My Youngest Turns 8

 Mav watching TV while mom was busy with the cake and party

Yes. Eight is a big number for him. Last week we celebrated my youngest's eight birthday.  He was very excited about this day and he wanted a strawberry cake with Oreo and it had to look something like the cake I had once done for my second son, about 4 or 5 years ago. I was quite surprised that he could remember something that I had made almost 5 years ago. 

When my second son was 12 (I think), I made an Arsenal edible image cake. I designed the Arsenal edible image and got it printed out from one of the cake supply store.  This time I did not have time to design or order the edible image. So I opted out for some football figurines with the goal posts that I got from Bake With Yen.   

With really no plan in my mind I just went to the store and bought some Betty Crocker Strawberry cake mix, some Oreo biscuits and some cream cheese. This time though I wasn't going to cut out and save the Box Tops which were printed on the Betty Crocker cake box. 

The cake was of course a strawberry flavored cake with cream cheese frosting, topped with whipped cream and piping jelly and adorned with Oreo biscuits.  We planned a small party for him in our serviced apartment but since there was no cake mixer but just a hand whisk and an oven (thank God for that), I managed to come up with this cake for him.  My hands got the long deserved work out.

Happy 8th Birthday Mav...We love you so much.. :)

Super Moist Chocolate Cake

This is the chocolate cake that I baked for my daughter the day she left for college.  Since I packed most of for her, my second child, my son who has a sweet tooth just like mine was pretty upset that he didn't get much to eat. So today I'm baking this chocolate cake again just for him.  

Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup of cocoa powder, unsweetened ( I used Van Houten Cocoa Powder)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups castor sugar or granulated sugar

1 cup full cream evaporated milk

1 cup butter or vegetable oil, melted

1 cup warm water

3 large eggs, at room temperature

some chocolate topping and chocolate rice to the topping

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 320° Fahrenheit or 160° Celsius.  Use top and bottom heating.

2.  Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and keep it 

     aside.  This makes the dry ingredients.

3.  In another bowl, mix the melted butter or vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, evaporated milk, 

     warm water and mix well.  This makes the wet ingredients.

4.  Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the dry ingredients are just 

      incorporated with the wet ingredients.

5.  Pour the cake batter into a 8 inch cake tin that has been greased and lined with 

     parchment paper.  Knock the cake tin on the counter top for a 2-3 times to remove any 

     air bubbles.

6.  Bake in  the center of the oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until done.

7.  When the cake is cool, remove from the cake tin and pour some chocolate topping over 

     the cake and decorate the cake with some chocolate rice.