Let them eat it...

Yesterday was my birthday (and Ken Burns').  It was full of true friends and great food like gazpacho, spumoni, and saag paneer (not eaten simultaneously).  Also, Yoga Girl, a pipe cleaner person made by my friend Aaron, made an appearance at the dinner table and wowed us with her sweet skills and flexibility.  I hope to feature Yoga Girl on this blog in the near future.

One of the highlights of the big day was the cake my hubby made for me.  He used my recipe and a carton full of my favorite icing (props!).  We ate cake before dinner just to make sure we had enough room for dessert...we tend to gorge at Sitar.

Don't Grab My Bundt Cake

This is the easiest, most delicious chocolate cake you will ever barely stir!

2 c flour (use whole wheat!)

1 c sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

3 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 c cocoa powder

2 c applesauce

1 tbsp vanilla**

1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray bundt pan with cookie spray and dust with flour.

Sift together dry ingredients into large bowl.  Add applesauce and vanilla.  Using wooden spoon, mix until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 - 35 min or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for about 10 min in the pan, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

**There's plenty of room for substitutions here.  Instead of vanilla, you can use 2 tbsp of spiced rum or 1/4 tsp of cinnamon (sift cinnamon with dry ingredients).  Get crazy, the sky's the limit!

 

 

Travis used my favorite rainbow chip frosting for this special occasion.  Normally when I make this cake, however, I make my own:

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted

2-4 c powdered sugar

1/2 c cocoa powder, sifted

Add ingredients to mixing bowl in the order they're listed above, waiting to add the next ingredient until the previous are combined.  How much powdered sugar you add depends on how sweet and how stiff you want the frosting (the more powdered sugar the easier it is to pipe).  If you added rum to the cake, you can also add 1 tbsp rum to the frosting.

What do you like to eat on your birthday?