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First Day of School
So first day of school. An excited little boy had breakfast, a shower and dressed in his smart new school clothes before setting off. Graham and I both took time off to take him along. We got there early, so he had time to play before being taken in to his class. It was a quick goodbye to us and we were headed home a little shell shocked, although there were no tears. At lunchtime we both went along to pick him up and waited excitedly with the other parents. He came out of the door and ran to us like a bullet. Big hugs all round.
Graham headed back to work and Cooper changed out of his school uniform so we could have some fun together. I thought it might be nice to start our own tradition. First day of school chocolate cake.
Cooper made our favourite chocolate cake and we filled it and topped it with chocolate buttercream, chocolare buttons and white chocolate nibs. I always have a tub of chocolate buttercream,, just in case of last minute cakes or buttercream disasters, so I decided we would use that.
First Day of School Chocolate Cake
2. Measure the plain flour into a bowl and sieve.
3. Add the caster sugar and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and a pinch of salt.
4. Sieve in the cocoa powder, then stir gently with a metal spoon to combine.
5. Melt the butter in a pan.
6. Crack eggs into another bowl, as demonstrated by Cooper.
7. Whisk the eggs.
8. In a jug measure out the coffee granules then top up with boiling water (Mummy will help with this) and set aside.
9. Carefully pour the melted butter into the egg mixture. It should have cooled a bit by now.
10. In a fresh jug measure the milk and top with a good squeeze of lemon juice and set aside for a few minutes. This is in place of buttermilk, which I never have in the fridge.
11. Pour the milk into the egg mixture and whisk.
12. Add the vanilla extract and whisk again.
13. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk in a stand mixer (or with an electric whisk) until smooth and thick.
14, Pour in the coffee and fold in carefully with a spatula or metal spoon.
15 Pour the batter into the prepared cake tins and bake in middle of the oven for about 35 minutes. Do the skewer test. If it comes out clean the cake is ready, although chocolate cake can benefit from coming out a little early for an extra moist cake.
16. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before decorating.
17. Decorate then slice a piece and enjoy!
First Day of School Chocolate Cake
A moist chocolate cake that's just perfect for a special occasion like first day of school
Ingredients
- 225g plain flour
- 400g caster sugar
- 70g cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 250ml buttermilk (1 tbsp lemon juice of vinegar, topped up with milk to 250ml and left for at least 5 minutes)
- 115g butter, melted
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 200ml strong coffee, still hot
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180c/160c fan/350/gas mark 4. Grease two 18 cm cake tins and line the bottom of each with baking paper.2. In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour, cocoa, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Give it is good stir with a metal spoon until it is well combined.3. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla and pour into the dry ingredients. Whisk until velvety smooth with either a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer. Next pour in the hot coffee and mix in with a spatula, until you have a runny mixture. (don’t panic, it will work)4. Pour the batter into the cake pans and bake in the middle of the oven for 35 minutes. A skewer should come out clean.5. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for a while, before tipping carefully onto a wire rack to continue cooling. 6. Fill and top the cake with homemade or shop-bought chocolate frosting and chocolate buttons.
Details
Total time: Yield: 1 chocolate cake
Three more chocolatey treats for you to try:
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