granulated sugar is 225 grams while 1 cup of cocoa powder is 118 grams.  

I used Chocolate Ganache (an icing made of chocolate and cream) for this cake since Hubby prefers this type of icing.  If you like to try this too, please click on this link to go to Bake Happy's site which also features a chocolate cake recipe (which I want to also try one of these days).  

Note: In Bake Happy's directions, she puts the ganache in the refrigerator overnight and whips it the next day.  I've put mine for a couple of hours and it still turned out well.  

Here's the birthday boy enjoying the icing of his cake! =)  

I know, frosting a cake is not really my thing.  I call it a "rustic" way of frosting, haha!

If you want  to try the icing made of condensed milk (which also sounds yumm!) from my friend's recipe, here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup cocoa
3 teaspoons butter
1 can or package of all purpose cream
1 can condensed milk

Just mix all the ingredients in a double boiler and stir constantly.

Please click on this link on how to make a double boiler at home.

As they say, never under estimate the power of Chocolate! =)

Happy Baking!