CHOCOLATE COFFEE CAKE: MY BAKING SECRETS !!!

Baking is something, which I started early. Come winter, and I had seen my mother and my aunts whip up fruit cakes at home. It was almost a family tradition, and we waited with bated breath for either rum or bourbon fruit cakes by Ma, or the orange or lemon cakes by my aunt..it was always a delight to dig in. The baking process always intrigued me, and I started baking even before I knew how to boil an egg. It was quite a challenge to make the cakes better and more moist, and I started experimenting..cook books became gifts from everyone and before i realized I had embarked on the baking journey.

As I grew up, Ma almost stopped baking, and I became the de-facto baker at home. If I was home for any family occasion, be it birthdays or anniversaries, cakes had to be my gift. Somehow, it felt good, when I repeated the same family custom, when I decided to gift a freshly baked cake to one of the few friends I have in this alien country. The response was good...and I was on cloud nine. After I had posted pics of that birthday party on a social networking site, I got a lot of queries from my huge bevy of friends...everyone was interested to try their hand at baking, and most were feeling apprehensive..and I spent the day clearing the myth, that baking is not only pretty easy, its also a great experience. So here goes my basic cake recipe for all those who want to try their hand at baking for the first time...trust me , it is so easy, you would be baking every week.

Chocolate Coffee Cake:

Cake Ingredients:

Flour: 1 3/4 cup 

Granulated sugar: 2 cups 

Cocoa powder:3/4 cup

Eggs: 2 

Baking powder: 1 1/2tbsp 

Salt: 1 tsp 

Canola oil( use any white oil, but not olive oil): 1/2 cup

Milk:1 cup 

Vanilla extract: 1 tbsp 

Instant coffee powder, mixed with some boiling powder: 1 tbsp

Vanilla Butter cream Frosting:
Ingredients:
Solid Vegetable Shortening: 1 cup
Vanilla/Butter Flavor/Extract: 1 tsp
Milk or water: 7-8 tsp
Pure Cane Confectioner's Sugar: 1 lb: 4 cups
Meringue Powder: 1 tbsp(for stability)
Salt: A pinch

Procedure: 
Cream shortening,flavoring and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed (in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer,) until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or so, until creamy. This frsoting can be stored for around 4 weeks, in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Butter cream Frosting: 
Add 3/4 cup cocoa or 3 oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted, and an additional 1 to 2 tbsp water to the recipe. Mix until well blended.

Cake Procedure:
Pre-heat the oven to 350F before you start the preps.

Ensure that all the ingredients are at room temperature.

Sift the dry ingredients one by one, in a large bowl. This ensures that there are no lumps in the batter.

Add in the baking powder, and use a dry whisk to mix it well, into the other dry ingredients.

Keep adding the wet ingredients to the dry.

Mix all the ingredients together, except the coffee powder and the boiling water.

Beat the cake mix only in one direction, as that helps in fold in air in the mix.

Gradually add the coffee mix, so as not to scramble the eggs in the mix. Mixture will be smooth, glossy and very runny.

Pour the mixture into a 9 inch greased spring form pan

Bake at 350F, for around 40 minutes, or till a skewer comes out clean , when inserted at the center.

Let the cake cool for around 10 minutes, then remove the spring form.

Use a spatula to loosen it from the side and from its base. If you let it cool down for longer, then the grease will start to solidify, and it will be difficult to get the cake out.

Cool it on a wire rack for a couple of hours.

Ice according to preferences !!

Enjoy baking!!!!!