Celebrating 5 years of deliciousness

The Cooks of Cake and Kindness turns 5 today! In human years, that’s pretty young...but in blog years, that’s, like, FOREVER.

Actually, time has flown, and it really doesn’t seem like that much time has passed since the inception of our blog and that first post. In the ensuing years, we have both earned our PhDs and accepted jobs in the same group at Cummins, Inc., and sit right next to each other at work, sharing a (cubicle) wall just like the good old grad school days. Karla has gotten married, bought a house, and had a son (and has another baby on the way). Gayatri has become “Tita G” (translation: Aunt G) to Karla’s son.

Now that we aren’t being distracted by tedious graduate research and studies, we’ve been able to blog more actively. From a low of only 4 recipes posts in 2012 (admittedly a busy year with thesis defenses, graduations, a wedding, and relocations), this year we have more than septupled that amount - and the year isn’t even half over yet! We have also received our very first “we’re gonna get paid to bake!” order - for a baby shower cake!

To celebrate this milestone birthday, The Cooks of Cake and Kindness has launched a Facebook page! And, of course, any mention of “birthday” wouldn’t be complete without cake!

Vanilla chocolate chip cake:

Base cake recipe

Add-ins: mini chocolate chips

Vanilla buttercream:

½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature

¼ cup vegetable shortening (can use butter instead, I used shortening to get more stable buttercream)

1.5 cups confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp milk/whipping cream (if required)

Whip all ingredients for the buttercream until light and fluffy. If you refrigerate the buttercream to use later, add some milk/whipping cream and whip frosting until soft.

We’d like to thank our readers for the support, and promise to keep bringing more recipes to you in the coming years. If you’re on Facebook, check out our page and maybe even toss us a cookie! i.e. give us a “like” :-) Thanks for reading, and happy baking!

~ Gayatri & Karla

Chocolate on chocolate on chocolate!!! (...and sprinkles)

 

Not only do Karla and I still work together (we also went to school together and were roommates for three years) and write this blog together, we also share a love for chocolate - which is apparent from the candy stocked at our desks and the “chocolate breaks” we take at work. So, when I asked Karla what kind of birthday cake she wanted, her answer was obvious. To make it as chocolate-y as possible, I made a chocolate cake frosted with chocolate buttercream and topped with dark chocolate ganache - and then added sprinkles. The birthday girl liked it and it surely was well received by our colleagues based on how quickly it was gone.

 

Chocolate cake: Recipe

Chocolate buttercream: Recipe

Once the cake is completely cooled, frost the top and sides with the buttercream.

Chocolate ganache:

On low-medium heat on the stove top, heat ½ cup of heavy cream and 4 oz dark chocolate chips. Keep stirring until chocolate is completely melted to form a smooth mixture. Take it off the heat and let it cool down to room temperature (otherwise it can melt the buttercream).

Once cooled, carefully pour the ganache starting at the center of the cake and spread it outward with a spatula if required. Use a clean knife or spatula (wipe it off often during the process) to smoothen out the ganache.

Just a few colorful sprinkles to add a trim-like decoration and the cake was ready for the birthday celebration :-)

~Gayatri

 

Note:

If using ganache directly on the cake, you can pour it over when it is still warm.

The consistency of ganache can be adjusted to your liking by changing the ratio of cream and chocolate.

The ganache can be cooled and whipped to make a nice thick frosting to pipe on the cake as well.