Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Homemade Chocolate Cake & Birthday Memories by Shaleen Kapil

I’ve been busy baking (well, instructing my mother-in-law from India on how to bake) cakes. I’ve bought a few birthday cakes for my kids along the way, but every time I do, I remember the elaborate cakes my mom used to make us. Sure, they were box cakes, but she always let us pick the shape from a book that she had and they would cut and rearrange sheet cakes to that shape. My favorite was a swan.

I cheat, at least with the shape. I have a horse cake pan that I have been reusing for my daughter for a few years, but I make the cake from scratch using my grandmother’s recipe. This year, I’ll share it with you, true and simple (just don’t over bake it...And don't judge- I don't decorate well, that's why it gets the pretty glass dome!)

Shaleen’s Chocolate Cake

Mix dry ingredients:
¾ c. cocoa
2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

Then add the wet in a well that you make from the dry:
½ c. melted butter
1 egg
1 c. boiling water
1 c. milk.

Bake 350 for about an hour or toothpick comes out dry. Makes 2 8” round or 1 9x12”

I like to frost it with cream cheese icing (butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar), but this year, I tried coconut too!


Get some more yummy goodness in Shaleen’s Christmas novella, My Christmas Cupcake, available as part of the Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 collection available here: Kindle, Nook

Also keep up to date with her on Facebook or website


9 comments:

  1. At least you baked something. I can't even cook or bake anything. :)

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  2. It's so cute, Shaleen! Good mama - and good memories. :)

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  3. Those cakes look yummy! Wouldn't the horse head cake be a funny joke to deliver to a friend you've been feuding with - mafia style- <> I used to love to bake in my 20s and 30s. I'm not sure why I stopped, but you've inspired me to break out the pans. Thanks for the recipe :)

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  4. The horse cake is adorable. Your daughter will never remember that it wasn't perfect, just that you did it just for her. My kids always wanted pie instead of cake for their birthdays -- and ice cream, lots of ice cream.

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  5. I haven't baked a cake in years. Thanks for the recipe.

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  6. What a fantastic horse cake! Lucky girl, your daughter!

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  7. Love your horse cake. The last time I baked a cake from scratch I was making a German chocolate cake for my husband's birthday. It was a lot of work, and in the end, I decided that the box cake I usually use tasted better. My older daughter makes cakes from scratch all the time. Me I'm the box cake queen.

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  8. My mom used to make fantastic cakes in shapes like that, too. My favorite kind growing up was a Coca Cola cake. It had real Coke in it, along with lots of chocolate. One year my mom made it in the shape of a brown cat. Then another year she did a carrot cake in the shape of a rabbit for my brother's birthday.

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