Grass-Themed Chocolate Birthday Cake 🎂 (Long Recipe)

Name: Grass-Themed Chocolate Birthday Cake 🎂 (Long Recipe)
Total time: 5400 s
Yield: 5-10 people
Cuisine: Nigerian
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour; 2 cups sugar; 1/2 cup cocoa powder; 2 tsps baking soda; 1 tsp salt; 2 tsps dry coffee; 1 1/2 cups boiled water; 1/2 cup milk; 2/3 cup vegetable oil; 2 tbsps vinegar; 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract; 40 g 85% cocoadark chocolate (optional); 3 cups icing sugar; 2/3 cups cocoa powder; 200 g softened unsalted butter; 60 g melted dark chocolate; 1/4 cup boiled water; 1 tbsp liquid milk; 1 tsp salt; 1 tsps vanilla extract

TheAmateurChef @cook_24910022

Port Harcourt 🇳🇬

Wanna make a yummy chocolate birthday cake and leave people swearing you bought it? I got ya 😉

TheAmateurChef @cook_24910022

Port Harcourt 🇳🇬

Wanna make a yummy chocolate birthday cake and leave people swearing you bought it? I got ya 😉

Saved

Ingredients

1 hr 30 minutes

5-10 people

Cake:
3 cupsall-purpose flour
2 cupssugar
1/2 cupcocoa powder
2tsps baking soda
1 tspsalt
2tsps dry coffee
1 1/2 cupsboiled water
1/2 cupmilk
2/3 cupvegetable oil
2 tbspsvinegar
1/2 tbspvanilla extract
40 g85% cocoadark chocolate (optional)
Frosting:
3 cupsicing sugar
2/3 cupscocoa powder
200 gsoftened unsalted butter
60 gmelted dark chocolate
1/4 cupboiled water
1 tbspliquid milk
1 tspsalt
1tsps vanilla extract
Note: 2 tsps dry coffee to 1 1/2 cups warm water + 1/2 cup milk

Saved

Steps

1 hr 30 minutes

1

Pre-heat up your oven to 350 ° F. If you're not ready to use the oven and it has reached this temperature and you're using a gas oven (w/out temperature gauge), you can maintain this heat by allowing the temperature rise beyond 350 ° F for about 5 minutes then reducing your flames to medium high; then bake when it has settled at 350 ° F
2

Grease your pans with butter and line them with parchment paper. PLEASE DON'T SKIP THIS STEP. This is a gooey cake and will stick to the pan if you omit this step. Don't be like me... before I updated this recipe 😢
3

Melt the chocolate over boiling water
4

Boil water. Add in coffee and milk. The milk will help cool down the boiled water. Stir. Set aside to cool down a bit. Don't let it cool completely; it should be warm enough to drink. The heat from the warmed coffee will help break down the cocoa powder
5

While the coffee cools, sift the dry ingredients into your mixing bowl: flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Whisk (or mix thoroughly) and set aside
6

When the coffee has cooled [enough to drink], add in the other liquid ingredients: vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla. Stir
7

Pour the liquid mixture into the mixing bowl of dry ingredients and whisk [or mix thoroughly]. Ensure you stir to the bottom so that all the dry ingredients are mixed in. Your batter should be runny and a bit lumpy. It already tastes yummy🤤
8

Add the melted chocolate
9

Transfer the batter to the lined pans and leave to rest for 5 minutes
10

Bake for 45 minutes or till it's baked. It is baked when you insert a toothpick/cutlery and it comes out without wet batter
11

Look at that baby rise at 15 minutes 😃 Don't open the oven till it's about 35 minutes (if necessary)
12

Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes. This will give it the last level of cooking needed (no need to leave your cake in the oven longer than usual to cook thoroughly). I need to stop "stabbing" my cakes with a knife and use a toothpick instead 🙄 You should too.
13

Place it on a wire rack and let it cool down to room temperature.
14

That's it! Enjoy your moist yummy chocolate cake. But what's a birthday cake without icing/frosting 🤷🏾‍♀️ Let's frost it then 😃
15

Melt the chocolate over boiling water
16

Sift the icing sugar and beat it together with the butter till its thick and creamy
17

Add the vanilla and milk and mix well to combine
18

Scoop out the batter needed for the grass and add the colour, little at a time. I regretted using liquid colouring cause I had to use almost 2 tsps and it made the frosting more runny. PLEASE USE GEL FOOD COLOURING if possible
19

Watch the change of colour per addition
20

For the remaining batter, sift in the cocoa powder, pour the boiled water and whisk. Water lightens up the frosting for piping and easy spread on the cake. But boiled water breaks up the cocoa powder to release its flavor. Wanna switch it up? Substitute the boiled water for "boiled" milk 😉
21

That's it!!! Slap it on the cake however you would. Have fun with it. Enjoy 🤤
22

Get your piping bag and get creative with those grasses