Ryan's Birthday and Doctor Who Monday

With the new season airing, we like to sit down every once in a while and catch up on episodes. This also meant we left dinner to Luke and commandeered the kitchen all afternoon to make a TARDIS cake, plus a twelve pack of chocolate cupcakes for the birthday boy.

Eager for a bit of a change, Sam and I switched our usual roles. (I tend to be Official in Charge of Icing, and Sam's the Cake Boss.) Almost immediately we both messed up and switched back to salvage what the other had done.

CHOCOLATE CAKE (adapted from this one)

What We Used*:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 7 1/2 tbsp cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Sam's mentioned that I should probably list the thing I messed up on first so it's not replicated. Butter and sugar needs to be creamed together until smooth, then beat in the eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients (Flour, salt, baking powder, cocoa). If you have a sifter, go for it... I didn't have one on hand but we didn't see much of a difference in the end.

Blend the dry ingredients into the butter mix, alternating with the milk. When everything is nice and smooth, pour into a greased pan. We used a 9x13 inch. Finally, set the oven to 350F (175C) and pop the thing in for about 25-30 minutes. Or until done. You know.

*We actually made a batch and a half for the cupcakes, so our measurements may be slightly off.

The icing was the same as the lemon butter cream, but minus the lemon and adding some mint extract to taste. For some reason, this one was making us struggle with consistency and I spent a long time with the hand blender barking 'Milk.' at Sam to make it less hard. Also involved a lot of blue coloring.

All in all, this cake is like the ugly stepchild I keep in the attic. I love it, but am ashamed to let it see the light of day. Ergo, unless Sam can twist my arm, no pictures tonight.


What the N00b Learned:

• Cream butter and Sugar together. Makes it easier to get smooth.
• Not every pan is going to be awesome like sam's. Let the cake sit for a while.
  

-Jesso