It is strange to bake in someone else’s kitchen, even more so in a different country with different things. It is never quite as straightforward!

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Your Basic Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

Eggs
Self raising flour (or plain flour with baking powder added – no SR in this American abode)
Caster sugar
Butter
Vanilla extract

Method:

To a certain extent, the quantities of the above require a bit of guesswork. For a 12 batch of fairy cakes, I use 2 eggs for flat tops, 3 eggs for domed. For this batch I estimated about 6 eggs worth was needed.

Prepare the cake tins, and preheat the oven to 180degC/ 350degC.

Weigh the eggs (357g), then weigh out that amount of both butter and sugar, and cream together until light and fluffy. The flour must then also be weighed out and set aside. The total weight of flour and cocoa powder coming to the same weight, the proportion depending on preference. I usually make it 1/3 cocoa powder to 2/3 flour.

Next add the eggs, mixing after each addition (you may wish to add a spoon-ish of the flour mixture to prevent curdling). Then add the flour mixture and mix, scraping down the sides to ensure it is all mixed.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins, and smooth the tops. Bake in the oven until an inserted skewer comes out clean (30 minutes)

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I used ready made white frosting (Pillsbury), as I wanted it to be whiter than buttercream, and sandwiched the cakes together, carving a diagonal slice off the top cake, flipping it, and sandwiching it on top of the other cake to form a slope.

The entire cake was then frosted like a ski slope. NB. The cake was very crumbly, so after the first crumb coat was applied, I chilled it so that I could get a clean white finish.

And although fondant icing is available everywhere in England (even my local shop!), checks of Wholefoods, Fred Meyer, and Safeway did not result in any, so I only found some Marzipan to make the decoration (Danish Marzipan, made with California Almonds, and shipped back to America… Food miles much?), and didn’t have any tools, cocktail sticks….. I did at least manage to get some gel dye.

I think it turned out ok…. But then I’m never all that satisfied with what I create, there is always room for improvement! Also I found the ready made frosting to be quite sweet and fake tasting? Perhaps just different tastebuds?

Update: Ashlei liked it, cake was tasty and enjoyed by all!