my first ever chocolate cake

Yesterday, before going home i had the urge to make a chocolate cake. So i went online to search for a beginner cake that i could follow and i found the Hershey's website. The ingredients were okay...and the instruction was (i thought) do-able so after office hours, i went to the grocery to buy me some stuffs.

I was about to give up because i wasnt able to immediately find the Hershey's Cocoa in the "baking" section of the grocery... later on, (after about 30minutes of scouring the grocery) i was able to find it on the chocolate drink/milk section.

Here's how I made it (if you're too lazy to go to Hershey's website):

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups Hershey's Cocoa
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup boiling water
1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
Procedure:

1.) Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2 .) Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin--i was nervous when i saw a thin batter but after re-reading this instruction i calmed down). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3.) Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.


FOR CHOCOLATE FROSTING:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups frosting. Then add to your chocolate cake.
i love my chocolate cake!

but there were humps and bumps in the baking road...



at first i thought that the whole thing was a complete failure as i didn't realize that my pan was too small for my cake batter. Hence, when the cake batter rise, it overflowed. I was nearly teary-eyed with frustration! (see picture above--if it were you, wouldn't you get frustrated? i made this around 12midnight so i can't go out to buy some larger pan...)

BUT as it turned out, it only overflowed (thank goodness!!!)... it did not messed up the whole cake! I was able to sliced through it and my chocolate cake turned out great! :D



i cant wait to do more of these! it actually relieved my stress...(despite my interim frustration) iloveeeet! i'm planning on making a red velvet cake next time--simply because the color red appeals to me hee hee hee. i'm on a roll now and i cant be stopped! :D


on sugar-high!
prettytwistedchick

Dinner at Amici

Place: Amici, Ayala Triangle

Date: March 11, 2011, 5pm

We have this monthly dinner thing with my former officemates-turned-friends. This has been going on for the fourth time now and it’s my turn to pick a place for us to eat. At first, I picked Jack’s Loft at Timog, since I hail from Quezon City. Hee hee hee But I heard a lot of objection from someone who lives in the South, saying that the place is unfamiliar to him and that it’s too far.

Being the compassionate that I am, I concede…I’ve decided to compromise.

Ayala Triangle at night

the busy Ayala Avenue

buildings, buildings, buildings...

Actually, this dinner nearly DOES NOT come into existence. Why? At around 3pm news about the 8.9 earthquake in Japan has reached the Philippines. Aside from the scare that my relatives in Japan might be hurt there were text messages from my mom that Philippines was on tsunami alert. I was planning on calling off the whole dinner thing at 4.30pm…when our dinner was supposedly at 5pm.

But all is well…Thank God! :D

We ended up having dinner at Amici in Ayala Triangle. I must say that Ayala Triangle at night is spectacular. It’s conducive for business meetings (at night?!?), friends night-out, or if you find that perfect little resto, a dinner date.

The place was great…and the company as well! It doesn’t hurt that the food was superb too! :D

Mozzarella Fritto

As appetizer, we ordered Mozzarella Fritto—golden fried mozzarella sticks served with tangy pomodoro sauce. YUM!

Penne Al Salmone Affumicato Pasta

I ordered, Penne Al Salmone Affumicato Pasta (smoked salmon pasta). I must say that for someone who liked fish-meals cooked either grilled or fried, the salmon here was actually great! I never had that “fishy” feeling hahaha

Linguine Al Pesto Genovese Pasta

Posh, on the other hand ordered Linguine Al Pesto Genovese Pasta—basil pesto, potatoes, green beans. It was yummy as well. I’ve had a “traumatic” experience with pesto pasta that’s why I was a bit wary tasting this meal…but it was quite good! :D I like it!

Tentazione

Kee did not want to order a heavy meal as he has another dinner to go to after this one so he just ordered Tentazione—rich belgian chocolate icing on moist, dark chocolate cake. Sinfully delicious! (I wasn’t able to taste this one but it looked appealing)

Pollo Arrostito

Tots ordered Pollo Arrostito—baked rosemary half chicken with veggies. YUH-MEH!!!! I loved the tenderness of the chicken with a hint of rosemary. Such a delightful dish!

Al Quattro Formaggi

And lastly we ordered Al Quattro Formaggi—four cheeses pizza. YOU SHOULD TRY THIS! This pizza is great! We told kee that he should at least try this one…its all worth it! :D

... same sitting arrangement--as usual!

The dinner was filled with funny updates and plans. As Posh would put it, these dinners of ours give us a sense of normalcy in the midst of heavy workloads, pressure from other things life and expectations of people from us. These dinners are simply the best! :D

the "normal" peeps

Normal again…

prettytwistedchick