Of Anniversaries, Chocolate, and Love

My parents met each other at different times. In fact, my mother met my father years before he met her. 

Don't worry, I'm not going to go off the recipe blogging track and begin writing a time-travel romance novel. 

To hear mum tell it, she had a crush on papa since she was fourteen years old! They went to St Teresa's Girls School and St Joseph's Boys School respectively, and (from what people tell me) he fancied himself quite the Big Man on Campus; he played sports for the school, was listed as one of the top students of the state in his year, and well, there's the whole mixed heritage thing he had going for him I suppose. 

It has been thirty-six years since mum first fell into puppy love with papa, and as of this week, they have been married for twenty-nine years. Out of those twenty-nine years, they made and raised four wonderfully bright and attractive (lololol) children, even if the distribution of said intelligence and genetic blessing was imbalanced, as the first batch got far too much (oh, make it stop!) of the good stuff. They have bought, sold and lived in a total of fourteen houses (nomads, much?), crossed the seas countless times in pursuit one can only assume frequent flyer points, changed career paths seven times (shared number), shared at least 10 000 meals together ("A family that eats together, stays together" yes, Papa *salutes*) and only some crazy zany nerd would bother to count the rest. 

My parents have always put the family first, and growing up with those values, I don't think anybody can blame me for wanting the kind of love, stability, and intimacy that they have. They are each others' best friend, and that is all I really want. 

I took the day off work today to spend a day with the family; the kids are on holiday from school and it's my parents' anniversary! I couldn't not bake them a cake! Plus I had quite a number of annual leave days I needed to clear by the end of the month.
So on this beautiful Friday, after a very lazy morning spent by the pool, I got started on this super special Chocolate Beetroot Cake with Beet Creamcheese Frosting. There was so much batter that I decided to bake smaller cakes instead, and ended up with two 8-inch cakes. One for my parents, and the other for my to bring to an outing with some of my close work friends tonight. 

I would love to get into my parents' whole love story, and soon I will get around to telling you about the time my father met my mother. Now that, folks, was quite cray. 

But for now, let's channel a bit of Bob Saget as he retells the incredibly unromantic tale of how Ted Mosby slept with the same 3 women over ten years and Uncle Barney shagged everything that moved... and bring you back to the current day. 8th of June 2012 to be exact. 

In precisely two weeks time, my cousin, Lana, is going to marry one of the most stand-up men I have had the pleasure to meet since coming back to the country, Omar. 

We're rushing around with our last minute fittings, picking up items from various places, receiving frantic phone calls at the most inopportune times, and all the usual wedding-in-the-family activities. Just a few days before her wedding, our whole mildly insane troupe will be flying into Miri, Sarawak (top 5 happiest places in the world) where we will have a massive Sarawakian-style pre-wedding party! 

Alright, alright, it's really about the wedding, the marriage between these two people, and the life that they are about to embark on together. 

But it's also a little about the food and drinks and dressing up. For the rest of us that are not the bride and/or groom at the wedding that is. 

Last weekend, we gathered the close cousins/friends for a tea-time bridal shower for Lana, organised by the newlywed Amy. She chose the place (love it!), theme (think I got it...), and most importantly: the games! We had so much fun over the space of a few hours, with Kaly and I up to our usual competitive tricks and winning all the games (are bridal showers like birthday parties, where the bride should win all the games?) and prizes, and being quite ungracious while doing so.

I wasn't going to blog the cake recipe that I brought to the bridal shower, mostly as it's so simple... but then again, I reckon that those are the best kind! My work-wife, Diyana, sent me the recipe for the Black Magic cake a few months ago and since then I'm sure I've used it at least four times. Forsooth, I stopped wondering why my waist is expanding.

Black Magic Chocolate Cake

Recipe from my baking addiction

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup strong black coffee
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line or grease your baking tins. I used a Wilton Bundt pan
2. Here's the best part: Combine all the ingredients in the large bowl of your stand mixer and just let it whizz on medium for about 2 minutes! 
3. Pour batter into your baking tin and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted at an angle comes out clean
4. Frost as you like (for this occasion, I whipped up some Chocolate Orange ganache) and Tada! 

So ridonkulously easy, I don't even know what to do with myself. This recipe will yield one of the fluffiest, lightest and chocolatey cakes you will ever have in your life. Try layering it with unsweetened whipped cream! The balance of textures in that mixture creates a wonderful mouthfeel that you'll find yourself craving weeks after. 

Anyway, enough about the cake: To Lana & Omar, I can't wait for the wedding, and I'm sure you two are going nuts at the moment with all the prep, so probably don't have the time nor the inclination to read this blog, but if you do: I wish you both all the best that you can find in each other, that you will make happiness and laughter, and that you will have damn good-looking children! Love you both so much xx Nabs

Beet It! Chocolate Cake

I spent the majority of last Saturday's daytime hours in the kitchen, baking cakes, cupcakes and scones for several orders received from friends and family. I first baked two dozen chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache for my mother to take to her friends' do, low fat raisin scones for breakfast (recipe coming up in the next few days), a red velvet cake, and this beautiful Chocolate Beet cake.

I found the recipe for this cake a few weeks ago on Joy the Baker's blog, and knew that I had to try it at the next occasion. And what better occasion than one of my dearest friend's birthday?

Angie and I first found each other in 1st Form, in St Teresa's girl school back in Sarawak. We got on like a house on fire, and were inseparable for that entire school year! My family moved the next year, and then Angie and I had to content ourselves with meeting only once or twice a year. But now that we've both graduated and started work, she's moved to the city and is more accessible to me! Huzzah!

Happy birthday, my love, I hope you enjoyed the cake and the company, and I can't wait to see you again (Friday Karaoke!). Love you loads.

Ravenclaw - Nadia, Slytherin - Angie, Muggle - Jess <3

Chocolate Beet Cake

Recipe by Joy the Baker

• 1 large beet (or 2 small-medium ones) - 3/4 cup grated for the cake, 2 tbsp grated for the frosting
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 170g butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk

1. First of all, some prep work: Wrap the beets (unpeeled, just trimmed of greens and scrubbed clean) in foil paper, wipe down with the vegetable oil and pop in the oven for an hour or so at 200C, or until a knife poked through the beets go through easily. When they're ready, remove and cool for a while, then peel and grate the beets on the fine grate of a box grater and set aside
2. Preheat the oven to 180C and line your 8x8 round baking pan with butter and parchment paper
3. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside
4. Cream the butter and sugars until light, then beat in the eggs (one at a time), vanilla and beets
5. Beat in half of the flour mixture until incorporated, then pour in all the buttermilk, followed by the rest of the flour when the milk has mixed completely
6. Divide the batter between your pans, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer poked through at an angle comes out clean. You don't want to overcook this cake, trust me. When it's done, allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then move onto a cooling rack to cool completely

Cream Cheese Beet Frosting

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (Joy's recipe calls for 4-5 cups, but the thought of that much sweetness makes me gag)
• 2 tbsp finely grated beets
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp milk
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• Salt

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy
2. Beat in the beets, vanilla, lemon juice and salt
3. Beat in the sugar, half a cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk as and when it's necessary, though I didn't need to add any for my second batch

Assembling the cake

The first time I made this cake for Angie, I put a layer of the cream cheese frosting between the cake layers, though this resulted in too sweet a cake for my liking, and it kind of overpowered the taste of the chocolate. I baked a second cake the next day (for picture purposes, as well as to give a chance to my family to try this amazing recipe... thanks, Joy!) and slathered a layer of blackberry coulis (cos I love that stuff!) in between instead. Cover the cake with a thin layer of cream cheese frosting, then pop in the fridge for 15 minutes to half a hour to allow the "crumb coat" to set. Then apply another top coat (it's like getting a manicure) sparsely, you don't want too much frosting, and use a warm bench scraper (dip the scraper in a bowl of hot water, then wipe it clean quickly before use) to smooth the sides of the cake. Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour to allow the layers to set.

Sneaking veggies into dessert and then fooling ourselves that it was a healthy snack is one of my favourite things to do! Who doesn't like claiming their 5-a-day in a slice of dense, moist chocolate cake? 

If you like chocolate, you'll LOVE this cake. I was really worried that it would taste like salad, what with beets in the cake as well as in the frosting, but all the beets really add to the cake are their moisture. So if you want to try something a little fancier than zucchini in your chocolate cake, give this one a shot. 

Lots of love, 

Nabs