01 March 2007
Do you know what I had for my early morning snack? (That is -- between breakfast and the midmorning snack.) Chocolate cake:
See, children suspect that adults have all the fun, but they don't even know the half of it. Of course, I work from home, have a little cat to keep my lap warm, take my deer-like dog for a walk every day, and have chocolate cake if I want to. So I'm pretty lucky.
And what do you suppose is in this box?
Cute, huh? I made it myself, with stamps I made myself, and labeled it with a sticker I drew myself. Too much time on my hands? No, sir! Because I dropped this off at my parents' house this afternoon, and surely they deserve an elaborately folded cake-carrying box. Because the pieces of cake were so small!
Yes, I only made a tiny cake, in my tiny 6" cake pan. I wanted to try out a cake-making trick which I recently learned about, although I suspect it's well-known in some baking circles. See, you decide how many eggs you want to use. Since I was making a mini cake, I only used one egg. Weigh your eggs, in the shell, and write down their weight. My egg weighed 60 grams. Weigh out the same in flour, sugar, and butter, and that's what you use to make your cake! Well, in theory. This is what I actually used:
- 4 Tbsp butter (about 60g)
- 5 Tbsp caster sugar (60g)
- 1 egg (60g in shell)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour (60g)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp cocoa (optional)
Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl with high sides, cream butter and sugar, beat in egg, vanilla, and milk, and then carefully mix in flour, baking powder, and cocoa (if using). Once combined, mix on high until light and fluffy. Place batter into a greased and floured (you can 'flour' with cocoa if making a chocolate cake) 6" cake tin and bake for twenty minutes.
Now, I'm not going to say this is the Most Sinful Yet Heavenly Deluxe Chocolate Fudge Dream Delight cake, because it's not (I'd like to try that, though!). It's just a regular old sponge cake. But it's nice to have a recipe for such a small amount, and you could definitely sweeten it up with some frosting or chocolate sauce! Yum.
That tiny cake is so clever!
posted by rachel at March 1, 2007 04:51 AM
Love your new atmosphere...
And what a cute box for a yummy cake...thanks for sharing it ;)
posted by Christelle at March 1, 2007 09:13 AM
Anna! I always wondered how to bake a cake small enough for myself. I always loved baking, but I always felt like I could only ever bake for other people (because cake recipes are always for normal big family-size cakes). It's really interesting, your recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Jenny
posted by Jenny at March 1, 2007 12:36 PM
That's a fascinating tip and an adorable package! I'll have to try the cake trick myself one of these days.
posted by Liesl at March 1, 2007 07:42 PM
Chocolate cake for morning snack? That's the way to go!! :-)
If only the box is edible. It's as pretty as the cake.
posted by Lisa Y at March 1, 2007 09:50 PM
What a nice folding box. Pattern? The cake looks so yummy. If only there were edible blogs...
posted by rani at March 1, 2007 11:46 PM
And people thought I was crazy for eating cake in the morning! I even told them we need smaller portions of everything (why, to try more of each, of course!), so the cake recipe portion is perfect, thanks!
posted by Amy at March 2, 2007 12:23 AM
Such an awesome little package of happiness to leave at your parents' door...
posted by Amy at March 2, 2007 02:24 AM
There is a cookbook you might be interested in called "Small Batch Baking" by Debby Maugans Nakos. Some of the recipes are pretty involved, but the ones I've tried have been yummy. I really like making mini baked goods in the toaster oven during the hot days of summer. =) Cute adorable packaging!
posted by cybrntt at March 3, 2007 05:05 PM