Mothers Day Cake

Mothers Day, is a day when all mothers around the world are honoured and celebrated.  To me it's extra special as I am mum to two beautiful kids.
Every family celebrates Mothers day in their own way, in our house I have usually had breakfast in bed, made by the children and then home made cards and a gift.

This year, however I will be at AKL airport at 6.30 am handing the children over to hubby (who will be flying in from Perth at 5.30) and catching a flight myself,  to Wellington, to have some "me" time! Starting off at the Food Show (more about that next week)  and then spending a couple of days with my best friend at her house on the beach

I think Mothers just want a "thank-you" to know that they are appreciated.  Take them out for a meal or bake some goodies for a special afternoon tea.  Chocolate is one of those all time favourites, so I decided to post my favourite chocolate cake recipe with a decadent chocolate ganache, topped with some fresh roses for decoration, I think it's a winner!

My mum is thousands of miles away in England and although Mothers Day has already been celebrated there, this one is for you mum.......

This is a beautiful moist cake, it keeps well and is very easy to bake.

Chocolate Cake

100g Melted Butter (cold)

1 Cup Castor Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Milk

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Baking Soda

2 Tbls Cocoa

pinch of salt

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence/Extract

1 1/2  Cups sifted Flour

1/3 Cup boiling water

1. Pre heat oven to 150 c

2. In a large bowl, add all the ingredients in the order listed, don't mix until the water is added.

3. Then beat until smooth and glossy (I usually use a hand blender for this) the mixture should be thick and runny.

4. Pour into a deep  greased 20cm tin and bake @ 150 c for 30 -35 min  or until a skewer comes out clean.

5. Turn out when cold and ice.

For the Chocolate Ganache

1 Cup Fresh Cream

400g Dark Chocolate

1. Chop the chocolate into fine pieces

2. Bring the cream to a boil in a medium saucepan, switch off the heat when the cream starts to bubble

3. Add the chopped chocolate to the cream and gently fold in until it has all combined into a thick, glossy mixture.  Put it in the fridge for 30-45 min to thicken so that it is spreadable, decorate your cake.... I can assure you there will not be a crumb left!!

Alternatively you can ice it using this simple chocolate icing

1 Tbls Melted Butter

1 Tbls Cocoa

1 Cup Icing Sugar

1 Tsp boiling Water

Mix it all together, adding a touch little more water if you want a runnier icing and more icing sugar if you want a thicker consistency. 

Tip - Ensure that you sift the icing sugar or you will end up with lumps in your icing.

Happy Mothers Day to Mums everywhere.......enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia