Skip to main content

A very special birthday


Yesterday was Mr Di-licious' birthday.  But not any ordinary birthday, the big 4-0.

Sadly for him he is in the middle of exams and unable to celebrate in the way he would like.  So last night it was a simple acknowledgement - Beef Bourguinon, a special bottle of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon (2004 Ladbroke Grove Killian) and cake.

Mr Di-licious has some eclectic tastes: country music, two earl grey tea bags per cup and last but not least, chocolate cake and lemon icing.

So inspired by Sweetapolita, I produced a chocolate layer cake, filled and covered in lemon buttercream and drizzled over with a puddle of chocolate ganache.

Since it was only the three of us I made a tiny six inch cake.  And you know what?  Six inches was plenty!  The cake is very sweet so a small slice is all you really need.


I used my favourite chocolate cake recipe (I promise to share it with you one day!) and made a simple buttercream flavoured with lemon juice and zest.

After torting and covering the cake I let the buttercream set properly in the fridge before heating up the ganche to pouring consistency.  This stops the warm ganache melting the buttercream when you pour it over.

It's certainly not as pretty as Sweetapolita's version and one day I will attempt Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but in Olive's words, "this is one yummy cake Mummy!"


And before you feel a little sorry for him, there are two birthday celebrations planned for the next two weekends, which means two more cakes.  So I guess he'll get to have his cake and eat it over, and over, and over again.

Happy birthday darling - you are the butter to my bread, the breath to my life  xxx

(with apologies to Paul Child)


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Domesblissity said…
What a lovely looking cake Di and happy birthday to Mr Di-licious! I look forward to hearing your favourite chocolate cake recipe.

Anne @ Domesblissity
Sunday, 12 June, 2011
Molly @ Toffee Bits and Chocolate Chips said…
What a beautiful cake! and a Happy Birthday to your Hubbie!
Monday, 13 June, 2011
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said…
Happy birthday to Mr Di-licious! Those drips are picture perfect! In fact I've always wanted to do drips like that but never could :(
Monday, 13 June, 2011
Dreams of cakes said…
Happy birthday to Mr Di-licious!! He is a very lucky man...!! Di-licious cake!!
Tuesday, 14 June, 2011
Tiffany said…
One puddle of chocolate ganache for me pleeeeeease! :D
Wednesday, 15 June, 2011
Unknown said…
Thanks everyone! I feel like I'm drowning in chocolate cake at the moment. Two down - one more to go!
Tuesday, 21 June, 2011
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My blog is making me fat

Temptation lurks everywhere. It’s official. My blog is making me fat. It’s also keeping my house messy since I started prioritising writing and baking over vacuuming and putting away laundry. In fact it’s happening right now – I’ve slept in because I stayed up to watch the new Kennedy’s drama on ABC and then wanted to ‘quickly’ check in to see if there were any new messages or comments. Before I know it its really late and that coffee I had after lunch has kicked in, giving me caffeine-induced heart palpitations, delaying sleep even further. Mr Di-licious (bless him) allowed me to sleep in and delivered a latte to my bedside. There’s a bowl of porridge waiting for me on the kitchen bench, ready to be reheated while I turn on my laptop and think about my next post. I used to get up early and go to the gym before breakfast but lately I’ve just been too tired. You know you’ve been MIA when you get notified about a trainer leaving and you’ve absolutely no idea who they’re talk...
18 comments
Read more

Olive's Carrot Cupcakes {Recipe}

"Mummy, I'm hungry. Hungry for something sweet." Sound familiar?  If only it were "Mummy, I'm hungry for green vegetables!" Sometimes getting kids to eat something healthy is a battle.  The harder you try, the more they resist. We've been pretty lucky with Olive - she devours fruit.  And while she's adamant she'll never eat a tomato (too many Charlie and Lola bedtime stories), she will eat green beans, peas and corn (and sometimes raw broccoli!) without fuss.  The one veg she absolutely adores though are carrots. A carrot stick is a great snack for a hungry preschooler but when they're pining for something sweet, why not make them something healthy and sweet and bake some mini carrot cupcakes? These mini cupcakes are based on Stephanie Alexander's Simple Carrot Cake from The Cook's Companion . I like this recipe a lot because it uses olive oil which has lots of health benefits. If you have a food processor, you could ea...
13 comments
Read more

How to make sugar carrot cupcake decorations

The internet gods have not been kind to us this past week.  Apparently a static-y phone line can interfere with our ADSL connection, putting to bed any hopes I had to bring you this tutorial and Mr Di-licious completing an online test for his law course.  Sigh. At least I had my iPhone - I was still connected to the world so to speak, even if in a limited, small screen kind of way. But I digress. As promised, here is a 'tutorial' to help you make the cute as a button sugar carrots for the carrot cupcakes I made last week. They are embarrassingly easy to make.  Before you know it you'll have a carrot patch that's the envy of Don Burke (sorry, Aussie joke). Tutorial: Making sugar carrot decorations To make the sugar carrots, you will need: orange fondant (I used Americolor Orange to colour) green fondant (I used Americolor Avocado to colour) a skewer or pointy modelling tool to make a dent in end of carrot small, fine paintbrush water ...
14 comments
Read more