Happy Birthday to Me!!

Yes, it's that day of the year which is exclusively for me!!! I grew a year older, which also means a year lesser to the graves....*smiles*.....This year too I received my quota of presents and wishes...And had a great cake cutting ceremony early in the morning...... *smiles*...(Little joys of life)

So, what is a birthday without a cake!!......Remember my last year's b'day cake!! This year too I decided to bake my own birthday cake. But this time, it was a quite a disappointment for me!!! Actually, I had pinned down on Deeba's (of PAB) Coffee and Vanilla Bean Layered Cake months back....But unfortunately, had to change it at the last moment as my little one was not keeping well.....JJ insisted on buying a cake but I was so adamant on baking my own birthday cake....Moreover, these days, I don't like the bakery baked cakes as they are very sweet and full of flavors! So, I searched for a recipe which required less preparation time as I had to cater to a sick child  in between.....I choose to bake the Flourless Chocolate Rum Cake from Pastry Affair.....Everything went on fine; from the preparation to the baking and cooling of the cake....Suddenly, things went wrong when I de-moulded it to a cake plate.....The cake tore into pieces and I was so shocked! There was nothing much to do about it except to just stare at it! Disappointed and not knowing what to do next, I sat in front of the TV, switching channels....I had only my eyes glued to it but mind wandering for a solution.....And that is when I remembered about a cake recipe, which I had read about long back.....I immediately hoped on to Suma's blog Cakes and More and searched for  her birthday cake, the Coffee Cream Gateaux.....The recipe required less ingredients and time to bake the cake, so in I go to my kitchen with my laptop and started off the preparation to bake the cake....I had to finish the cake within an hour before the power goes off and so I was in a rush that I missed a vital part of the cake preparation....But, finally I had a Birthday cake!!And thankfully, my little one slept off peacefully all this time......{And I am not including the pictures of the entire cake as the decorations on the cake were somewhat childish!} 

The method below explains how I prepared this cake. For more details on this sponge cake please visit Suma's blog.

Coffee Cream Gateaux

Ingredients:

Recipe Source: Cakes and More

For the Coffee Sponge

Eggs - 3

Sugar - 1/2 cup
Plain Flour - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 1/2 tsp
Instant coffee powder - 1 tbsp

For the Coffee Cream
Sweetened whipping cream - 2 cups (I used 1 sachet of  instant whipping powder)
Instant coffee powder - 1 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Method:

Preparing the Coffee Cream

• Chill the beater and bowl in the freezer.
• Prepare the whipping cream as mentioned on the package. To this add the essence and instant coffee. Whip the cream and refrigerate the cream for frosting.

Preparing the Cake

• Grease, line a 8" cake tin, flour lightly. Keep aside.
• Preheat oven to 190 C.
• In a large bowl, take eggs, vanilla essence, sugar and instant coffee. With an electric beater, whip the eggs for ten mins till thick and mousse like. Beat at low speed and then move to medium high speed. {This is where I made the mistake and that is the reason for my thin cake. The volume of the cake depends on how well it is beaten. So, immerse the bowl in a pan of simmering water and beat until it has tripled in volume and mousse like}.
• Sift the flour over the egg mixture in 3 additions. Fold in the flour very gently but thoroughly with a spatula.
• When all the flour has been incorporated, transfer the batter to the tin.
• Bake for 35-40 mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean. {Do not open the oven for the first 20 mins of putting the cake}.
• Once done, leave the cake in the tin for 10 mins. Run a knife along the sides to release the cake.. Turn onto a wire rack and cool completely. 
• Once completely cooled, spread the coffee cream using a spatula. Frost the cake on all sides with the cream. Chill the cake and decorate.

Now, if you are wondering what happened to the first cake, you need to wait for the next post.... After all I live in a country where "An idea can change your life"....*smiles & winks*......