deluge

oh hello again friends. i hope you're having fun on the internets without me. with this wild election season, the onset of fall, and craziest of holidays, halloween, there are many other ways to procrastinate online other than caketime. like maybe watching this painful but endearing video? or checking out this delicious recipe? or indulging yourself by playing this over and over? (maybe that last one is just me) however, without caketime, you'd never have this:


i guess i named this blog right, because here's yet another cake. the cake is via my best cooking lady, nigella lawson, but the decorations are inspired by my love of eyeballs. i'm only a little ashamed to admit i was up way later than i should have been crafting these candy eyeballs. who knew what some colored frosting and halloween candy could do?! fyi, i plan to request this cake at every subsequent celebration i am a part of, if only for the sheer joy of getting to make bloodshot eyeballs out of marshmallows.

old fashioned chocolate cake, via nigella lawson

cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup cocoa
1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter
2 large eggs (i used three medium eggs- you'd be surprised how much that matters!)
2 teaspoons good-quality vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream

frosting:
6 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
3/4 stick unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract


preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

put all the cake ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter.

divide this batter, using a rubber spatula to help you scrape and spread, into the prepared tins and bake until a cake tester comes out clean,which is about 25 mins. remove the cakes, in their tins, to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the frosting later.

to make this icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a good-sized bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water. go slowly- you don't want any burning or seizing.

while this is melting, put the powdered sugar into the food processor and pulse to remove lumps.

add the corn syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor onto the powdered sugar, with the motor running.

spoon about 1/3 of the frosting onto the center of the cake-half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the 2 together.

spoon another 1/3 of the frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it. i used a star tip to make the crazy swirlies, and then a variety of candy and dyed royal icing to make the eyes. candies used included: mini m&m's, malt balls, gummy lifesavers, flavored tootsie rolls, dots and marshmallows.


oh, and if you made it this far, i'm planning on a deluge of posts in the near future, so hopefully i'll get back on your procrastination roster in the near future. besides, what are you going to do after election day?!