Chocolate Volcano

So my first attempt at a chocolate cake for a LONG time turned out pretty well - and very delicious.

The occasion: Digsmate Sue's 30th birthday

Recipe: pretty standard - 5 eggs separated; 2 cups flour; 1 1/2 cups white sugar; 4 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1 cup oil

Obstacle 1: No mixer - that means that "beat egg whites until stiff peaks form" becomes rather a challenge - however the power of a whisk in my hand and some added help from Sam, I was able to achieve the desired peaks. This definitely added to the light fluffy texture of the mixture after it was "folded in"

Obstacle 2: No measuring cups or spoons - not such a problem as I don't ever stick to quantities but rather go by what I feel - which was a good thing in the baking powder case where after three teaspoons it was definitely enough

Obstacle 3: Realised only after I'd taken out the cakes from the oven - The baking tins. My mom's tins had those levers that you slide after the cake has cooled and it breaks the seal between the cake and bottom of the tin. These ones do not.
Also, ignoring the recipe's request to use wax paper at the bottom (I mentioned that I don't follow instructions right?) - and it turns out we didn't have any anyway - lead to a rather crumbly and very nearly broken half of a cake. Luckily I was wise enough to let the other half cool down completely and firm up before using a spatula and easing it out - whole!

Icing: 200g butter creamed with 200g icing sugar (by hand and wooden spoon - I fear my left bicep may be slightly bulgier today!) and then mixed with 200g melted chocolate (I went for Cadbury's Top Deck and melted it over boiling water on the stove). I also added some cocoa and coffee mixed with a little boiling water to get a darker, chocolatier, coffier colour and taste.

Decorating: The crumbly half went on the bottom and I smeared the icing over, placed the other pretty half on top and set about covering the whole thing with yummy icing - turned out to be quite tricky with crumbly bottom half falling all over the place!

Decorated it with two pink flowers from the garden (and got shouted at by Pinky for stealing from his beloved flower bed) and some pink Smarties (the entire box was pink, I didn't pick out just the pink ones Davo).

And Voila! Hoff gave it the final touch by adding a sparkler and then it was set down in front of the birthday girl.

Verdict: Absolutely delicious! Chocolate Volcano was a success!

But next time I will invest in some wax paper!

Bon Appetit! Note the off centre placement to indicate volcano tremors (planned of course!)