I’m not a cake person. I mean it in the sense that I don’t usually make cakes, and not in the sense that I don’t like cake. You can ask me why, but I wouldn’t know. Bread is my main focus. Even though I have a serious sweet tooth. Maybe I’m intimidated by cake. Especially layer cakes, with their towering layers and gorgeously swirled frosting. They’re so beautiful, and they look as if they require a lot of effort, although I have no doubt it’d be worth it. Baking is a labour of love. An art which requires patience and care. I have to admit that layer cakes do look intimidating. And, like most things, it’s usually harder than it looks, or more than you think it’ll be.
It’s not that I’ve never baked a layer cake before. I have, but not by myself. It was a two person team: my sister and I. The experience was enjoyable, and so were the end results. The three cakes we made were far from discouraging. That was a while ago, though. So I decided to tackle the challenge. All by myself. Picking the flavour was no struggle. I went with chocolate all the way, which I’m pretty sure is the most loved flavour in the world. It’s not hard to see why. Chocolate cake is easier to make, compared to yellow cake, for a reason I can only guess at. Perhaps texture is less important when it comes to chocolate. A fluffy cake seems to be the goal for the most part, but chocolate baked goods can be dense and it’ll still be right and ideal. Chocolate works as a shield. As a factor of forgiveness for an otherwise less than perfect cake. But when it comes to yellow cake, the cake stands alone, and is open to stricter scrutiny.
I went with a recipe from a cookbook. This cake requires no butter, only oil. There’s no need for baking chocolate or chocolate bars for the actual cake batter itself. It calls for cocoa powder. Since I don’t want to disrespect the author, I’ll refrain from posting the recipe here. The frosting is a basic cocoa buttercream. In a moment of crazed creativity, I took two squares of chocolate, melted them, and poured it over the top of the cake. When chilled or left for a while, it sets into a crunchy topping. Which is delicious.
My frosting skills are horrendous.
Look at how the topping cracked!
I had trouble dissolving the cocoa powder, if you can tell by the lumps in the cake.
I’ll be honest. I wasn’t impressed with the overall outcome. But I had low expectations to begin with. As for taste, it was divine. Definitely indulgence material. My cake baking skills are far from ideal, but I’m okay with that. There’s still a long way to go, but hey, practice is fun. And also- my apologies for the horrid pictures. I’m changing up where I host my images now.
Expect more cake from me in the future!
Chipmunk Cheeks 