Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Chocolate Cake and the Recliner



Recently for my husband's birthday, the kids and I got him this recliner that he had his eye on for a long time. It was one herculean effort to get the recliner up, make space for it in the room, setting it up... But now that it is set up... its a whole new story....

The room duplicates Kurukshetra and the biggest battles now at home resemble mini Mahabharatha yuddhas. Ask me why. Everyone is now is vying for possession of the chair. It is like a land grabber who will not give up for anything on earth. I did not realise how quickly a sweet husband and two lovely children can turn into a bunch of vultures circling their prey. One just has to get up when under him, the other has wriggled in....No one is willing to give an inch. It is a sight to see. To make up for my time on the chair, I end up sitting and rocking myself at 6 in the morning while brushing my teeth. Thats the only time the seat is free for me.... What's a girl to do???? I submit with good grace

Now for the chocolate cake. We made this for his birthday. Turned out well and looked good too.



Heres the recipe...



2 1/4 cup Flour
1 2/3 cup Sugar
2/3 cup Butter softened
2/3 Cocoa
3 eggs
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 deg C
Grease and flour a 9"X13" pan.
Cream butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla till light and fluffy.
Sift all the dry ingredients till well mixed.
Alternately add flour mixture and water to the creamed mixture.
Pour into the greased pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.



PS: When I say grease and flour it means first appl a little butter or vegetable oil to the baseand sides of the baking pan and then dust a little flour on it till there is a light spinkling of flour coating the base and the sides. This helps in freeing the cake from the pan without any mishaps. Otherwise just use parchment paper to line the base after greasing it.

I use an icing when it is for a celebration. But no butter in the icing. I just make a simple glace icing with sugar and cocoa.

1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons hot water

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa. Mix in the hot water one teaspoon at a time till the icing is pourable but not runny.
Pour on top of the cake and spread gently with a knife.Put some grated chocolate or some sprinkles on top and leave to set.

11 comments:

Tee said...

Ooh! the cake looks gorgeous!! recliner sure seems to be a great gift...usable by everyone ;)

FH said...

We have a black leather recliner.Darn thing is so comfortable,you don't want to get up to get the remote!:D
Hope he is having fun with his gift!:))
Chocolate cake and a recliner, what more can a man want? Looks yum:)

TBC said...

lol:-) rocking at 6.00a.m. while brushng your teeth:-)

That cake looks sinfully delicious!

Rajitha said...

that is funny...it is hard to give up a comfy chair..at my home it is the papasan chair..btw. the cake looks yummy..

marriedtoadesi.com said...

Looks really nice! Love your description of the chair battles. Hahahahaha. You need to get the recliner couch to match! The difficult part is getting up out of them.

Kanchana

Namratha said...

Kamini, you had the cake all by yourself didn't ya...I don't believe it was for your hubby's bday...it looks toooo good to share..hehe!! :D
I was looking for a home made icing recipe, this is a good one and what tastes better than chocolate...

Padma said...

these days every one is into baking, i think I should start it soon, that chocolate cake looks fantastice TBC

bee said...

get one for yourself in the bedroom, write your name and pin it on. cake looks yummy. and tell everyone else you will sprinkle itchy powder on it if they try to sit on it.

KRISHNA said...

Kamini,

Cake looks Yummy !!!

Anonymous said...

can i use the recliner when i come down to your house?

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Kamini. Just found your blog. Everything is wonderful