Birthday Weekends

This weekend is going to be a busy one, we are celebrating two Birthdays with friends and family. 

In the spirit of celebrating and all the delicious goodness which comes with Birthdays, here is a Chocolate Cake recipe I stumbled upon recently which looks truly delicious.

Gorgeous Birthday Cake. Image from Pinterest. 

It has some similarities to the Red Velvet Cupcakes, by the fact is also has buttermilk, which definitely seems to the the secret ingredients to getting perfectly moist sponge cakes. 

Chocolate Buttermilk Layer Cake

Ingredients:

This recipe makes one medium sized cake with 2 layers, but I would suggest doubling this recipe to make one large cake with 4 layers, baking it in 2 batches. As with a Red Velvet Cake, this Chocolate Cake will be the centre of attention, the bigger, the better, more for everyone. 

Cake:

• 1 Cup water 125 g butter, cubed

• 1/3 Cup cocoa powder, sifted

• 2 Cups flour, sifted

• 1t Baking soda, sifted (bicarbonate of soda)

• 2 cups (440 g) caster sugar

• 2 eggs ½ cup (125 ml) buttermilk

• 1 t (5 ml) vanilla essence/extract

Icing:

• 250g Plain Cream Cheese, at room temperature

• 100g Butter, softened

• 2 Cups icing sugar, sifted

• 50g Cocoa powder, sifted

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 C.

Place water, butter and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until butter has melted. Remove from heat.

Place flour, baking soda and sugar in a bowl, add the cocoa mixture and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and whisk to combine.

Divide mixture between 2 greased and lined 20 cm round cake tins, then bake for 40-45 min or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Please ensure you watch this cake after about 30min, every oven is different, if you are unsure if its cooked, rather do the fork test around the 35min mark. Poke a clean fork into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean it's done, if not, leave it for another 5min and check again depending on how uncooked the mixture/sponge is. 

Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out on wire racks to cool completely. Try and avoid putting cooling sponges in a draught, I'm always paranoid the sponge dry's out.

Icing: 

Now for the icing, pop the butter and cream cheese in a bowl, mix and beat with an electric beater for about for 6-8 minutes until pale and creamy. 

Add the icing sugar and cocoa and beat for a further 6-8 minutes until light and fluffy.

To assemble, slice off the round tops of each cake layer to produce smooth, flat layers. Try using a long, non serrated knife for a clean cut. Some baking shops sell cake wire, which looks very professional, I tried it and failed dismally. A knife also works :)

Place one layer on a pretty cake plate, spread with the icing, then put the remaining half on top and cover with icing, until you have all four layers in a pile, icing in between and on top.

A tower of chocolate.

Bit like a Chocolate Velvet Cake. Image from Pinterest. 

I plan to make this over the weekend, and will pop some pics up of how it turns out.

Let me know if you have any cake recipes you'd like to share, and I'd love to hear about it, if you make this cake and what you think!

Can't wait to get baking! Image from Pinterest.

Enjoy!

xx C

Tips: You can decorate your cake with anything you fancy, cherries, sprinkles, crumbled Cadbury Flake or pretty sugar hearts.

For something WOW try a single colour of bright sprinkles, as in the picture about, really does give the cake some extra drama. 

One Night with a Red Rabbit - Guest Post

Lisa is my running partner, bootcamp wingman, bridesmaid and basically a sister and every so often she lets me cook in her kitchen! Everyone say Hi! Having recently been to Johannesburg on business and visiting a fabulous sounding new restaurant called Red Rabbit, agreed to do a guest post restaurant review on the new French Grill. Hope everyone had a super Mother's Day Weekend!

Follow Lisa on Twitter here! 

Enjoy! xx C

The disclaimer attached to this piece is that I am by no means a qualified restaurant reviewer. I am however a regular restaurant patron at good and not-so-good establishments in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, giving me much fodder to write about. The opinion that follows is gathered from a recent evening at the newly opened Red Rabbit French Grill in the Nicolway Centre on William Nicol in Bryanston.

The Red Rabbit is the second restaurant from well-known restaurateur Thomas Barker of the wildly popular Thomas Maxwell Bistro in Parkmore, Johannesburg.  The Bistro has been open for as long as I can remember and is fully booked most of the time. A good option for a cosy Winter night out I might add.

 Red Rabbit, Nicolway Centre

If you are in to celeb spotting, the Nicolway Centre is the place to be at the moment. With most of these newly opened centres, specifically those that feature Sandton’s favourite brunch spot, Tasha’s, you are bound to spot an SA schleb or two. In my case we were graced by the lovely Kerry McGregor at the table next to us. Many an embarrassing moment ensued when various buffed up Morningside-gym goers approached the table to greet the beauty whom they assumed would remember them from that fleeting introduction at a cocktail party 6 months back. Alas not, to our immense satisfaction.

The setting of the restaurant is good, but if you are looking for a quiet slow environment, then this is not for you. The restaurant is split in two by a walkway and as a result, there is constant pedestrian traffic. You will need to book to get into the Red Rabbit, and I would recommend asking for a table either well within the ‘indoor’ part of the restaurant, or up against the glass of the ‘patio’ side.  

Another must-know is that the Red Rabbit is not yet licensed to serve alcohol. Once we were past the horrified gasps at hearing this news, the waiter quickly reminded us that the Woolworths in the centre is open until 8pm. I am sure it won’t be long until this is sorted, but in the interim, remember to take a bottle or 5 with you.

 Some little nibbles!

Wine in hand and voyeurism under control, we studied the menu. At first look it is relatively limiting,  but the options are in line with what you might expect at a French Grill. I opted for a Salmon Tartare for my starter. The plate arrived and it was beautiful.  The raw Salmon was neatly stacked into a cup shaped pile on the one side of the oblong plate with what appeared to be a crème fraiche and caviar topping. Accompanying the dish was a dollop of mayonnaise and another round of black caviar. Excuse my caviar ignorance! The dish was lovely – the finely chopped red onion rolled into the Salmon stack added a bite to the smooth deliciousness of the Salmon and the accompanying melba toast was put to good use in mopping up stray caviar, mayonnaise and Salmon. A great option and I think fairly priced at R75 given the sizable portion of salmon on the plate.

 Salmon Tartare Starter

For mains I went with a bowl of Chilli and Napolitana Mussels with crispy fries on the side. I have to confess that I almost lived at the Belgian restaurant Belgo’s in Convent Garden during my time in London, so I had high standards for these mussels, and while very different, they didn’t disappoint. The Chilli was mild, and given the sometimes blandness of mussels, I reckon they could ramp up the Chilli in the dish. I emptied small portions of the crunchy chips into the Napolitana sauce and then scooped them up with a mussel for a taste bud ménage a trois.

Chilli and Napolitana Mussels with Crispy Fries

I was disappointed when it came to choosing a desert. The options included strawberry ice cream, more ice cream options, a chocolate fondant and a cheeseboard. Obviously the chocolate fondant won. We were informed that there would be a 15-20 minute wait for the fondant, which lucky for the waiter suited our wine appreciation schedule. The plate arrived looking spectacular. The fondant itself was slightly hardened on the outside with a soft and juicy interior. This chocolaty goodness was accompanied by ice cream and a sliced strawberry as well as a few drops of what seemed to be a berry mixture. It might be the only chocolate option on the menu, but it is a winner.

 Chocolate Fondant

Overall, we had a great night out and the service was good. Go and try it and post your experience below!

To get in touch with Red Rabbit:
http://www.redrabbitfrenchgrill.com 
or call (011) 706 1731

P.S All Images by Lisa