Devil Food Chocolate Cake

The last time I baked for my boyfriend was 4 years ago. We had just started dating and it was his birthday. I wasn't that enthusiastic as I am now with baking but I still baked him cupcakes. It were mini cupcakes, I don't remember what flavour, with peanut butter frosting. The frosting was hideous! And watery! I tried to draw on the small cupcakes but all went fugly.

But it still was my first ever homemade cupcakes/cake for him.

I decided to surprise the boyfriend yesterday so I baked him a cake. Not the usual humble cakes I usually baked. It was a chocolate cake!

My piping skills sucks T_T I really don't know how to decorate a cake. Seriously, it took me a longer time to frost than baking!

And the boyfriend and housmates and officemate (Oh now I am blushing) loved it!! Sumpah tak tipu!

I drove in the middle of the night from my house to KL just to meet him but I couldn't resist to had one slice of it. So I brought along a knife and a tupperware, for me! Hahahahaha.

And this is how it looks like :) Pretty, no?

Devil Food Chocolate Cake
From Kitchen Guardian

Cake:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
65g butter
1 large egg
1tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup warm water

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Sift together all the dry ingredients; flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg.
3. Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk+warm water mixture in three batches begin and ending with the flour.
4. Add in vanilla essence and continue mixing.
5. Pour into a greased pan and bake for 30 minutes. I used a 9 inch heart shaped pan and had to baked twice. Double the ingredients or use a smaller pan if you want a higher cake.

Cream Cheese frosting:

250g cream cheese at room temperature
125g butter
1 cup icing sugar (Yikes! I use 1/2 cup. Enough with all the fat :p )
1 tsp vanilla essence

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in butter and continue mixing until light and creamy. Add in sifted icing sugar and mix well. Lastly, add vanilla essence.

Chocolate Ganache:

250 ml double cream/whipping cream/ thickened cream
300g dark chocolate/baking chocolate chopped

In a double boiler, warm the cream until it is hot enough to melt the chocolate. Remove from the heat and mix in the chopped chocolate. Stir until melted. Let it cool before use.

To assemble:

After both of the cakes has cooled down (remember I baked twice?), spread few big spoon of cream cheese on top of the first cake. Spread evenly. Arranged slices of strawberries on top of it then spread another layer of cream cheese.

Take another cake and put it on top of the first one. Spread evenly cream cheese frosting all over the cake, at the sides and on top of it. Put it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Take it out and pour ganache all over the cake.

Deco it as you wish ;) Good Luck!