Chocolate Cake

Love, Food and Memories...

It's finished.
Our little class of 23 has been together since the 8th grade- a small time for some, but it has just made us so close. We're like a huge family... clichéd, I know, but it's true.
We're drama-free, group-free. We just love each other. 

I know we're all going to be here next year, but with one tiny difference: the addition of 60 new people for the I.B. batch.
In a way, I'm excited for new people; new faces, new personalities, new friends and new things to do.
But in other ways, I just like it how it is. Till the last day, all 10 of us girls still sat and ate lunch together; laughing and screaming and complaining and sharing and gossiping and just everything that goes on in teenage girls' lives.
It's hard to look back 3 years and see how far we've come as a class and how much I have changed as a person. It seems so... distant and unreal.
A testimony to our closeness was our little party on our last day of school. We all brought in food and supplies and held a buffet for our class and all the teachers that have taught us since we joined.
It was weird... it worked.
Our gaggle of young, chaotic, loud and uncooperative barely-teenagers from all those years ago was suddenly so orderly and responsible and- most unexpected of all- appreciated by the teachers.
I mean, we had our share of yelling at each other, but at the end there were guys tidying all the garbage and handing plates to the teachers and... I'm proud to have been part of our bizarre group.

The teachers, too made so much effort- a couple of them even wrote (and sang) gorgeous songs for us and prepared a lunch of canapés, cake and 'vada pau' (the 'Indian Burger', as my teacher fondly nicknamed it).

My sister got home from an exhausting, tearful and girly-melodramatic camp on Friday, and to make her feel better my mum baked chocolate chip cupcakes and lasagne, and I made her the 'Fabulous French Toast Sticks' that she's been asking for for ages. 

I love how good food effortlessly brings people together, and continues to be a way to show that you really care.
 It doesn't matter whether you're cooking for family, bringing your friend's favourite food or cupcakes to share at your daily lunch on the terrace, or you're enjoying a feast and reliving all your memories of 3 long (but all too short) years.

Chocolate Chocolate Cake
From The Purple Foodie

Note: My cake came out looking definitely different from Shaheen's (hers looks infinitely richer and more sophisticated) but I was happy with how this turned out too. My frosting uses regular milk chocolate because I didn't have dark at the time, and I failed to find the box of cream so I used a small splash of milk. It worked, but I recommend you stick with the recipe!

Yield: 6-8 servings

Chocolate Cake

125g flour
30g cornflour
40g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
125g yoghurt
30g water
115g butter
275g sugar
125g eggs (2.5 eggs)

Equipment: 9 inch round cake pan, cooling rack, offset spatula.

1. Preheat oven to 170ºC. Line a 9 inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
2. Whisk and then sieve together all the following: flour, cornflour, cocoa, baking powder,baking soda and salt.
3. Whisk together the yoghurt and water in another small bowl.
4. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until the butter has lightened in colour. It won’t dissolve into the butter because there is more than twice the sugar, but that’s fine. Next, beat in one egg at a time, making sure it’s fully incorporated before add the next one. Also, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula between additions.
5. Next, switch to a spatula and alternately mix the dry ingredients and the thinned yoghurt until fully incorporated into the batter. Start and end with the dry ingredients.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Let it cool completely on a cooling rack before cutting.

Chocolate Ganache
300g dark chocolate
375g full fat cream
30g butter, cut into small cubes

1. Place the chocolate in a bowl.
2. Bring the cream to a full boil in a thick bottomed pan.
3. Pour it over the chocolate and let it rest for a few seconds before you being to whisk it gently to bring the emulsion together.
4. Finally, stir in the pieces of butter until fully incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until you want to use it.

Assemble the Cake

1. With a serrated knife, slice off the domed portion of the cake.
2. Next, cut the cake into half horizontally. Place the bottom half on a plate or a cake board. Spread a thick layer of ganache on it making sure to leave a little gap around the circumference – otherwise when you place the top half of the cake, the ganache might ooze out.
3. Place the top half of the cake. Spread a thin layer of ganache on the cake – you could pour it while it’s runny or spread it with an offset spatula when it has firmed up slightly. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then finish icing the cake with the rest of the ganache.
4. You might need to refrigerate the cake between coats of ganache for ease of icing.
5. Always serve this at room temperature or slightly warm with a drizzle of caramel sauce and a little ice cream on the side.