Chocolate Birthday Cake

Last Friday a few of us got together for my good friend Amanda's birthday to enjoy a night of guacamole, drinks and of course, cake. I can't imagine celebrating a birthday without cake, and even if it isn't in its traditional form there are so many cupcake and ice cream options! I decided to whip up one of my favourite chocolate cake recipes - this one by Ina Garten - and as much as I love chocolate on chocolate I always think it looks so pretty with white icing. I also attempted some decorations (A Beautiful Mess inspired) by melting some chocolate and piping it into Eiffel Towers (Amanda is a big France fan) and they looked great! Only problem was when it came to putting them on the cake they melted instantly and I lost all but four! Even those lonely four didn't make it very far, as soon as I stepped outside in the humidity their peaks collapsed - but lucky for me Eiffel Towers also look a lot like capital A's - win. I shaved some chocolate on the top and it looked just as nice. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease two round cake pans and line with parchment, grease again and lightly dust with flour. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, power and salt. In a separate bowl beat together the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla. On low speed gradually add the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until combined. Add in the coffee stirring just until mix and being sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Evenly pour the batter into each of the pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least thirty minutes before removing from the pans. Place them on a rack until cooled all the way through.

For the icing, I used a really old recipe from my Nana's collection that is a simple buttercream - sugar, butter and heavy cream. Either of the recipes from Ina or a Beautiful Mess will work great! The cake was enjoyed by all and their were many exclamations of "This cake is so moist!!" - which is completely true. Happy Birthday Amanda!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Toasted Coconut Frosting

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday (Happy Birthday Mom!). After just coming home from a last minute vacation, there wasn't much time to pick up a birthday gift. That being said I am all about anything homemade. It adds a personal touch that can't be store bought, and more often than not is much more delicious. So as my Mom was out for the morning, I did my best to make a tasty birthday treat with what was in our cupboards. I didn't have time to run out and pick up other ingredients if I wanted the treat to be complete and all cleaned up by the time she got home, so I browsed through various recipes that included chocolate and coconut. The result was combining a couple different ones to create chocolate cupcakes with a toasted coconut frosting. I followed this recipe for the chocolate cake,  however I divided it in half and split it into a dozen cupcakes - sometimes an entire cake can be a little overwhelming to eat.

Ingredients 

1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup sugar, heaping

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cups. In a small bowl dissolve the cocoa powder in the boiling water, and add the vanilla when cooled. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined. In a separate bowl combine the remaining dry ingredients. With your mixer on low, gradually add the cocoa mixture and flour mixture to the butter, eggs and sugar. Mix until everything is blended. Evenly distribute the cake mixture into the 12 muffin cups and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to completely cool before icing.

For the frosting I used this recipe. It is more similar to marshmallow fluff than buttercream but I found it to be the perfect topping - not too sweet or heavy. Though next time to add more coconut flavour, I would substitute the vanilla extract with coconut. I toasted half a bag of sweetened, shredded coconut, and after icing the cupcakes, sprinkled it on and shook off any excess. The result couldn't have been better! After a nice dinner at home, these moist, chocolatey with just a hint of coconut cupcakes were a great alternative to any store-bought birthday cake.

If you're not a fan of coconut, try sprinkling graham cracker crumbs on top instead of coconut for a s'mores flavoured cupcake!